Starting Up
The first step in being hooked up to the Skype system is, to visit their website www.skype.com and download their free software. You would also need to provide your personal information and register your user name and password. In addition, you need speakers and a microphone for making Skype calls. You can create a contact list on your computer, so that it becomes easier for you to make the calls. You can then click the Add button to add any new contact.

Calling a Skype Contact
If you wish to make a Skype to Skype call, all that you have to do is, to open Skype and click the contact you wish to call. You would then have to click the big green button, which is located at the bottom of the Skype screen. This will enable you to start your conversation. These calls are free.

Making Calls to a Landline
If you wish to call a landline from your Skype connection, you just need to click the "Call Phone" blue button on the top of the screen and enter the landline number on the dialing screen. You can start talking as soon as you press the big green button. As you have to pay for these calls, you should buy a Skype credit that will prove to be a cheaper option.

Making Video Calls
To make a video call, you need a Webcam, Speakers, and a Microphone. However, you will need to install Skype 2.0, in order to get started. Once, you install the webcam and speakers, the Skype will test speakers settings automatically.

Extra Features
You can install extra useful features in your Skype system such as, Voicemail for missed calls and Instant messaging program, like the Yahoo Messenger. The other salient features of Skype are, voice and video conferencing, file transfer, ability to use decentralized technology, to combat Network address translation (NAT), and firewall problems, use of strong and transparent encryption and its strong defenses against reverse engineering of protocol.

Skype is a simple to use system, for staying in touch with people all over the world. It is cheap and its popularity is growing every day.

Skype and the Skype logo are trademarks of Skype Technologies S.A. U3

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Super Nodes
Skype network uses two types of machines – Super Node (SN) and ordinary host (Skype Client). The computer of an ordinary host has to link up with the network and to Super Nodes, which are the ends of the ordinary hosts. If a computer has a public IP, it can become an SN. For a proper login, an ordinary host needs to register with Skype login server, after connecting to a super node. The Skype login server maintains a record of your name, password, e-mail address, and user name. All Super Nodes have to connect to this server in order to verify the above data.
Super Nodes are very useful, because they improve search performance, accelerate file transfers and scalability of the network, help the mutual connectivity of ordinary hosts, and steer the encrypted network traffic properly. Super Nodes also help in looking for other users in the network, by the process of 'Global Indexing'.

Functioning Of Skype
The login process is an important step of the functioning of the Skype. The SC has to connect to a SN, so that the username and password can be authenticated. When Skype is able to establish a TCP connection to the HC IP address, the user name and the password will have to be verified with the Skype login server. Thereafter, the media transfer process starts, in which the Skype video/voice communication is established via the UDP. The media traffic will flow, without any difficulty, if both Skype clients are on real IPs. If, however, one client or both the clients are not on public IP, then the voice traffic will flow on UDP or TCP. Even when there is silence between both the clients, voice packets keep flowing between the two ends so that the connection is kept alive.

Success of Skype
Skype has been very successful, mainly because of the following reasons: it is easy to install and use; its voice quality is superior to that of other systems; no problems are encountered while using it on computers with firewall; and, it ensures privacy as the communication is encrypted. Adware or Spyware is not included in the Skype application but third parties can add these functionalities. All these advantages have increased the popularity of Skype considerably.

Skype and the Skype logo are trademarks of Skype Technologies S.A. U3

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What's Free
The free services of Skype include: calling from your computer's Skype connection to another such computer; redirecting Skype calls to other connections; making video calls; chatting on one-to-one basis or in groups; making conference calls up to a maximum of nine people; and forwarding calls to any other Skype connection.

Services for Which You Have To Pay
For any calls made to any landline or mobile phone, you have to pay a specific charge. However, you can get some good deals such as:

1) Skype Unlimited: If you pay $29.95, you can make unlimited calls to any phone within the US and Canada for a year. You can also avail of low, per minute rates for international calls.
2) $18 for 3 months or $60 for 12 months: You can receive calls from SkypeIn phones and get free Skype Voicemail.
3) $6 for 3 months or $20 for 12 months: You can send and receive Voicemails.
4) Ringtones: Starting from $1.20
5) Pictures For Your Profile On Skype: $1.20
6) Gift Certificates: Starting from $25
7) Webcams, Headsets etc.: Starting from $10

Payment Methods
There are various ways of making payments for Skype services.

