Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Skype

People rely on technology for every aspects of their lives and technology gives a significant impact to people’s lives. Technology is constantly changing, growing, and of course forcing the world to change as well. For people nowadays, it’s hard to imagine life without technology and all of its luxuries that are provided from it. Some technology exists and causes lives of people to change and improve. Up until now, internet is still arguably the best and most widely used piece of modern technology.

We can do anything with internet, and almost every aspect of our everyday lives is relying on internet, such as work, school, social relationships, and especially, communication. As a human being, communication is important for our lives, human have social needs to interact with other people, and after all, human cannot live alone. There are many ways of communicating besides face-to-face communication. Thanks to technology, people now can communicate in many ways, and internet really plays a big role on this aspect. With internet, we can communicate through e-mails, instant messages, chat groups, voice calls, and even video calls.

Video call has made communicating and travelling through the years a lot simpler and easier. The most widely used video chatting software is Skype. Skype is software that can make free video calls and we can physically see our family, friends and relatives via videos. Skype is not only for making video calls, but with Skype, we can also make voice calls, instant messaging, and file sharing, all free of charge. It is obvious that with the invention of Skype, people now can communicate through the distances and Skype makes us easier to communicate with each other.

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Until September 2011, Skype has 663 million registered users around the world. What is Skype and what are its features? How to operate Skype? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Skype?

Purposes

The purposes of writing this paper is to know more about Skype and its features, how to operate on this software, and to know more about the advantages and disadvantages of using Skype.

History and Background of Skype

Generally, Skype is a voice-over-Internet Protocol service that allows users to communicate with peers through voice, video, and instant messaging over the Internet.

Phone calls may be placed to recipients on the traditional telephone networks. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free of charge, while calls to landline telephones and mobile phones are charged through a debit-based user account system. Skype is also popular for its additional features, such as file transfer and videoconferencing. Unlike most VoIP services, Skype uses hybrid peer-to-peer and client–server system, and makes use of background processing on computers running Skype software.

Originally, Skype was to be named “Peer-to-Peer”, but it was too long so it was shortened to “Skyper”. However, there were some domain names that named “Skyper” as well, so eventually the “r” was deleted and the founders took the name “Skype” for the software. Skype was discovered in 2003 by Janus Friis from Denmark and Niklas Zennstrom from Sweden. The software itself was developed by Estonians Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu, and Jaan Tallinn, who together with Janus and Niklas were also behind the peer-to-peer file sharing software Kazaa.

Finally, in August 2003, the first public beta version was released. Skype headquarters are located in Luxembourg, and most of Most of the development team and 44% of the overall employees of the division are situated in the offices of Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia. On 10 May 2011, Microsoft agreed to purchase Skype’s license for $8. 5 billion. The company was incorporated as a division of Microsoft, and on 13 October 2011, the purchase was finally completed.

Skype’s Features

SkypeOut allows Skype users to call traditional phone numbers, including mobile phones, for a fee. However, SkypeOut doesn't support calls to toll-free or premium rate numbers, and SkypeOut in other countries. SkypeOut also doesn't support calling emergency numbers such as 1-1-2 in Europe or 911 in the United States. The quality of SkypeOut service is not guaranteed, broken connections, there are drop-outs and compression distortion are frequently observed by users. Since then, Support for the above toll free numbers in Canada has been effectively removed since January 2012. b. Caller ID for Outgoing Calls.

Skype has a feature that allows users to set the caller ID for outgoing calls to normal telephone numbers. There is a set-up verification that involves a SMS text messaging to a selected mobile phone number, then typing the verification code into a web form. It can only be used by owners of mobile phones, since most regular home and business cannot receive text messages. However, SMS messaging from Skype’s system has not been working correctly in various locals, and even though Skype maintains the problem and it has been corrected, it continues to be inoperative, recently in the United States and Canada. . Online Numbers A feature named Online Number (until 2010 named SkypeIn) allows Skype users to receive calls on their computers dialed from mobiles or landlines to a Skype-provided phone number. The number need not be in the same location as the user. Skype offers numbers in Australia, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In Russia some third party companies, including SIP operators, provide direct numbers, redirecting calls to Skype.

Subscription Calling Calls

Skype offers several monthly subscription calling plans that it calls unlimited. However, Skype limits these subscriptions to 10,000 minutes per month, 6 hours per day, and 50 telephone numbers per day. If one of these limits is exceeded, any additional calls are billed at regular rates and connection fees.  Voicemail was released on March 10, 2005.

