Video calls from Skype

Skype now offers video telephony with its version 2.5 which is available for a free download. The software works with your PC and laptop and once you have attached a webcam you’re ready to see the person you’re talking to. The best part is that you can make Skype-to-Skype video phone calls for free from anywhere in the world. The charge for a call to a standard phone or a mobile is far less than what the PSTNs charge. It is easy to purchase the credit online. The initial reports of the video phone are positive as far as audio and video reception is concerned.

Skype has earned a reputation for secure data transmission because the proprietary codes that it uses are different from the other industry standards such as SIP, H.323, and IAX. Moreover, Skype is a P2P service that relies on the largesse of its 135 million users; this decentralization further contributes to the robustness of the system as against those providers who have their entire directory on a central database. Skype has also been spectacularly successful in weaving its way past firewalls.

The last few months have seen the introduction of phones that have Skype inbuilt in them so that you are no longer tied to a computer for receiving Skype calls. These include phones from companies such as Netgear, SMC, Belkin, etc. These phones can connect directly to WiFi networks with the help of the transmitter-receivers built in them. The SMC Skype WiFi comes with 12 months of free voice-mail and 500 minutes of credit.

Soon, we can expect Skype phones that will have video as an integral accompaniment and enjoying a video chat will be far cheaper than what it is now with the conventional phones.