Skype Me?

We've all heard of internet telephony services, known in the geek world as VoIP. Basically, these services allow two users to instant message, telephone each other and leave voicemail and - in some cases - video chat as well.

I'm particularly fond of Skype, which has a presence in most countries around the world. I have a friend in Baltimore with whom I constantly communicate. It would cost us a fortune in telephone bills if we used traditional telephone services. To avoid this expensive scenario, we started audio and video chatting using our computers. We started with Yahoo Instant Messaging, but found the quality of the video choppy. Next, we switched to MSN Messenger and found that to be better. Unfortunately, we're both incredible blabber mouths and after an hour we got cut off. Now, for us an hour is barely enough time for us to warm up. At that point I suggested Skype. It had been recommended to me by a techie friend in Ontario although I'd never tried it.

I'll never go back to anything else. My friend and I could connect via video, voice and chat and we could blab for as long as we wanted. And blab we did - sometimes three or four hours at a time.

The cost? Nothing. Just as long as both users are on the same system the calls are free, to anywhere in the world. You can also call traditional land lines for a bit more. In this case, Skype is a bargain as well. I have Unlimited Skype Out. I can talk to anyone, on any phone, in the US and Canada. I can talk for as long as I want and the sound quality is wonderful. I pay US $29.99 per year for the privilege.

I think Skype (along with other internet telephony services) are worth looking into. In addition to Skype, you can also check out Yahoo! and Google which have voice and video capability. AOL also has a messenger service which probably has the same features, although I don't know for sure. Finally, I'm also familiar with Gizmo, which has a similar suite of applications for free/low cost internet communication. I'll post more about these various services, but for now wanted to introduce you to at least some of them.