This service allows callers to leave voicemail messages for Skype users who are offline. This is currently a service that users have to pay for, though several companies, provides a Skype voicemail service for free (However, these voicemail services only work when the program and the computer is online). Skype Voicemail had experienced numerous problems over the years and users complain that they never receive any voicemails. Moreover, the Online Number feature occasionally fails to record certain incoming calls on the program's history page .

Video Calling and Screen Sharing

Skype 2. 0 (and later) supports video calling for Skype-to-Skype calls between two parties on Microsoft Windows (DirectX 9. 0 or above required), Mac OS X, and Linux. Skype 3. 6 and later supports high definition video on Windows. Skype 3. 0. 0 on iOs allows iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users to call each other, as well as Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Later on Skype 5. 0 support video calls via third party hardware. Skype can also be installed through Facebook Video Chat with Skype (a Facebook product), and screen sharing in Skype will be available for Skype Premium.

SMS Text Messaging

Skype users can send SMS text messages to mobile phone numbers. In the United States, China, and Taiwan, Skype uses a "generic, pre-defined number" as the sender ID. In other countries, the message can be set to appear coming from a verified mobile number, allowing recipients to reply, or else show the first 11 characters of the Skype username. However, as of March 2011, Skype users cannot receive SMS, despite a continuing series of requests and complaints.

How to Operate and Use Skype

Before you can register on Skype, all you need is to download the application software. Since the user used Windows OS, then the user will show you how to download Skype on Windows. What you’ll need before downloading Skype are: A computer with a broadband internet connection, you can’t use dial up connections since it’s too slow.  Speakers and a microphone. Many computers will have these built in (especially laptops), and many webcams (see below) also have microphones built in. If you don’t have speakers and a microphone, you can buy it separately.  A webcam.

This is a small camera that connects to your computer through a USB port, if it isn’t already built into your screen. A webcam isn’t that necessary if you’re not using video calls, but if you want to use this feature, then you definitely need a webcam. Step-by-Step of Downloading Skype 1. Go to the Skype. com home page.  Click ‘Get Skype’ in the bar at the top. A list of computer platforms will appear. Click the one that matches your computer (most likely ‘Windows’). You can choose by signing up for Skype Premium, which will cost you (but allows group video calls), or Skype Free.

If you have decided your option, then click Download Skype. A page will appear where you can either sign in (if you’ve registered already) or input your information to create an account. You can also register your Skype with your Facebook account if you have one. There are also a number of boxes to fill in to create an account. To begin, fill in your first name and last name and your email address (and repeat it). These are all required. No one will be able to see your email address. Profile information.

All of this will be available for anyone to see on Skype, except for your mobile number, which will be restricted to your own contacts.  You can choose to tell Skype how you intend to use its service by clicking one of the options in the drop-down menu. Skype Name Enter the name that you want your Skype friends to see and which you’ll use to log in to Skype. None of the 650 million users of Skype can have the same Skype name, and the system will automatically check to see if your name has been claimed by anyone else and, if it has, will suggest alternatives. e. Password Enter (and repeat) the password you’d like to use.

It must consist of 6 to 20 characters and contain both letters and numbers. f. If you don’t want promotional emails from Skype, you can uptick the two boxes towards the bottom. g. The ‘captcha’ box: This is designed to make sure that you are you and not a naughty computer. Look at the text in the first box and then type it into the box below – in this case, ‘’. If you can’t read the text, click the Refresh button and you’ll be given another bit of text to copy. h. And finally, read the terms of use and privacy statement and, if you have no objections, click I agree – Continue. . You’ll be taken to a page headed ‘Thanks for choosing Skype’. Depending on your web browser, your download should start automatically or a window should appear asking you to confirm the download. In this instance, you should click OK. Your browser should have downloaded the Skype install file on to your computer – to your desktop, to your ‘Downloads’ folder or to wherever you have chosen to send downloaded files. Go to the relevant place and double-click the file labelled Skypesetup or simply Skype. A window will pop up asking you which language you wish to proceed in.

You can also check the end user licence agreement, privacy statement and some basic options. When you’re ready, click I agree – next to move on. A new window will open. This contains a progress bar that will fill up while the Skype program downloads and installs. Once it’s done, Skype will automatically start.  Another window opens in which you should sign in. If you already have a Skype account, enter your Skype name and password here. If not, click Create a new account. You’ve now reached your Skype home page, which gives you two options: Find friends on Skype and Dial a number.

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