skype.com

Just a heads up in terms of Skype usage! not sure if someone already has posted this...

You can buy a little converter box which plugs into your PC and enables your normal house telephone phone to be plugged into it. If your house phone is a DECT cordless (or just a normal Cordless) then you're free to wander your house/flat/mansion making a call!

I personally don't use Skype out for making calls to fixed landlines although their rates do seem quite good! - My choice of calling 'traditional' land based geographical numbers is to pay a provider £20 per month in order to have ALL UK numbers beginning 01 and 02 and calls to 40 Countries,  USA and Canada included, unlimited call time day or night!

So long as I stay away from premium rate numbers and mobiles, I've 'fixed' my monthly telephone bill at the £20 for this 'deal' plus I think it's £10/month line rental. I make mobile and premium rate calls from my Mobile/Cell phone as the plan I'm on INCLUDES those numbers in my inclusive minutes!

I still occasionally pickup a call card which has 1p/min rates to the USA and Canada to both mobiles and fixed lines - but lately haven't needed to. I'm also in the process of evaluating Vonage as their service seems to have some brilliant features. The 'pay' for a extra number which could be in another country seems excellent, I can 'buy' a NYC or LA or whatver Area code I want, so that people in the same area code can dial it, and 'think' they're calling locally, except it rings here on your Vonage account in the UK! also works vice versa too!

I like many of you, paid immense amounts on phone bills until I got wise and searched out the alternatives!

Cheers! Dennis! West London UK!!

Just a heads up in terms of Skype usage! not sure if someone already has posted this...

You can buy a little converter box which plugs into your PC and enables your normal house telephone phone to be plugged into it. If your house phone is a DECT cordless (or just a normal Cordless) then you're free to wander your house/flat/mansion making a call!

this is exactly what rich did.  works perfect for us.

ahhhh.... skype is fabulous.  we figured out that we talk on average of 2-3 hours per day, and more on the weekends.  And to think we spent a few thousand dollars on phone bills before skype!

FREE IS FABULOUS! 

i love skype i've had it for months. 

I'm also in the process of evaluating Vonage as their service seems to have some brilliant features. The 'pay' for a extra number which could be in another country seems excellent, I can 'buy' a NYC or LA or whatver Area code I want, so that people in the same area code can dial it, and 'think' they're calling locally, except it rings here on your Vonage account in the UK! also works vice versa too!

That's basically the same idea as the old FX service (Foreign eXchange) which was used by big businesses years ago so that customers in another city could call them without long-distance charges, and vice versa.    Using VoIP services to achieve this these days is much cheaper though!

If you had family and friends in, say, Los Angeles, you could get a number in 213 or one of the other NPAs for the area.  Then not only would you be able to call them on your package, but they would be able to call you in England as though they were calling locally.

Im looking into skype now, and I am curious about a few things...and since I dont have an account it wont let me find out some of it at all, the rest just doesnt seem to be explained very well.

If we used an adapter to hook our regular phone up to the usb hub would it still ring through with a call to the landline?

And vice versa, would we need to remove the phone from the usb to make a call not using skype?

If we went with the regular phone number Im assuming this is on top of having a landline connected?

Anyone that does have their regular phone hooked up to work with skype, how is the connection?

I have had troubles finding the answers to these questions on their site...thats why I came here since I knew I had seen skype mentioned somewhere

If we used an adapter to hook our regular phone up to the usb hub would it still ring through with a call to the landline?

We have this set up. We basically have two different phone systems. We have a cordless phone plugged into the phone adapter. It has a second cordless base/handset downstairs. So two Skype phones (off one adapter). Then we have our landline phones which are plugged into the wall. No the Skype will only ring to the skype phone(s).

And vice versa, would we need to remove the phone from the usb to make a call not using skype?

Yes. If you've just got the one phone then yes. We get around this by having multiple phones.

If we went with the regular phone number Im assuming this is on top of having a landline connected?

