Skyped

29-06-2006

I was watching some ‘learn about VOIP’ videos over on CNET and this guy was going on about Skype and how talking computer to computer via Skype was free. Richard had mentioned it a few times in the past so I thought I’d better get a move on and try it before it becomes old news.

After an easy download and installation process I plugged in my old LAN gaming headphones with microphone and searched for Richard. I think I found him but when I tried calling his account it said it was configured to only accept calls that were authorised. Yep, I’d found Richard, Detox’s very own paranoid security expert.

After calling him on my mobile he returned my call via VOIP and we chatted for a bit with him taking me through the options to prevent just anyone from contacting me.

It kinda sounds like you are talking to someone in the same room as you when you are using headphones although there is a slight degradation on the line and the voice quality can deteriorate, especially if your laptop is running over ten other applications at the same time. That said, its basically free phone calls using a facility that you have already paid for, namely your broadband connection.

Now if I could only get the rest of the guys to start using it.