Features of Skype

The following is a list of Skype's features:

SkypeOut

"SkypeOut" allows Skype users to call traditional telephone numbers, including mobile telephones, for a fee. This fee is as low as USD$0.024 per minute for most developed countries, and as high as USD$2.142 per minute for calls to the dependency of Diego Garcia. Beginning January 2007, Skype also charges an equivalent of 0.039 Euro for each SkypeOut call, in addition to the ordinary rate. [cite web | url=http://www.skype.com/products/skypeout/rates/connection_fee.html | title=Connection Fee for SkypeOut Calls | publisher=skype.com | accessdate=2007-01-19] After 180 days of not making a SkypeOut call the Skype balance expires.As of January, 30th 2007, SkypeOut calls to Canada and The United States are no longer free.

SkypeOut calls to most toll free numbers in France (+33 800, +33 805, +33 809) , Poland: (+48 800) , UK: (+44 500, +44 800, +44 808 ) and the United States and Canada: (+1 800, +1 866, +1 888 ) are free for all Skype users, even if they do not have the SkypeOut service. [ [http://share.skype.com/sites/en/2005/07/free_calls_to_tollfree_phone_n.html Free calls to toll-free phone numbers global beta - Skype Blogs] ] [ [http://support.skype.com/index.php?_a=knowledgebase&_j=questiondetails&_i=618 Support Help - Skype tells me the number I am trying to call is forbidden, why is that?] ] . However, for many other countries SkypeOut doesn't support calling toll-free and premium rate numbers, and SkypeOut doesn't support calling emergency numbers (such as 112 in Europe or 911 in the U.S.A.).

Quality of service is not guaranteed and dropouts, broken connections and compression distortion are frequently observed by users.

Unlimited calling plan and fees

On 19 December 2006, Skype announced that there will be a new pricing structure in 2007. Details on a new scheme were released 18 January 2007. The initial press release was vague about the new scheme, but it did reveal that there may be a new connection fee. [ [http://support.skype.com/?_a=announcements&_m=details&_i=28 Support Help - Skype to announce disruptive pricing strategy for SkypeOut] ]

In January 2007, Skype launched a prepaid unlimited call service for North American customers. Skype's unlimited calling offers a full year of unlimited calls to anyone, on any phone, within the US and Canada for a one-time fee. It should be noted that this plan is "not" applicable to calls made from a computer outside of Canada or the US. This plan was removed and cannot be renewed by any customers. It was replaced by Skype Pro.

SkypeIn

"SkypeIn" (beta) allows Skype users to receive calls on their computers dialed by regular phone subscribers to a local Skype phone number. It permits users to subscribe to numbers in Australia, Brazil, Chilecite web|url=http://share.skype.com/sites/en/2007/06/four_new_skypein_countries.html|title=Four new SkypeIn countries|author=Villu Arak|publisher=Skype Blogs|accessdate=2007-08-13] , Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

For example, a user in San Francisco could create a local telephone number in Helsinki. Callers from Helsinki would pay only local rates to call that number.

Skype Voicemail

"Skype Voicemail" was released on March 10, 2005. This service allows callers to leave voice-mail messages for Skype users who are indisposed. This is currently a service that users have to pay for, though the company Kishkish provides a Skype voicemail service for free.

Skype Voicemail has experienced numerous problems over the past year and users complain that many voice mail calls are never received. Additionally, the SkypeIn service occasionally fails to record certain incoming calls on the program's history page. These problems have not been completely resolved.
9/24/2008 : After a year of using Skype and getting many voicemails over that time, this issue appears to be resolved.

Skype chat

Skype supports group text chat with an interface similar to IRC with 150 People.

The Macintosh version used to use the same message view style format as Adium, though with a different filename extension. Message view styles made for Adium could be installed for Skype, and they did not even need to be renamed. [cite web | url=http://domainofthebored.blogspot.com/2006/02/adding-chat-styles-to-skype.html | title=Adding chat styles to Skype | publisher=blodspot.com | accessdate=2006-06-13] There were a couple of cosmetic bugs, [cite web | url=http://chucker.mystfans.com/2006/02/27/adium-message-styles-and-skype.entry | title=Adium message styles and Skype (1 updates) | publisher=Soeren Says|accessdate=2006-06-13] but ignoring those, Adium styles worked without modification. This feature is not present in the Windows, Linux, and Pocket PC versions of Skype. This feature has been discontinued starting with Skype 2.7.0.49.

