Skype - Internet telephony app with free LD calls
May 22, '06 07:30:08AM
Contributed by: robg
The macosxhints Rating:

[Score: 8 out of 10]
Note: This is the Pick of the Week for May 15th
Skype is one of a number of Internet-based phone services, and it's been out for quite a while. I've never featured it as a Pick of the Week because, well, I hadn't used it much and saw no need for it -- we don't make a lot of long distance calls, given that the whole widely-flung family is iChat (or AIM) enabled. But two recent changes have given me another reason to use Skype. The first change is that I've been doing more interviews -- for both Macworld podcasts and Gene Steinberg's Mac Night Owl. Skype is the tool of choice for both of these shows, so I've had an excuse to play around with the app -- and I've come away impressed.
While not technically perfect (there are occasional connection issues, and sometimes the sound will dropout for a brief period of time), Skype works very well. There's a built-in chat client, too, so you can type to contacts in your Skype address book (in case you're having connection difficulties, for instance). Most of the time, though, connecting is as simple as clicking a contact's name, and waiting for them to answer. And overall, I've been impressed with the quality of the audio.
The second change is a biggie -- Skype announced that all calls to a landline in the United States and Canada would be free for the remainder of the year. Before the announcement, I hadn't ever bothered to use Skype for long distance calling -- I don't do a lot of it, and our rate is pretty good already. But free is an even better rate, so I'm taking advantage of the offer. I've called a fair number of people now, in both the US and Canada, and came away impressed again. Call quality, while not quite that of a land line, is very good, and I haven't yet had an issue with dialing a land line number.
So if you're in the US or Canada, and want to eliminate your long distance charges (and don't mind dialing from a computer), give Skype a try. It's a pretty impressive technology demonstration, if nothing else.
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