Skype

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Date: May 6, 2008, Number of Replies: 12

Does anyone use skype for a telephone service provider ? What have you found advantages and disadvantages ? Having family in a foreign country it is not always practical to call from a cell phone particularly Africa.

Gail Hoffmann
Vincent keenan Realtors
321 501 4067
www.gailhomesales.com (ps you can listen to african music)

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Marvin Beriss Information Technology, Fairfax, VA

Date: May 7, 2008

Gail,

You asked about Skype. "Does anyone use skype for a telephone service provider ? What have you found advantages and disadvantages ? Having family in a foreign country it is not always practical to call from a cell phone particularly Africa.

Gail Hoffmann
Vincent keenan Realtors"

I use Skype frequently, especially when out of town. Skype itself is free for calls within North America. We began using Skype Out on a trip to Italy last year, to be able to keep up with events at home. Skype Out enables you to call any phone, anywhere in the world. Skype Out prices include calling to many countries at 2.3 cents per minute. That is more attractive than using cell phone or landlines, although you do need an internet connection and that can be costly at a European Hotel. We have not purchased nor used Skype In.

The quality of voice service ranges from very good to excellent. It is generally better than the average cell phone quality. For a one to one connection, we use a Logitech camera attached to the PC to enable a video conference. This adds a lot of demand for bandwidth and is more problematic than just the voice connection. However, when talking to grandchildren in far away places, video is super.

We use Skype for conference calls and to transfer files from person to person. Using the add-on "remotex", we have used Skype to do remote training for classrooms of agents on how to use the mbaiforms(tm) On Line Document preparation system. The chat feature is essentially Instant Messaging, and that becomes very useful as well.

My use of Skype is on a laptop or desktop computer. We have no experience with the phone connections that are possible as well.

We do not use Skype for our primary phone line, preferring a land line for that purpose.

Based on our experience, I strongly recommend it.

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Celia Maddox Licensed Real Estate Agent, Queen Creek, AZ

Date: May 7, 2008

Re: SKYPE INTERNET PHONE SERVICE

My brother in the UK has used this since its conception and loves it. His family call all over the world, including me in AZ and has never had any issues whatsoever. I give it a high five! FYI, I do not have it only because I am too lazy to go to the computer when I want to make a long distance call! Hopw this helps

Celia

Celia Maddox, REALTOR^®
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Keller Williams Realty East Valley
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Darlene Kearney Licensed Real Estate Broker, Mahomet, IL

Date: May 7, 2008

Gail,

You asked about Skype. "Does anyone use skype for a telephone service provider ? What have you found advantages and disadvantages ? Having family in a foreign country it is not always practical to call from a cell phone particularly Africa.

Gail Hoffmann
Vincent keenan Realtors"

I use Skype frequently, especially when out of town. Skype itself is free for calls within North America. We began using Skype Out on a trip to Italy last year, to be able to keep up with events at home. Skype Out enables you to call any phone, anywhere in the world. Skype Out prices include calling to many countries at 2.3 cents per minute. That is more attractive than using cell phone or landlines, although you do need an internet connection and that can be costly at a European Hotel. We have not purchased nor used Skype In.

The quality of voice service ranges from very good to excellent. It is generally better than the average cell phone quality. For a one to one connection, we use a Logitech camera attached to the PC to enable a video conference. This adds a lot of demand for bandwidth and is more problematic than just the voice connection. However, when talking to grandchildren in far away places, video is super.

We use Skype for conference calls and to transfer files from person to person. Using the add-on "remotex", we have used Skype to do remote training for classrooms of agents on how to use the mbaiforms(tm) On Line Document preparation system. The chat feature is essentially Instant Messaging, and that becomes very useful as well.

My use of Skype is on a laptop or desktop computer. We have no experience with the phone connections that are possible as well.

We do not use Skype for our primary phone line, preferring a land line for that purpose.

Based on our experience, I strongly recommend it.

Thanks for the great info on Skype! My girlfriend and her husband have been in Israel and she has called me on this. But, since it was her "tech savvy" son who set it all up, she really couldn't tell me much. I'll be checking into this since, I too have family overseas. Thanks!

May God Bless Your Day!

Darlene A Kearney, Broker, ABR
Your Real Estate Professional
Licensed Illinois Broker & Ohio REALTOR®,
1-217-369-0019
Email 1: kearney.darlene@gmail.com
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and
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Christopher Klingaman Licensed Real Estate Broker, Westfield, NJ

Date: May 7, 2008

In addition to the service area, Skype keeps very detailed records of phone calls AND text messages. Case in point, former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick recently resigned because he had been caught lying about an affair with his top aide. Turns out, Skype turned over the actual text messages he sent to her. So, if you communicate with clients via text and are looking to keep good records, then they are your company.

