Steel White Table

I have a few friends living overseas. Calling them long-distance ain’t cheap. So I installed Skype today. And guess what? It works. I talked to a friend of mine in France and although there was a slight delay in the signal, it was negligible. We started with a regular audio call, no video feed. The sound was just as good as any telephone and there was no delay. The slight delay only kicked in after we switched to video.

For those not-in-the-know, here’s the Wikipedia entry for Skype:

Skype is software that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and to free-of-charge numbers are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.

First I installed an old webcam that’s been gathering dust for the past couple years. (Mac users don’t have to worry about this. Macs come with built-in webcams these days, right?) I had to install it on my XP machine because it wasn’t compatible with Vista (no surprise there). Then I did a quick download and install of the free Skype software. It took about a minute to test it with my webcam. It worked immediately, so I didn’t have configure anything.

I used the Skype search function to find my friend in France, added him to my contact list, clicked the call button and he answered right away. He used a headset the whole time. I had to use the webcam mic and my PC speakers, which means my mic picked up everything that was coming through the speakers, creating a slight echo for him, but it wasn’t too bad. Next time I’ll plug in some headphones. I got uncomfortable after we switched to video because I’m never too fond of being in front of a camera. Otherwise, it was just like talking on the phone. And it’s a free service.

I’ll update this post as I continue to use Skype. My initial impression, though: it sure beats paying for a long-distance call. Back when I first got my webcam, I tried instant video messengers from Yahoo, MSN, etc., and they were all junk compared to what I’ve seen of Skype so far. I’m pleasantly surprised.

UPDATE #1: I tried it out with my mother who doesn’t live nearly as far away as my friend in France, and it was garbage. Nothing else to say. It was crap. I would never bother with Skype if it was always like that. My mother might not have high-speed. I’m not sure what the problem was. I’ll look into it. But it was a waste of time.

UPDATE #2: My friend in France said, “Skype isn’t always perfect. But I would say most of the time it works quite smoothly. Network traffic will influence your experience, the speed of your internet connection (on both ends), and the speed of your computer… When I’m using Skype I generally close out most/all other programs. Definitely anything that uses the network connection, or anything that uses much processor power. Try that and let me know.” I will.

 Email This Post

Comments RSS