Eutrusca
06-04-2006, 15:41
COMMENTARY: You know about cell phones, right? And most of you know about Skype, right? Well, now you can combine them to call anywhere in the world! Kewl, yes? :D
Internet Calls Untethered From Your PC (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/technology/06pogue.html?th&emc=th)
Published: April 6, 2006
WHY does Skype get so much hype? Sure, this software lets you make free "phone calls," computer to computer, anywhere in the world. But it wasn't the first such program, it's not the most feature-laden, and it's still a mystery to most people over 25. [ HA! ]
Yet somehow, Skype is changing everything. Twenty-five million people are using it to make free calls, much to the annoyance of the phone companies. College students call home and friends with it. Business travelers keep in touch with the family. Visitors to the United States chit-chat with their buddies in Europe, Japan or wherever. The software — free from skype.com and available for Mac, Windows, Linux and PocketPC — is pitifully easy to use, and the sound quality is more like FM radio than a phone call.
Skype's popularity has caused some impressive ripples in the fabric of business and society. The word is now a verb, à la Google ("Have your people Skype my people"). Last fall, eBay bought Skype for $1.3 billion and 32.4 million shares of eBay stock. And most intriguing of all, an entire industry of Skype accessories has sprung up.
But one niggling footnote continues to dog Skype: to make free calls, you and your conversation partner must both sit there in front of your computers, nerdlike, wearing headsets. You can call regular telephones, but that's not free. (Rates are complicated, but 2.1 cents a minute is typical.) And you still have to sit handcuffed to your computer.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could make and receive Skype calls from your home phone or any ordinary cellphone?
Enter the VoSky Call Center ($60 at actiontec.com), nicknamed the Liberator. (All right, I gave it that nickname, but still.) It's a tiny black box, about the size of a sandwich, that connects to a Windows PC (with a U.S.B. cable), to your phone line and to your telephone. An exceptionally clear instruction sheet walks you through the installation.
As a final preparatory step, you're supposed to install Skype, if you haven't already, fill up its buddy list with the Skype addresses of your pals, and assign a speed-dial number to each one. Then you're ready for the VoSky magic show.
For its first trick, the Call Center will let you call Skype buddies using the telephone on your desk. You pick up the handset, dial ## (which means, "This one's for Skype") and listen to a recorded female voice say: "Welcome to the VoSky Call Center. Please enter your contact's speed-dial number." (She pronounces it VOSS-key.)
Fortunately, you don't have to sit through her complete recording; you can interrupt by dialing at any time. She's just a digital audio file, not easily insulted.
There's a quick click, and then the call is placed. Your comrade, perhaps thousands of miles away, hears the familiar Skype ring tone, sits down at the PC, puts on the headset and answers. You, meanwhile, chat cheerily on your cordless phone as you move about, do the laundry or set the table.
The sound quality is excellent. It's not as good as a Skype-to-Skype call, of course, because you're listening on a phone — but it's much better than a regular phone call.
If you've signed up for SkypeOut, that 2.1-cents-a-minute plan that lets you call phone numbers rather than computers, you make calls in exactly the same way. Pick up your phone and touch ##2 (or whatever the speed-dial number is), or even ## plus a standard phone number in international format.
The second magic trick is even more impressive. This time, you can make a Skype call from your cellphone, wherever you happen to be.
To make this work, you tell the Call Center's PC software ahead of time how long it should wait — say, until the fifth ring — before answering incoming calls.
Then, when you're out and about with your cellphone, you dial home. After the designated number of rings, the Call Center's recorded young lady answers. After you plug in your password, she prompts you to touch the desired speed-dial number, and off you go. You're talking free to your aunt in Antigua, from your cellphone, courtesy of your home phone and your PC.
"Free" is a relative term, of course. Just calling your home number may still be using up your cellphone's monthly minutes, depending on the time of day and what kind of cellular plan you have. Even so, you'll save a lot of money if you call internationally.
Trick No. 3 is Skype forwarding. If you're away from home when somebody tries to reach you using Skype, the Call Center rings your cellphone (or any number you specify) so you can take the call.
The Call Center's last trick is call return, and it's pretty neat. Suppose you try to reach Dad in Dallas, but he's not at his desk. In that case, the Call Center's recorded voice offers to call you back when he is online. Sooner or later, when you least expect it, your cellphone rings; it's your Call Center, whose voice lets you know that Dad is online again. She tells you that if you'd like to call him right now (using Skype), press 1.