Chris Klingaman

RE/MAX Legendary Homes

Sayreville, NJ 08879

cklingaman@remax.net

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Arvid Martin Licensed Real Estate Agent, MI

Date: May 8, 2008

As of May 8, 2008 at 19:40 AM EST. The mayor of Detroit has NOT resigned.

Sad, but true. He continues to bring shame upon the entire state of MI, and we are in deep trouble as it is.

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Steve Rook Licensed Real Estate Broker, Chandler, AZ

Date: May 8, 2008

Does anyone use skype for a telephone service provider ? What have you found advantages and disadvantages ? Having family in a foreign country it is not always practical to call from a cell phone particularly Africa.

I have used Skype for calling my Canadian buyers because I get charged cell phone time for foreign minutes. The quality most of the time is better than my cell phone quality. When I signed up about 2 mo ago I got 5 mo unlimited use for $15. Not bad considering I would have spent that on my cell phone in the 2nd or 3rd call.

One down side, since it is being sent via your computer and not a real phone, no number shows up on caller ID. So the calling party doesn't know it's you calling.

Steve Rook,

REALTOR®, GRI, ABR, e-PRO, CNE

Masters of Real Estate Society

Mira Vista Properties

Cell 480 688-3612
Fax Toll Free 888 595-7590
MailTo:Steve@SteveRook.Net

www.ViewAllPhoenixHomes.com
www.SteveRook.Net

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Judy@JudySepac.com

Date: May 9, 2008

I've had my 13 year old call me from Italy (to Missouri). I was so excited to get his phone call. The first time he called me on my home phone (a land line). The sound was so clear! I then signed up too. Then he called me on a Sunday. I have a HP laptop that has a built in camera. When he called both grandsons could see me & grandpa; we could not see them as they did not have a camera. The next time; he text messaged me via Skype! Again, I was surprised to hear from him. He helped me figure out some of the steps with it, but it's pretty user friendly. I've tried to call him, did connected to an Italian but not sure who was on the other end! They put the country number in automatically and the phone number I use for him starts with 011 then 39...the automatic number is 39. When that goes in 1st it doesn't connect and I haven't figured out how to make it work on my end. We miss these boys SO MUCH! They would stay overnights with us almost every weekend from when they were babies until this past year. Hearing their voice vs text messaging is so much appreciated. Judy

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Shane Baillargeon

Date: May 9, 2008

“Does anyone use skype for a telephone service provider ?”

I lived overseas for over 4 years and lived by Skype to keep in touch with people at home. They also have some wicked deals on for North American packages now. I have also been using the forwarding feature to have calls forwarded to my cel phone. Because I have unlimited incoming minutes, people from anywhere call me for free. For both of us.

Love the Skype.

Shane

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Linda Palmer Licensed Real Estate Broker, SC

Date: May 9, 2008

Judy@JudySepac.com
Friday, May 9th, 2008, 5:11 AM PST

I've had my 13 year old call me from Italy (to Missouri). I was so excited
to get his phone call. The first time he called me on my home phone (a land
line). The sound was so clear! I then signed up too. Then he called me on a
Sunday. I have a HP laptop that has a built in camera. When he called both
grandsons could see me & grandpa; we could not see them as they did not have
a camera. The next time; he text messaged me via Skype! Again, I was
surprised to hear from him. He helped me figure out some of the steps with
it, but it's pretty user friendly. I've tried to call him, did connected to
an Italian but not sure who was on the other end! They put the country
number in automatically and the phone number I use for him starts with 011
then 39...the automatic number is 39. When that goes in 1st it doesn't
connect and I haven't figured out how to make it work on my end. We miss
these boys SO MUCH! They would stay overnights with us almost every weekend
from when they were babies until this past year. Hearing their voice vs text
messaging is so much appreciated. Judy

Dear Judy,
I also use Skype to talk with my grandchildren in Italy and my son and his
family in Belgrade, Serbia. We use the webcam and it is just too wonderful
for words when you can see and talk computer to computer. We don't use a
telephone number but we setup a computer name on each end and call via the
computer with that name. There is no charge to call computer to computer. In
fact you can use this system with anyone that has a registered name on
Skype, all you have to do is get them to accept you as a caller. I am not
sure I am explaining this well and maybe someone else can give you more
technical advice.
Skype is the grandparents dream when family is living abroad.

Linda Palmer
Linda@LindaPalmer.com

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