Skype for Business Phonecalls?

[Anthony]

Hey Guys,

For the launch of my business, I've decided to look into getting a phone number from Skype and their SkpeIn service to use as a business phone line.

This comes with a free answering machine service which I think is perfect, as I will not necessarily operate regular office hours.

I was just wondering if anybody else has this service currently in use, and what you think of it on the whole...and if anybody else is contemplating using it?

Thanks :)

[Zane]

I dont currently have it and probably wotn for a while. But its definately a good move and one i will make.

Even people like walmart use this.

[Anthony]

Interesting...

I went ahead and bought a skype phone number and a brand new VoIP telephone system, should arrive sometime this week :)

[mason]

I use skype to talk to my friends everyday and it's a pretty crappy program. honestly, the interface looks good, but the program is always full of bugs. For me,friends list never show the correct people online. People in conference who are talking to you don't register as being in a conference with you.. and crashes everytime you turn off the program are pretty lame. It also takes up A LOT of cpu. Right now I'm talking to 2 people and it is using 15% cpu. Either my comp sucks or skype's coding is a mess. I run a 2.2 ghz p4(not good, but also not horrible). I've used voice comm programs with 70+ people in the same conference and it only used up 5% cpu. I guess for the work you want to do with it, it will be fine. I've heard a lot of negative things about voip so I wouldn't use it to replace actual phones.

[moojj]

Skype is a blessing for my business. I have bi-weekly meeting with clients from all over the world. Instead of spending houndreds of dollars on international phone calls we simply communicate over Skype, for free. Nothing beats it.

Mason: Skype isn't a typical service like MSN Messenger where users status's are recognised through a central server, instead this information is sent to you directly from people on your contact list. It's possible that you have a firewall blocking incoming connections or something similar. Additionally, I just called a friend to monitor the processor usage. It only used between 6 and 12% on my 3ghz machine.

[mason]

Skype is a blessing for my business. I have bi-weekly meeting with clients from all over the world. Instead of spending houndreds of dollars on international phone calls we simply communicate over Skype, for free. Nothing beats it.

Mason: Skype isn't a typical service like MSN Messenger where users status's are recognised through a central server, instead this information is sent to you directly from people on your contact list. It's possible that you have a firewall blocking incoming connections or something similar. Additionally, I just called a friend to monitor the processor usage. It only used between 6 and 12% on my 3ghz machine.

I'm not saying it's a bad service for entrepreneur related needs. I'm just saying it could be done better. All of my friends have the same problems so I highly doubt firewall has anything to do with it. Plus 10-15% cpu usage on a 2.2 pretty much = 6-12% usage on a 3ghz. :p

one day somebody at openforge will create something better than skype the same way firefox owns IE now.

[Michael]

I think it is an excellent tool, things like vonage etc are also very usefull as more and more people seem to be moving to VOIP systems..

[Anthony]

I've never had a problem with skype in the past nor at the moment, so I think at the moment it's a great low cost and flexible option.

I'll let you all know how its working out just as soon as my phone system arrives and I start using it :)

[moojj]

Plus 10-15% cpu usage on a 2.2 pretty much = 6-12% usage on a 3ghz. :p

one day somebody at openforge will create something better than skype the same way firefox owns IE now.

Yeah, I was interested to see how much it used on my computer. Was surprised to see it use about the same amount.

Google Talk does voice doesn't it?

It's not necessarily about making the best program, it's about getting the most people using it. Skype seems to be doing a good job in that department.

[Colin]

Google Talk does voice doesn't it?

I dont believe so, im not even sure you can use voice over a jabber network.

[moojj]

I really should have checked the Google Talk website. Would have been much easier than asking everyone here :)

Google Talk does offer voice functionality. Although I've never tried it.

[Anthony]

Hey Guys,

My telephone system came today and I tried it out with a few people, suffice to say it works like a charm!

[kaizan]

Well, i use a landline for fax and voice, a VOIP phone as the primary phone (land line is backup) and skype for business meetings and to employee interaction when required.

Skype is fantastic. Nothing better than 10 way business meeting.. for free.

[aloksingh]

Skype will be good for your business. I have never used it for business needs but for my personal needs it has never given me any sort of worry.

[Reckless]

Yeah its nice, if you have to make a call abroad it will cost both of you alot money, skype is free so why should you not use it?

[Submerge]

Skype, as the only telephone service is a bad idea. As a business really does revolve around the phone service if anything goes down, and is screwed otherwise. So if a business uses Skype, they better be able to have alternate methods for contacts. Because the Internet is by no means a reliable connection.