This depends. I'm not sure which regular phone number you're talking about. We have a US regular phone number that rings here in Scotland (for my fam to call me). I have considered buying a Scotland regular number also (so I can call the fam). If you had a local Skype number (assigned to your computer) then theoretically you wouldn't need the landline. Unfortunately for us we have to have the land line anyway to get our high-speed internet.

Anyone that does have their regular phone hooked up to work with skype, how is the connection?

My connection is great. I can't even tell it's any different from a regular land line phone. I've only had one instance where there was a bad connection. I will note though that I had the phone adapter plugged into my USB hub when I first got it. The connection is much better when the phone adapter is plugged directly into the computer - as we have now.

Yes. If you've just got the one phone then yes. We get around this by having multiple phones.

Another possibility would be to get a 2-line phone, where you can select the line you want to use with the press of a button (just like the desk phones which were common in the 1960s/70s/80s with a row of buttons along the bottom to select the line).

If you really wanted to get fancy, you could install a small PBX-type unit to link everything up to the same phones.  Then you could have calls on both numbers ring on all the phones, and set it up so that you can originate calls on either, e.g. dial 9 for your regular landline, 8 for VoIP.

had a local Skype number (assigned to your computer) then theoretically you wouldn't need the landline. Unfortunately for us we have to have the land line anyway to get our high-speed internet.

There's no need to have a POTS line in order to use any of the VoIPservices.  In many areas though, you won't have a choice, because to get a DSL connection you must already pay for the landline.  If you have a BT landline which won't be used much for outgoing calls, you might be able to request the light-user tariff though, which reduces the basic line rental.

I have the Skype Internet Phone Wizard hooked up to my landline and computer. It works great. You can switch back and forth between with tremendous ease amd can even use  call waiting and answer incoming calls while on a call. Works just like a regular phone. Only difference is that Skype calls ONLY ring through to the connected phone whereas landline calls ring through to all phones in the hose. You don't need more than one phone with the right hookup.

I have Skype and it's great!  I don't bother with a headset - works great just talking to my computer - although sometimes I do feel a bit silly - seems like I should have something up to my mouth when I'm talking.... 

Thank you all for the info, that helps a lot

Our only current problem is we will be with dfs parents, and Im not sure he hs a phone line in his room...so I imagine for now a headset will be a must.
But am I understanding this correctly that if theres the phone hooked up to the comp and then other phones hooked up to the regular landline in other places in the house the other phones will ring with non-skype calls?

Im definitely not the geek half of this relationship

Katrina

But am I understanding this correctly that if theres the phone hooked up to the comp and then other phones hooked up to the regular landline in other places in the house the other phones will ring with non-skype calls?

The phone will ring on an incoming call from whatever it is hooked up to.

So phones connected to the computer on VoIP will ring on incoming Skype/VoIP calls, and when you pick up one of those phones to make a call, it will go out on that connection.

Phones connected to the regular landline will ring on incoming calls to that landline number, and when you pick one up to make a call you will get dialtone and make the call on that landline. 

We tried early versions of internet telephony, which were awful. But long distance was more expensive then, too, so we stuck with it. Locks, dropouts, bad sound quality. It was so frustrating. When calling card rates got so cheap, we just dropped it. So when somebody recommended Skype, I  rolled my eyes.

Cheez, was I wrong! This is so much better than early VOIP. I've got a decent mike and I output through the  stereo speakers.  Some evenings, we just leave it open, and I can hear him move around the room and poke the fire and rustle the newspaper. Honestly, at first it was a little creepy, like I could look over my shoulder and he'd be there.

Is anybody using a webcam with Skype? We'd kind of like to get a couple of cheap ones, just for fun. Something at the low end that wouldn't be completely useless.

Is anybody using a webcam with Skype? We'd kind of like to get a couple of cheap ones, just for fun. Something at the low end that wouldn't be completely useless.

I am- it works really well and it's so convenient to have webcam capabilities in Skype itself now.  Webcams are easy to find these days and cheap- I got mine for $10 at an electronics store and the picture quality is actually pretty good

Some evenings, we just leave it open, and I can hear him move around the room and poke the fire and rustle the newspaper.

btw - that wasn't the chair squeaking ...nothing like being 'near'.