Skype

For those of you who are interested I've been using Skype more and more and am actually quite impressed.

I originally started using Skype after installing it for a client for whom Skype is a revolutionary and fantastic solution. This client has offices around the world as far flung as islands on the other side of the planet. The Skype solution of free Internet phone calling is just too logical an option. I set him up with a Linksys CIT200 Wireless Skype Phone and oen in his Assistant's office. The system worked so well that I bought myself one the next day.

I set myself up with a SkypeOut account to be able to call regular phones and a SkypeIn account so people could call me on the Skype phone from regular phones and the voicemail so that I didn't have to always answer the damn thing. Most people know that I consider the telephone to be the most intrusive, aggressive and obnoxious invention known to man when misused. It is also, quite obviously, one of the most practical, invaluable and wonderful inventions known to man when used properly.

After a few weeks of regular usage I actually cancelled my normal office phone line and now use Skype exclusively as my business phone.

This trip has been particularly interesting as it's the first time I've been using Skype while travelling. I bought myself a VoIP Voice V Traveller portable Skype phone before leaving and it fits nicely in my computer bag. It's wired, rather than wireless, but when I'm travelling that's not a big deal. What is a big deal is that I can now call home, and elsewhere, via the Internet rather than the ridiculously overpriced hotel phone charges or even the less ridiculous but still overpriced international mobile phone rates. It works wonderfully.