What I love about Skype...What I hate about Skype

I've described Skype as the way Instant Messaging was intended to be. That's true! It is amazing. There are some things I don't like, but they don't overrule the usefulness of the overall system.

I have done a lot of experimentation. I hooked my Motorola HS500 bluetooth headset to my computer and roamed the Haunted Basement Studio while talking on Skype. I made conference calls. I added a bunch of phone numbers into my list. I even got a SkypeIn number (248-841-4957 in case anyone wants to try it). I am having a blast with Skype.

What I like most is that I put it on my laptop, too. When I travel to exotic conferences all over the place, and indeed when I go on my 11 day vacation next month, I will be able to take and place Skype calls when I'm in hotels with internet connections! Yes, I could be in Greencastle, Indiana, and if my laptop is plugged in and turned on I can take any call made to 248-841-4957! I can also make any call I desire to anywhere in the US or Canada since there's no charge for SkypeOut until after the end of the year. Even in 2007, I will be able to SkypeOut (make calls to telephones). I expect the pricing to be on-par with Yahoo's Dial Out service or whatever they call it. That's 2 cents per minute to US phones and 1 cent per minute to Canada, England, Australia, and the like.

My savings will make it worthwhile. I currently pay a few cents under $30 per month for Vonage (that's OUT THE DOOR by November 3rd...gone, gone, gone...so I don't get another bill!). I paid the $199/year (which works out to be $16.58/month) for Sunrocket. I'm not renewing that when it expires on December 27th! I did get the SkypeIn number for $38/year or $3.17/month. So my possible maximum savings per month will be $46.58 minus $3.17 which is $43.41 per month.

Even should SkypeOut cost 2 cents per minute starting in 2007, that's 2170 minutes of outbound calling (inbound is paid for by the $38/year I already paid) per month I'd have to make before I would have been better off with my multiple other VoIP carriers.

Besides the fiscal savings I will enjoy, the software is amazing. It functions as an instant messenger as well as a feature laden computer phone. Sweet!

There are a couple things, though, that bug me.

First and foremost, when I make a SkypeOut call, the CallerID is set to "Unknown 0000123456." People see "Unknown" and/or 0000123456 (depending on whether they have CallerID or CallerID with Name) and they let my call go to voicemail. Actually, this could be a blessing in disguise! After all, I would then make a 2 minute call to leave a voicemail and the other party would listen to the voicemail and call me back so it won't use my SkypeOut minutes when they are no longer free starting in 2007.

And the other thing is being "tied" to the computer. The best call quality is when I use headphones with a microphone built into them. I have a fairly expensive set (used to use them for Ghostly Talk), but they are corded. The bluetooth thing is usually okay...but some people hear a really bad echo and cannot continue the conversation until I switch to the headphones. There are little adapters that can be had for around $50 to $70 that will allow any phone (and I have some good cordless 5.8 GHz ones hooked to my Sunrocket right now) to control the Skype. Guess what's on my Holiday List?!? :)

All in all, I'm convinced. I'm dropping all other VoIP carriers and going Skype only. It's as mobile as my laptop, which is fine with me, and it's so easy and interesting to use.

My Skype ID, by the way, is gtdoug. If I'm in SkypeMe(tm)! mode, well, SkypeMe(tm)!