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Old Aug 20, 2007 | 10:25 am
  #7  
SmilingBoy
15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: BRU
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Posts: 6,854
Originally Posted by RobertS975
I have read what I could on the Skype website, but is there a site that anyone is aware of that explains Skype in real basic terms.

Here is what I think I know: Skype is a program which you download onto your laptop that allows you to make telephone calls over a broadband internet connection wherever you are in the world. You fund it presumably by leaving a balance via credit card or PayPal. You can call landlines or cellphones. You can either hook a headset/mike to your laptop via the jacks or via USB. You can buy relatively inexpensive USB phones to use instead of the headset/mike combo. And you can buy more expensive phones that actually are pre-loaded with Skype and some sort of web browser that allow phone calls to be made without your computer from any WiFi hotspot.

Am I missing anything important here? How is the quality of the sound? Is attempting to make a call a hit or miss thing or is it pretty reliable (recent outage not withstanding)?

SkypeIn? SkypeOut?
You are missing one point, which is that you can make free calls to anybody else using Skype. Skype-to-Skype voice quality is very good, usually much better than normal telephone quality.

SmilingBoy.
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