Skype

The world of Internet Voice IP and video conference software is currently ruled by the Skype application. The development team behind Skype once stated that its overall goal it wants to achieve is to make its IM (instant messaging) and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) client as user friendly as possible. It is so user-friendly in fact that even though you have never used or even heard of Skype before, you could download the software, install it, and start using it straight away as if you were a Skype veteran. This speaks volumes about how easy it is to use Skype, but what exactly does the software do?

To put it bluntly, Skype can be used to IM your friends, make free audio and video calls to other Skype users, and make dirt-cheap calls to landline and mobile phones. The function to IM somebody is quite simple: you fire up Skype, select a contact and type away your message. When you’re done typing, your message will be delivered in real-time. When that contact replies, the message will be replied to you in real-time as well.

But the thing that made Skype a huge hit with users from all over the world is its chat functionality. In this regard, there are two options at your disposal. You can chat (audio or video) with any other Skype user and you can do it free of charge. You can chat (audio only) and send messages from Skype to a friend’s phone, but you will have to pay to access this functionality. There are two payments options: a monthly subscription that comes with unlimited calls to landline phone, any day of the week, any time of the day, and voicemail. The second payment option refers to Skype credit, meaning that you purchase credit and use it to make calls to landline phone and send messages to mobile phones. When you are abroad, for example, and do not want to send out an SMS and pay the rather steep roaming charges, simply find a WiFi hotspot, fire up the software and send a message via Skype – you will still end up paying for the service, but you will pay the standard Skype SMS fee, which is quite low. You should note that you can also connect to Skype using 3G while abroad, but if you do so, your carrier may charge you.

When you video chat with someone, you can make the chat window go full-screen and you can enable the picture-in-picture option so that you see the person you are talking with as well as yourself.

Skype also comes with a handy file transfer feature, which is quite simple to explain: when you need to do some work on the go, for example, but you do not have the file stored on your mobile device, simply ask one of your Skype contacts to send it to you; edit the file and send it back. It doesn’t get simpler than that.

I’ve left the best part for last: all Skype chats, audio or video, are very high quality. You will hear everything loud and clear.