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Recently, there have been many converts to Skype,
including this reviewer. There are several factors that have influenced my own
personal move, but my primary motivations were innovation, quality, and
marketability. VoIP has always been an application that is easily marketable,
and Skype has added innovative features that are quality-rich:
• SkypeOut, where you can use your computer to
call ordinary phone numbers all over the world. The global SkypeOut rate is
currently 1.7 Euro Cent (about 2 US cents or 1.1 pence) per minute to more than
20 countries.
• SkypeIn, which is a virtual phone number your
friends can call. This is in beta testing at the time of writing this review,
but the 12-month subscription is available for € 30 and 3 months for € 10.
• Skype Voicemail, which lets you redirect
calls to your voicemail, is available at € 5 for 3 months or € 15 for the year.
However, the most widespread application of
Skype is PC-to-PC calls. Any user can make free calls over the Internet to
anyone else who also has Skype. It is a simple wizard-based process to download
and use the application, and works via your broadband connection with operating
systems based on Microsoft Windows, Mac, Linux, and Pocket PCs. All you need is
a PC microphone and speakers or a basic USB headset, and what you get is a
real-time, telephone-quality voice conversation with any PC end-user in the
world. I found the downloading to be extremely simple and straightforward and
imagine that anyone, no matter your computer fluency will find it easy as well.
In addition to its ease of setup, the features
of Skype are really impressive. There is a facility to search the Skype
database, so that you are able to build a list of contacts. We have used Skype
for Windows 1.4 for a PC-to-PC conversation between Los Angeles and Mumbai
(India), and there was no recorded break in the half-hour call. The clarity was
definitely on par with a normal telephone, perhaps even better, with no
noticeable time lag. On subsequent calls between these destinations and other US
cities including Chicago, the quality continues to amaze us, and the fact that
Skype works in most environments, irrespective of firewalls or NAT, widens its
reach.
So, what’s the downside? A comparative analysis
will help clarify the situation. For a start, Skype does not offer as many
calling features as other service providers like Vonage. Then, there have been
question marks about the technical/customer support offered by Skype. Another
point where Skype loses out is the quality of the SkypeOut package, where the
calls made to landlines are of inconsistent quality. One hopes that Skype can
add video chat to its repertoire in the near future, which will place Skype on
an equal standing with other free VoIP providers like Yahoo! Messenger and MSN
Messenger, which already have video capabilities. Skype is undoubtedly ahead of
both MSN and Yahoo in terms of voice quality and the real-time conversation
experience. On the other side of the spectrum, Vonage offers feature-rich
services and better customer service, although all this comes at a price.
My Overall Assessment: Vonage is a better
option than Skype for traditional telephone users because Skype is totally
computer-dependent and caters to consumers who are "living out of their
computers."
The future has a lot to offer, and undoubtedly
Skype will move forward in its evolutionary process, and hopefully improve
SkypeOut and emerge successfully out of beta testing for SkypeIn. However, for
the moment, Skype is arguably the best option for free PC-to-PC calls. Skype
says that the "current focus is to make the best voice-application on the
planet"—judging from user feedback around the world, Skype has already gone a
long distance towards that objective.
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