Skype Me

By connecting users around the world via voice, Skype has opened up a wellspring of people who want to communicate with people from other countries. To facilitate these people, Skype lets users set their status to "Skype Me," which indicates they are open to callers from around the world. Setting one's status to Skype Me attracts a number of callers who want to practice a foreign language (usually English), in addition to the expected scammers and spammers. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/technology/circuits/24skyp.html The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > Internet Phone Service Creating Chatty Network] ]

Skype video calling

On Microsoft Windows (DirectX 9.0 or above required), Mac OS X and Linux, Skype 2.0 (and above) supports videoconferencing, making Skype one of the few cross-platform video conferencing solutions. [ cite web | url = http://www.HL7.com.au/Skype-Video-Conferencing.htm | title = Using Skype for Desk-top Video-Conferences | publisher=Skype User Guide | accessdate=2008-01-17 ] Skype currently only supports one-to-one video chat; more than two parties are allowed to talk, but three or more video feature is not supported.

[https://developer.skype.com/SkypeGarage/SkypeForWindowsExperimental/HighQualityVideoCalls High-definition video] is available publicly in Windows with Skype 3.6.

Skypecasts

"Skypecasting" was released on May 3 2006. Skypecasts are live, moderated conversations allowing groups of up to 100 people to converse, moderated by the "host" who is able to mute, eject or pass the virtual microphone to participants when they wish to speak. Skypecasts do not support chat windows to share text information (such as URLs) with participants. The Skypecast feature is missing in Skype for Linux, but a user can join a Skypecast conversation simply by dialing the Skypecast's code with SkypeOut. [ [http://forum.skype.com/lofiversion/index.php/t89832.html Skype Community > Skypecasts on Skype for Linux ] ] The user will then have somewhat limited capabilities, such as not seeing the others in a conversation 'room'.

On August 26 2008, Peter Parkes announced that Skypecasts will be discontinued at 12 noon BST on Monday September 1 2008 [http://share.skype.com/sites/en/2008/08/goodnight_skypecasts.html] . Parkes, a Cambridge economics graduate who works for 'we are social', a conversation agency in London, also writes to the Skype blog. On August 27 he added detail to this announcement in another blog posting [http://share.skype.com/sites/en/2008/08/some_more_on_skypecasts.html] .

The discontinuation announcement was revealed only on these two blog postings and not on Skype.com, the Skypecasts directory page [https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/home] nor other sources. Therefore the end to Skypecasts were thought by some to be an elaborate hoax. At 12 noon BST, Skypecasts were still running but after around 2 hours they ended and on Skypecasts Directory [https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/home] it says 'Skypecasts unavailable'.

In Skype 4.0 Beta, Skypecasts did not work even before the discontinuation announcement. There is no 'Live' Tab and when you could access the listings in the directory and tried to enter a Skypecasts a message came up after a dialing tone was heard say: 'Failed' (or a similar message).

Skype SMS

One of the features of Skype 2.5 (and above) is the ability to send SMS messages to mobile phone numbers (a feature commonly used in other IM software such as ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger). By default the message will be received with the first 11 digits of the sender's Skype username shown (in the US, China, and Taiwan, Skype will instead display a "generic, pre-defined number" as the Sender ID) with no direct reply available; otherwise it can be set to appear to have originated from a verified mobile number, allowing the recipient to reply as normal to that number. Costs are generally cheaper than standard SMS charges; for example Skype's UK rate per SMS message including VAT is 6.4p, compared to standard rates of 10p or 12p; for international SMS costs will be significantly cheaper using Skype. When the recipient of the message is in roaming, the message may not be delivered.

Skype web toolbar

The "Skype Web Toolbar" recognizes phone numbers and Skype, and is available only for Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox on Windows. Such numbers on web pages are replaced with an icon that can be clicked to call the number using Skype, or right-clicked to provide further options, such as adding the number to Skype's contacts list. Skype requests confirmation that an outgoing call should proceed after such a link is clicked.