PayPal
This is a safe way of making online payments and it operates in 103 countries. Moreover, you do not need to divulge any of your financial information to traders or anyone else. You can make purchases and pay for them with PayPal. The first time you pay, a PayPal account will automatically be registered free of cost and all that you will need to provide are, your credit or debit card details that will be safely kept in your PayPal account. You can use this account for dealing with eBay or any other website that accepts PayPal. There might be some restrictions on using PayPal for Skype payments, such as, the association of PayPal with only one Skype account. There might also be some monthly purchase limits on PayPal payments.

PayPal pre-approved is a fast and easy way of making payments for Skype products. You will not need to enter your full details a second time and you can make your purchase in just two clicks. Enabling Auto-Recharge is an easy way to replenish Skype credit.

Diners, Visa or Master Card
Skype payments can also be made with your Diners, Visa, or Master Cards. The same restrictions might apply like, being able to use the cards for only one Skype account. Monthly purchase limits also might apply.

Moneybookers
You can also make Skype payments through Moneybookers that allow you to send and receive money safely via email. It can be used in combination with either your bank account or your credit or debit card.

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Speed Dialing
Gone are the days when one had to consult a diary to check out a telephone number and then dial it manually. Even the regular phones now have speed dialing facilities and Skype has adopted this facility in its speed dial function. All that you need to do is, enter the name of the person that you wish to call and press 'Enter'. You will most likely be talking to the person the next moment.

Cordless Operations
There might be many apprehensions that unlike the cordless regular phones, Skype might not enable you to move away from your computer and do other chores of life, while making a phone call and talking to your friends, relatives or business associates. Skype has offered many solutions, starting with an adapter that can be used with your existing cordless phone, but the quality of the sound might not be very good. You could go in for a specific cordless phone that is exclusively made for use with Skype, but that will necessitate having two phones, wherever you need to use a phone. The best option, however, is to buy an Internet Phone Wizard from ActionTec. This device enables any regular phone to be adapted with Skype and its sound quality is very good.

Recording Phone Calls
It is possible to record phone calls that are made through Skype, in a number of ways. One of the options is to use a software program called HotRecorder. The free version of the program, does not allow the consumer to convert the voice files into another format. However, you can purchase another version of HotRecorder, which is available for only $15, and enables conversion of voice files to an MP3 format that can be used whenever and wherever, the need arises.

Saving Messages
It is also possible to save the messages that are sent through the computer. Skype enables the user to save such bookmark chats, and it is possible to refer back to these saved chats and supplement the same with further conversations.

Skype on the Move
It is also possible to make phone calls through Skype, even when you are on the move, if you use a pocket personal computer (PPC). For best results, you should use 400 MHz to 624 MHz PPCs, but you might not be able to use all the functions of Skype.

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Yahoo!'s Advantages
However, it is unfair to blame the customer support staff as they are expected to deal with an abnormally large number of complaints. On the other hand, Yahoo! is setting up a much more organized customer support service. Moreover, Yahoo! is offering more competitive rates for both national and international calls. The list of prices has been posted on Yahoo!'s website, and it is obvious that with these competitive prices, Yahoo! will soon emerge as the leader in VoIP telephony services.

Yahoo has created a place for itself in the online world, as its chat service is already making waves in the market, and giving tough competition to Skype's VoIP based services. Yahoo! is adding value to chat service and is proceeding ahead at a very fast pace, as it is aware that MSN and AOL are also entering this field of Internet telephony. Yahoo!'s business models are not very different from Skype's products, but the software of Yahoo! consists of many more services.

Skype has lost its credibility because of the large number of incorrect charges and poor customer service that it presents to its consumers. Yahoo! has taken advantage of the anger of Skype's consumers and assured them of much better and faultless service.

Yahoo! has big plans to offer top quality communications service, and they are planning to blend VoIP with other services, like, search and mobile communications. Such integration is the future of Internet telephony services and Yahoo! is going full steam ahead, but Skype seems to be lagging behind miserably. Customers are aware of the wide range of services that Yahoo! is offering and it is obvious that Skype is nowhere near the level of Yahoo!'s services.

If you have also been a victim of the poor performance of Skype and have faced wrong charges, you should check out the services being offered by Yahoo! and take advantage of the competition that is bringing down the prices in all aspects of Internet telephony services.

If Skype wants to survive, it needs to pull up its socks and improve its services. However, until this happens, you can take advantage of what Yahoo! and others have to offer.

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Skype is inexpensive and the sound quality is superb. These qualities make it an effective, powerful, and ideal tool for use in business marketing. International business is now largely dependant on the efficacy of communications and Skype steps into this role very effectively. The following factors are instrumental in giving the cutting edge to Skype.

1) SkypeIn – A Special Feature of Skype: This feature enables you to have virtual offices in each part of the world, where you wish to do business by creating virtual numbers in those places. You can have as many virtual numbers as you like, and expand your business without having any staff, and with the minimum budget and time.

