Skype is Free
Posted on May 24, 2006
Filed Under VoIP |
Skype is one of the more popular and better quality versions of the myriad of companies out there offering free or low cost long distance calling. Voice over IP (VoIP) is becoming enormously popular and is on the verge of becoming real competition for the traditional telephone companies.
VoIP is a means to carry voice traffic over a data network. In other words VoIP makes it possible to place a phone call over the Internet without using regular phone lines. The technology also opens the door to office or home phone systems with once unaffordable features becoming affordable and reliable.
VoIP technologies have been around for a number of years now but have suffered from call quality problems. The traditional telephone network has been around for a much longer time and has arguably become the most reliable network in North America. Telephone users are accustomed to high quality calls and easily notice call quality issues that VoIP has, until recently, suffered from.
Times are changing though and VoIP technology has matured in its own right. Cogeco has just launched its VoIP offering to the residential market in Niagara and is planning to launch a commercial service sometime around the end of the year.
Vonage was an early pioneer in VoIP in Canada and provides its service over your existing high speed Internet connection. Vonage supplies a device that connects your regular phone to your Internet connection and all of a sudden long distance becomes a lot cheaper.
With companies like Vonage and the cable companies jumping on the bandwagon, it’s apparent that the quality issues of VoIPs past are truly in its past.
Skype has been gaining a reputation for having quality service but because the technology is proprietary, VoIP phones and adapters don’t work with it out of the box. Skype users typically connect a headset to their computers to use the service. There are a number of phone-like devices that can be used and even a combination software/hardware device that will connect a regular home telephone to the Skype network.
Until now Skype users have enjoyed free calls to other Skype users worldwide. In order to call a regular telephone line using Skype however, a discounted per minute rate was applied.
In an attempt to gain subscribers, Skype is offering free Skype to telephone calls to anywhere in Canada or the US until the end of the 2006. To take advantage of this offer one needs a high speed Internet connection, a reasonably recent computer, a headset, and a free Skype subscription.
Skype also offer features such as 5 way conferencing and video conferencing. If you want to call outside of Canada and the US you may at Skype’s discounted per minute rate. This is a great opportunity to get your feet wet with VoIP and call for free at the same time.
VoIP is poised to make serious gains in the telephone market both with long distance and office/home phone systems. Hang on to your headsets!
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