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Skype Sees Huge International Growth
Unveils Skype for SIP to target business use
According to Telegeography (via GigaOM), international voice traffic continues to rise, despite the availability of an ever-broader range of substitutes for standard telephone calls. Gobbling up the lion's share of this growth is Skype. Skype’s cross-border traffic grew approximately 41% in 2008, to 33 billion minutes -- equivalent to 8% of combined international telephone traffic. Meanwhile, Skype this week unveiled a new plan to target businesses by unveiling Skype for SIP, which allows the Skype software to work with business PBX phone systems.
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fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

1 edit

fifty nine

Member

Cheap phone calls to emigrant relatives

With the proliferation of broadband worldwide, unlimited USA for $3, unlimited UK for $5 (I think?) and people are contacting their emigrant relatives on the cheap.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Cheap phone calls to emigrant relatives

I may be considered an immigrant (gringo, etc), and Canada is included.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: Cheap phone calls to emigrant relatives

Sorry about that.

I really meant North America.

But you guys in America's hat know what I mean.

(j/k)

adisor19
join:2004-10-11

adisor19

Member

SIP is good

This could be an interesting way to bypass ma bell at least for some calls if Skype can deliver a SIP service that is reliable enough.

Adi

SSX4life
Hello World
Premium Member
join:2004-02-13

1 recommendation

SSX4life

Premium Member

Re: SIP is good

I personally LOVE skype, and use it for all of my home / personal use.

MrMaster
Rum Connoisseur
Premium Member
join:2000-12-16
St Thomas, VI

MrMaster

Premium Member

Re: SIP is good

said by SSX4life:

I personally LOVE skype, and use it for all of my home / personal use.
I was till 4.0 destroyed video calling.

What a debacle.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: SIP is good

How did 4.0 destroy video calls?

Good reason for me not to upgrade anyway...

nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium Member
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA

nixen

Premium Member

Re: SIP is good

said by fifty nine:

How did 4.0 destroy video calls?

Good reason for me not to upgrade anyway...
Well, I know with my Mac client, I can't participate in multi-party video conferences. The Windows users get a message about one of the participants having too old a version. It's the one I DL'ed from Skype just last week!

MrMaster
Rum Connoisseur
Premium Member
join:2000-12-16
St Thomas, VI

MrMaster to fifty nine

Premium Member

to fifty nine
said by fifty nine:

How did 4.0 destroy video calls?

Good reason for me not to upgrade anyway...
The new interface isn't the worst. I can live with that.

The quality of video calls is terrible. Fiance and I do skype video minimum of once a week. We have to hang up and call back several times in just 1 hour because the quality is bad.

Just this past monday. Three dropped calls and 2 callbacks in 1 hour time frame.

Before 4.0, 1 dropped call a MONTH.

I had this problem with the beta so I went back to the old version. I had no idea that they wouldn't even admit that there is a problem!

and before anyone asks I have 2 laptops and a high end desktop and they all have these issues.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to adisor19

Member

to adisor19
you still have MaBell delivering your last mile network and more than half of the internet backbone in her control. you won't by pass her. Especially if you're ISP relies on her greatly; especially the Resellers.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102 to adisor19

Member

to adisor19
Skype has been VERY reliable for outgoing calls.
I have used it for ~ 3years now for making business calls, as I don't want my cell minutes to get eaten up.

Positives on Skype:

1. Reliable / softphone (vs. Magic Jack)
2. Cheap
3. Video conferencing
4. Portable (can be used on Windows, Linux, Windows Mobile, and cell phones in general)
5. International calls are CHEAP
6. Mobile client for 'normal' cell phones to avoid International LD charges by doing a dial around through a local # (can be VERY handy for mobile!)
7. Smartphones can use WiFi to get around ToS on cell carriers, and use service internationally and not have to pay roaming or LD.
Rob_
Premium Member
join:2008-07-16
Mary Esther, FL

Rob_

Premium Member

Re: SIP is good

the new interface sucks, i went back to 3.8. unless there's a way to have the classic view on the new version (which isn't very blind friendly, either)

-Rob

nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium Member
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA

nixen

Premium Member

Cheaper Than International Cell Plans

I'm on business in Germany (recently, it's been frequent/prolonged - actually writing this from southern Germany). When I'm over here, Verizon charges my employer $1.29/minute, not just for outbound calls, but inbound calls, too. Imagine the bill my employer's gonna get after last week's two conference calls I had to participate in...

Any way, being gone for non-trivial amounts of time means that phone-type services are one of the few ways I can preserve my marriage. Skype comes in DAMNED handy. My wife and I can just ring each other up and sort of "hang out" for an hour or more on the video chat.

Yes, I know you can supposedly get local SIMs that will reduce your per minute charges. However, even though Verizon has given me my unlock code for my crackberry, I've not yet found a telephon store that will sell me a replacement SIM for it. So, "Skype it is".
nitzan
Premium Member
join:2008-02-27

nitzan

Premium Member

Re: Cheaper Than International Cell Plans

Just get a cheap local pre-paid phone (or SIM) that has free incoming - and use callback for all your calls.

I did that in Japan and went from something like $1.2/minute to 12 cents a minute. a little PITA to deal with, but well worth it IMHO.

nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium Member
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA

nixen

Premium Member

Re: Cheaper Than International Cell Plans

said by nitzan:

Just get a cheap local pre-paid phone (or SIM) that has free incoming - and use callback for all your calls.

I did that in Japan and went from something like $1.2/minute to 12 cents a minute. a little PITA to deal with, but well worth it IMHO.
One of the major points of having gotten a GSM phone was that it has the flexibility to change networks via a new SIM. It's simply *finding* a new SIM that's proven challenging. Getting a new phone is both pointlessly expensive and defeats the purpose of having a "world phone". A SIM card makes much more sense financially and in the concept of equipment reuse. It's just the challenge of actually being able to re-use.