2) Third Party Applications: The Skype software can be used for many extra applications that will enhance the effectiveness of your business. Apart from the normal add-ons that any telephone system provides, such as, changing ring tones and making nice icons, many business-related applications can be used to achieve great success. With the help of these applications, you can create a call center right on your desktop. You can have all the facilities that you need to run your business successfully such as a personal secretary, full-time manager, call waiting, call routing, call forwarding, and language translations, merely by adapting Skype to your needs.

3) Capabilities of Integration: It is possible that your business needs will not be met by the routine and standard Skype version, as is available in the standard form. In such a case, you can always adapt and customize Skype, to suit your own systems. This can be done, either in-house or it can be outsourced to outside agencies, who are experts in this field. If you are successful in doing this, your telemarketing application will be very effective and it will cost a fraction of what traditional solutions might have cost. In addition, it will save you a lot of time.

You would naturally like to expand your business to the maximum possible extent, and see it prosper. In doing so, the most important aspect is proper communication with your clients, associates, and employees. Skype is a powerful communication tool that can boost your business potential. If you wish to gain maximum benefit, you need to be able to use it effectively for sales and marketing. Skype is the latest gift of modern day technology and it is in your interest, to use it to your advantage.

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Skype Is Inexpensive
The biggest benefit of Skype is that it is inexpensive. In fact, it is free as long as the phone call is made from one Skype subscriber to another. Many small businesses rely heavily on a high volume of telephony, and if the cost of this aspect is controlled with Skype, the whole complexion of the profitability of the business will improve dramatically.

SkypeIn Service
The latest innovation in Skype technology is the SkypeIn service, whereby, you can buy a local phone number, in any part of the world, and use it in your home. As an example, if you live in San Francisco and if most of your clients are based in Chicago, you can buy a Skypein phone number for Chicago, enabling your clients in Chicago to call your number free. Up to ten such phone numbers can be bought, with each number costing only $40 per year.

SkypeOut Service
Skype calls to other Skype users are free, but calls to landlines and mobile numbers do cost money. In order to help the small businesses, Skype has come out with SkypeOut service, which enables you to make calls to landlines or mobile phones free, anywhere in the U.S. Moreover, the rates for international calls have been brought down to make it easier for the businesses to conduct their negotiations with international clients.

Skype Voicemail
The voicemail service of Skype is similar to other such services. If you are not available when someone rings up your Skype phone, a message can be left on your voicemail, and you can retrieve it later on. This facility is very important when you are using the Skype phone for your business, as it is crucial to receive business messages on time. If you have one or more Skype phones, the voicemail service is free. You can also buy it for about $20.

Skype DualPhone
This is a novel concept, in which the Skype DualPhone can work as both your landline and your Skype phone. This is useful, if you have both these phone connections. However, if both the calls come in at the same time, the DualPhone can get confused.

Drawbacks of Skype
Like any new technology, the Skype services are also prone to errors, and as such, if you wish to make business sensitive calls or receive them, it is advisable to use the traditional phone systems until such time, that all the drawbacks of Skype phones are ironed out.

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SkypeOut
Besides the ability to call other Skype users through your computer, you can also call traditional landlines and mobile phones, for which you have to pay a nominal fee. This fee ranges between USD $0.024 and USD $2.142 per minute, depending on the country where you are calling. The calls to US and Canada, which were free, will now attract a small fee. Skype calls to toll free numbers in France, Poland, Canada, and United States are free.

SkypeIn
Skype users can receive calls from regular phones in other countries, if they call a local Skype phone number. If a user in Los Angeles creates a local telephone number in Copenhagen, people in Copenhagen can call that number at local rates. Skype users can subscribe to numbers in various countries, such as, United States, UK, Australia, Switzerland, Brazil, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, The Dominican Republic, Japan, Estonia, Hong Kong, Finland, Germany, and France.

Skype Voicemail
This service enables the callers to leave voicemail messages for users of Skype, who are not available. You have to pay for this service, but some providers like Kishkish[4], provide it for free. There have been many complaints regarding this service, as these voicemail messages are sometimes not received and at other times, they are not recorded.

Skype Chat
Skype allows group text chat, using an interface like IRC, with 150 People.

Skype Me
If a Skype user sets up his status to Skype Me, he can connect to users throughout the world, via voice and will be open to callers from anywhere in the world.

Skype Video Calling
Skype enables cross-platform conferencing between Windows and Mac, but Windows 2000 users would need DirectX 9.0 for video calls and only one-to-one video chat is possible. It is, however, possible for two or more people to chat, but not three or more.

