Use Skype to make Free Video Calls:

• www.VideoCall4Free.com

Feb 11, 2005

Author: Michael Gough

I am often asked "Why Skype versus other solutions?"  Well this is a loaded question...

I use Skype as a part of my regular Video Calls with my daughter which is called 'Virtual Visitation', but that is for another article.  For more information about Virtual Visitation visit our parent website at:

• http://www.InternetVisitation.org

I also use Skype for talking to family and friends.  But "Why" Skype you ask.  Well several reasons.

• Skype to Skype calls are free
• Great quality audio
• Easy to use
• It works anywhere you go
• It is portable
• It can call regular telephones
• It is "cool"
• It works on all popular operating systems
• the hardware add-ons currently available and soon will be available
• It works on a PocketPC
• It can work just like a telephone - with a telephone
• Non computer users can use it

Free is always a great way to get people to use something new when it comes to the Internet.  Why Skype has succeeded where others have struggled are for many of the reasons I listed above, but the main ones IMHO are the following.

Skype is portable

Skype can be loaded on your home computer, laptop and PocketPC.  It works on Windows, MAC, Linux and PocketPC operating systems and soon Cell phones.  With being portable you need to also have a 'works anywhere' capability to be truly portable.  'Works anywhere' is our term that means that the solution does not need any custom configuration when it comes to networks and firewalls.  So at home it works, at hotels for us traveling business people it works, hotspots, airports, family and friends homes when you visit them with your laptop.  This is what makes Skype portable.  Try taking your Vonage box with you everywhere you go.  There are other VoIP solutions, but they have not been as successful as Skype... so "Why" Skype ?

Skype is free

Skype being free for computer to computer calls and being available on all the operating systems makes it 'cool'.  Skype allows the 'geek' in us to call one another and it does not matter what operating system we are running and that is what is lacking in many of the other solutions to make it interesting to the masses.  Though Windows is the dominant operating system we all use, there are many Mac and Linux users that want to communicate with Windows users and Skype allows just that - open voice communication between users of any operating system.

Being free while all of us spread the word about Skype is why it spread so quickly at first and got many of us to take a serious look at the beginning.  Being FREE is what got other non 'geeks' to take a look and the audio quality is what hooked all of us.

Skype's dial out to a telephone SkypeOut is cheap.  Skype's cost per minute versus a flat rate like Vonage and others offer is what VoIP needs and users want.  We have all learned through Cell phone and Telephone companies flat rate calling plans that flat rates are not cost effective for most of us and we have seen them drop in price to gain market share.  Calling cards and Cell phones helped to drive down the monthly flat rate costs and Skype has already made an impact to Vonage and others as I have seen their monthly rates drop to compete more with Skype.  Unless you analyze your monthly calls and know exactly what you spend, use SkypeOut for a few months and do your own math, I think the answer is obvious.  Unless you live on the phone, Skype will save you money.

Skype driving changes

Skype's fast growth and success has caused vendors to jump on board by either offering Skype with their products or by creating software and hardware that specifically works with Skype like the USB to RJ11 Gateways I discuss in another article.  It is the availability of add-ons that take a product to the next level.  Just look at the options available for the Apple iPod and what it has done for Apple and all their accessory makers.  The reason other VoIP applications that are computer based have not grown as fast is this lack of product change and accessory creation.  Skype is bringing VoIP to the rest of us. 

You don't have to be a 'geek' to use Skype

Skype is cheap, Skype is portable, Skype is 'cool', but you do not have to be very computer literate to like or use Skype.  Once you experience the quality and the ease of use and that it can be used just like a telephone - Read my article "Using Skype without being at your computer" to understand just how to use Skype with and just like a regular phone.  This is "Why" Skype is 'cool' and dominating the VoIP market and growing just like the Apple iPod revolution.

Conclusion - Join the Skype revolution !!!!

We provided this website as a part of our Virtual Visitation efforts, but also because Skype is 'cool' and will become as common as Email and Instant Messaging in the next few years.  There are other solutions and they are good solutions and Google has even announced they will be getting into the VoIP market with a Skype like product.  If you use something else, try Skype with some of the add-ons we recommend and let us know what you think.

send me your comments:  

MG