Skype Zones

"Skype Zones" Beta is software powered by Boingo that provides access to Skype through Skype-friendly hot spots.

Skype history logs

A log file is created for each contact on a user's contact list. Log files are stored locally, meaning they are not available if a user switches computers. By default, the option to log conversations is disabled, but can be enabled in the tools / privacy panel.

SkypeFind

"SkypeFind" is a community-generated directory in Skype 3.1.

Skype Prime

Skype Prime is a beta feature in Skype 3.1. It allows users to call lines that charge per minute, usually for advice on a particular topic. The service is available for Windows (for caller and service providers) and for Macintosh (for callers only), whereas the feature is missing on Skype for Linux.

Skype hardware

Recently a number of manufactures have launched hardware devices compatible with Skype. These are usually either tethered to a PC, or have a built-in Wi-Fi client to allow calling from Wi-Fi hotspots like the Netgear SPH101 Skype Wi-Fi Phone, the SMC WSKP100 Skype Wi-Fi Phone, the Belkin F1PP000GN-SK Wi-Fi Skype Phone, the Panasonic KX-WP1050 Wi-Fi Phone for Skype Executive Travel Set and the Linksys CIT200 Wi-Fi Phone. There are also embedded cordless Skype phones based on DECT, which do not need a PC either, like the DUALphone 3088 from RTX. Netgear and SMC's Wi-Fi phones are considered the two major competitors in the market, with reviews of the Wi-Fi phones giving them equal coverage.

The Skype Wi-Fi Phone is a wireless mobile phone that allows users to make free Internet calls to anyone who has Skype, anytime there is a Wi-Fi wireless Internet connection. The Skype Wi-Fi Phone has an on-screen menu that lets Skype users see who is online and available to talk, similar to what is seen on a PC. It can also be used to talk with non-Skype users. SkypeOut minutes can be used to call any phone for a low price and no monthly fee. The Skype Wi-Fi phone does not contain a web browser therefore can not access hotspots, which require web-based login or authentication. [ [http://www.voipyeah.com/144_NETGEAR-Skype-WiFi-Phone.html NETGEAR Skype WiFi Phone - 网话易 - 国内最大的网络电话产品零售网站 ] ]

Invisible Calling

Version 3.0 adds the ability to connect and talk to other users without actually being in a conference. In this mode, the user can talk to multiple users without those users having the ability to communicate with each other. Since there is no conference window, the user using invisible calling must have the user they are connected to to end the call or to exit Skype entirely to disconnect.

Additional tools

Skype version 3.0 and above provides additional tools under the "Do More" Submenu. The Skype Extras listing is also accessible via [https://extras.skype.com https://extras.skype.com] . Examples of third-party add-ons include the 'Pamela' voice recorder for recording voice calls, Unyte desktop sharing, plus many games.

A service by fring enables Skype,ICQ [ [http://www.intomobile.com/2007/08/09/fring-adds-icq-support.html fring adds support for ICQ users] ] MSN .NET Messenger Service and GoogleTalk users to transparently use their respective programs with full access to contacts, chat, talk and presence capabilities.

Additionally, the web-based services [http://www.Skax.net Skax] and [http://www.pamfax.biz Pamfax] allows Skype users to send faxes, at a low cost per page, to any telephone numbers worldwide.

PocketSkype

PocketSkype is a freeware software that allows users to make Skype voice calls using their Wi-Fi enabled Microsoft Windows Mobile Pocket PC. PocketSkype is a thin version of Skype and developed specifically for PDA devices and any mobile software. It helps people to make free, unlimited, and unmetered calls. PocketSkype was made to give users more choice and flexibility. PocketSkype retains the same core of regular skype software and it works on any PDA running Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2003 OS with a 400 MHz processor and equipped with Wi-Fi.

Portable Skype

Under Windows, Skype can be run directly from a USB memory stick without being installed on the host computer. [ Skype VoIP User Guide, FAQ, Hints and Resourcescite web
url = http://www.HL7.com.au/Skype.htm#USB-Skype | title = How to run Skype from a USB stick] On Mac OS X, installation on the host computer is never required.

See also

*Skype Protocol
*Skype
*Voice over IP
*Comparison of VoIP software
*Videoconferencing

References