Skypecasts
With the help of Skypecasts, groups of 100 people or less can have moderated conversations. You would need a host who can eject, mute, or pass the microphone, to those people who wish to speak. Text information cannot be shared over chat windows.

Skype SMS
If you subscribe to Skype 2.5 and above, you can send SMS messages to mobile phones, but the message will be shown to have been sent by a sender, whose first 11 digits of username will only appear on the receiver's phone. The rates for this service are cheaper than for standard SMS messages. The message might not be delivered if the recipient is in roaming state.

There are many other functions, such as Skype web toolbar, Skype Zones, Skype history logs, Skypefind, Skype Prime, Skype hardware, and many others. The most interesting innovation is the PocketSkype, which is Mobile Pocket PC, and you can use Skype voice with this device.

Skype and the Skype logo are trademarks of Skype Technologies S.A. U3

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SkypeOut
With this facility, you can call any traditional phone number, anywhere in the world, from your computer. You would have to pay 2 US cents (1.7 Euro Cents or 1.1 pence) per minute, for using global SkypeOut, to more than 20 countries.

SkypeIn
You can get a virtual phone number of any country, and your friends or business associates of that country can call that number at local rates. The yearly subscription is 30, and for 3 months, it is 10.

Skype Voicemail
You can redirect calls to your voicemail and just pay 5 for 3 months or 15 for a year.

PC To PC Calls
Perhaps, the best application of Skype is the ease of making calls from one computer with Skype, to another and that too, free of cost. All that you need is a computer, an Internet connection, a PC microphone, and speakers, or you could go in for a basic USB headset. With this arrangement, you can talk to anyone, anywhere in the world, with excellent voice quality.

Impressive Features of Skype
Apart from easy setup facilities, Skype has a database that is easy to search and to make a list of contacts. There are hardly any interruptions in the calls, even when they are being made between US and India, and that too, for a long period. The quality of the communication, especially clarity is comparable to that of a normal telephone. Moreover, Skype can work in any environment, even if there is Nat or firewall.

Negative Features of Skype
An analysis has shown that Vonage offers many more calling features than Skype. Moreover, the technical/customer support offered by Skype leaves much to be desired. The quality of SkypeOut package is also inconsistent. Skype does not have video chat facilities that are available with other VoIP providers like, MSN messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.

Final Assessment
With Vonage, you can get more feature-rich services and a better customer service, but it is also more expensive. Skype is computer-based, but Vonage gives better service as far as traditional telephony is concerned. In the field of free PC-to-PC calls, however, Skype is a better option than any of its competitors. It needs to improve its SkypeOut, SkypeIn, and its customer support services, in order to become the best voice-application provider.

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Skype was established on the first P2P telephony network, which was a logical next step to P2P. VoIP software has been around for many years, but it has not been in the mainstream. It poses many problems that can be overcome with centralization, by passing the calls through firewalls or NATs. The cost of running these networks becomes equal to that of the traditional telecom systems. The high cost forces the companies running these systems, to cut down on resources per user and as such, the call quality goes down. Skype, on the other hand, has been able to use all the resources in one network. The quality of calls has been improved by producing the most user-friendly interface. The techniques used by Skype to offer the best IP-based telephony are given below.

Firewall and NAT
Two clients, who wish to communicate with each other by routing calls, can achieve it, with the help of NAT'ed nodes. The security risk is taken care of by proxies, as the calls are encrypted end-to-end. For ensuring good performance, only proxies with spare resources are used. Skype operates behind most of the firewalls, and those gateways that have no special configuration.

Decentralized Global User Directory
A centralized directory is used by most communication software, as a connection has to be established between end users, so that the static username can be associated with the variable IP number that is often the case when the user takes on a dynamic IP address. A centralized directory helps to track users, because it keeps a record of all usernames, IP numbers, and the changes, but they are very expensive. Skype is able to cut costs by decentralizing and using the resources to develop other important functions.

Effective Routing
Skype has the capability of effectively routing the encrypted calls, through the most intelligent paths with all the resources that it has at its disposal. It keeps many options of paths, and moves through the one that suits it the most. Call quality can be improved and latency can be reduced in this way.

Security
Skype encrypts all calls and instant messages, to ensure privacy. This is even more necessary, as the calls are routed through the public Internet Super-simple UI.

Skype has been designed in such a way that the software is user-friendly and easy to use. People who are familiar with Windows and telephones will find no difficulty in using Skype.

Skype and the Skype logo are trademarks of Skype Technologies S.A. U3

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