Skype


 * Skype **  ** Chad Noice **

 Skype is a voice-over-internet protocol service. This service allows users to communicate with each other using voice, video, and instant messaging over the internet. Skype was created by a Swedish entrepreneur Niklas Zennstrom and his Danish partner Janus Friis in 2003. Niklas Zennstrom started his career in 1993 at the European Telcom Operator. He was also CEO of the everyday.com portal. In 2003 Zennstrom and Friis cofounded Kazaa a per-to-per file sharing application. After that the two of them launched Skype. In 2007 they also launched Joost an online video distribution service. Currently Zennstrom runs Atomico. The firm invests in fast growing tec. Companies. Through Atomico they have invested in over thirty companies like MadBid, Last.fm, Fon, and Xobni just to name a few. Friis started working with Zennstrom in 1996 at Tele2 in Denmark to launch get2net another Danish ISP.  In September of 2005 eBay Inc. agreed to acquire the Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA for 2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock. Plus there was the potential to earn further performance-based bonuses. In May of 2011 Microsoft Corporation acquired Skype Communications for 8.5 billion dollars. You just never know what something will be worth in the beginning.  Skype is free to anyone in the world and has a lot of features for calling, video, messaging, and managing. We use the free video calling at our house the most, but we will get to that in a little while later. First I would like to talk about Skype-to Skype calling. All you need is a computer with a microphone and internet access. After you have downloaded Skype and put in all of your information you are ready to make free calls using the internet. Before you can make your first call you will need to add the person you want to call to your contact list. Once you have done that you are ready to give them a call. All you have to do is go to your contacts and find the person you want to call. Right next to their name is a green call button just click on it and you are on your way to be able to talk as long as you want to anywhere in the world for free. You can also call landlines and mobile phones anywhere in the world as well. You will however have to pay a small fee to be able to do that.  There is also an option of an online number. (Also known as a Skype number) IT is a number that anyone can call you from their landline or mobile phone and you can answer it on Skype no matter where you are in the world. It also includes voice mail so people can leave a message if you are unavailable. You will receive it the next time you sign into Skype. Another great feature is conference calls. You can talk to all your best friends at the same time for free if they all have Skype too.  Skype video calling is my favorite feature from Skype. It is a free feature if you have Skype. All you need is a computer, microphone, web cam, and internet access. If the computer that you have does not have a web cam you can buy one for around forty dollars just about anywhere. When you make your purchase of a web cam do not go for that cheap one. You will want to make sure that the one you finally pick out has auto focus. It will be much easier to use in the long run.  Video calling is like having a little window into another world. We use Skype at our house to video call to Dubai. That is where my step daughter and the brand new granddaughter are living at the moment. It is so nice to see her face while we chat back and forth. We also get to see that sweet little baby girl, and how fast she is growing. One of the things that I find neat about video calling is when someone calls us from a tablet we get to see into that world. You wonder how? We just ask them to turn the tablet around so we can see what’s going on around them or where they are at. Next time you go out of town or on vacation be sure to take your tablet and Skype all your friends. My stepdaughter has shown me some pretty cool buildings and other land marks in Dubai. My favorite things that I have seen so far from over there are the incredible sunsets they sure are beautiful and so are all the lights at night in Dubai. Some of the buildings when they are lit up at night over there are just amazing.  There is also a group video calling or conference calling for Business Skype. To get group video at home you will need to get a Skype premium subscription, or one of your family members that you want to group call must have it. What better way to have regular family meetings to catch up on the latest family news, or plan a family reunion or maybe even a surprise party for a birthday or anniversary. At work it could be used to collaborate for a meeting or work project. Customers and clients from all over the world can use this as well. This would cut down on a lot of those business trips so you could spend more time at home with the family.  Skype has features for messaging to. Use Skype to IM chat with family and friends. You can add all your friends to the same instant message conversation, so you can all decide what time to meet and where. Skype instant messaging is available for your computer and your mobile phone.  Skype is available for Windows, Windows Business, Mac, and Linux on your computer. For you mobile phone users there is Skype for Verizon, Android, iPad, iPhone, Symbian, Windows phone, and a few others. There is also Skype for Playstation in case you are a gamer. The one that was amazing to me is to be able to Skype from your own television. You can Skype on your TV with blu-ray or a TV cam. They now make Skype ready televisions. Things sure have come a long way since the days of the old black and white models of the television.  The prices for Skype are as follows. First there is the free Skype, or you can choose to pay by the minute or by the month to be able to call landlines and mobile phones that do not have Skype from 2.3 cents a minute. You can get that number down to 1.2 cents a minute if you subscribe to Skype. If you want top of the line get Skype Premium for around ten dollars a month. You will need to get this to be able to group video call or video conference. I hope that after reading this project you feel well informed and maybe learned a thing or too. Skype is a really good thing to use for communicating face-to-face. I am sure it will continue to grow in the future.

Here is the list of places where I was able to gather information for this report.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/06/facebook-launches-skype-powered-video-calling/ http://www.pcworld.com/article/122516/ebay_buys_skype_for_26_billion.html http://apps.facebook.com/skype/ http://www.crunchbase.com/company/skype http://skypenumerology.blogspot.com/ http://www.imcapture.com/IMCapture-for-Skype/ []