[ This article is two pages long. Read the rest of the article (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/technology/06pogue.html?th&emc=th). ]
Internet Calls Untethered From Your PC (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/technology/06pogue.html?th&emc=th)
Published: April 6, 2006
WHY does Skype get so much hype? Sure, this software lets you make free "phone calls," computer to computer, anywhere in the world. But it wasn't the first such program, it's not the most feature-laden, and it's still a mystery to most people over 25. [ HA! ]
Yet somehow, Skype is changing everything. Twenty-five million people are using it to make free calls, much to the annoyance of the phone companies. College students call home and friends with it. Business travelers keep in touch with the family. Visitors to the United States chit-chat with their buddies in Europe, Japan or wherever. The software — free from skype.com and available for Mac, Windows, Linux and PocketPC — is pitifully easy to use, and the sound quality is more like FM radio than a phone call.
Skype's popularity has caused some impressive ripples in the fabric of business and society. The word is now a verb, à la Google ("Have your people Skype my people"). Last fall, eBay bought Skype for $1.3 billion and 32.4 million shares of eBay stock. And most intriguing of all, an entire industry of Skype accessories has sprung up.
But one niggling footnote continues to dog Skype: to make free calls, you and your conversation partner must both sit there in front of your computers, nerdlike, wearing headsets. You can call regular telephones, but that's not free. (Rates are complicated, but 2.1 cents a minute is typical.) And you still have to sit handcuffed to your computer.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could make and receive Skype calls from your home phone or any ordinary cellphone?
Enter the VoSky Call Center ($60 at actiontec.com), nicknamed the Liberator. (All right, I gave it that nickname, but still.) It's a tiny black box, about the size of a sandwich, that connects to a Windows PC (with a U.S.B. cable), to your phone line and to your telephone. An exceptionally clear instruction sheet walks you through the installation.
As a final preparatory step, you're supposed to install Skype, if you haven't already, fill up its buddy list with the Skype addresses of your pals, and assign a speed-dial number to each one. Then you're ready for the VoSky magic show.
For its first trick, the Call Center will let you call Skype buddies using the telephone on your desk. You pick up the handset, dial ## (which means, "This one's for Skype") and listen to a recorded female voice say: "Welcome to the VoSky Call Center. Please enter your contact's speed-dial number." (She pronounces it VOSS-key.)
Fortunately, you don't have to sit through her complete recording; you can interrupt by dialing at any time. She's just a digital audio file, not easily insulted.
There's a quick click, and then the call is placed. Your comrade, perhaps thousands of miles away, hears the familiar Skype ring tone, sits down at the PC, puts on the headset and answers. You, meanwhile, chat cheerily on your cordless phone as you move about, do the laundry or set the table.
The sound quality is excellent. It's not as good as a Skype-to-Skype call, of course, because you're listening on a phone — but it's much better than a regular phone call.
If you've signed up for SkypeOut, that 2.1-cents-a-minute plan that lets you call phone numbers rather than computers, you make calls in exactly the same way. Pick up your phone and touch ##2 (or whatever the speed-dial number is), or even ## plus a standard phone number in international format.
The second magic trick is even more impressive. This time, you can make a Skype call from your cellphone, wherever you happen to be.
To make this work, you tell the Call Center's PC software ahead of time how long it should wait — say, until the fifth ring — before answering incoming calls.
Then, when you're out and about with your cellphone, you dial home. After the designated number of rings, the Call Center's recorded young lady answers. After you plug in your password, she prompts you to touch the desired speed-dial number, and off you go. You're talking free to your aunt in Antigua, from your cellphone, courtesy of your home phone and your PC.
"Free" is a relative term, of course. Just calling your home number may still be using up your cellphone's monthly minutes, depending on the time of day and what kind of cellular plan you have. Even so, you'll save a lot of money if you call internationally.
Trick No. 3 is Skype forwarding. If you're away from home when somebody tries to reach you using Skype, the Call Center rings your cellphone (or any number you specify) so you can take the call.
The Call Center's last trick is call return, and it's pretty neat. Suppose you try to reach Dad in Dallas, but he's not at his desk. In that case, the Call Center's recorded voice offers to call you back when he is online. Sooner or later, when you least expect it, your cellphone rings; it's your Call Center, whose voice lets you know that Dad is online again. She tells you that if you'd like to call him right now (using Skype), press 1.
[ This article is two pages long. Read the rest of the article (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/technology/06pogue.html?th&emc=th). ]