To start, I installed the latest Skype client, and got it working with my headset: the whole process took about 2 minutes. Next up was getting a plan so I could call regular phones; Skype's SkypeOut Unlimited did the job for me, for $30 a year for unlimited calling to any landline in North America. Finally, a phone number that could be directed from my company's PBX for clients to call me; I opted for Skype Pro for $3 a month, in addition to a SkypeIn number for another $30 annually. Paying for these services was a bit odd, as you can only use certain credit cards or PayPal, and the currency has to be switched from Euros. I played with it for a couple of days, and was pleasantly surprised.
Frustrated, I looked into "MoneyBookers," which is essentially a UK company that does similar to PayPal, but after 15 minutes of transatlantic form filling, I was told that the company card could not be processed since it was drawn on a US bank. ARGH. I wrote to Skype, explained the situation, as well as the ludicrousness of having to explain that I wanted to give them money and they were preventing me. That was weeks ago, and I have yet to receive a reply. I was finally forced to involve our CFO to do a bank transfer to fund this little operation.
The quality of the calls is excellent, especially Skype to Skype. Better than any phone call you could ever hope for. The few complaints I have are around performance: there is sometimes a slight lag in the calls to landlines (very rare), and some of my staff say they have had callers say the sound is "tinny" on occasion. The biggest grype I have is around the resource usage: I frequently am pushing the CPU on my laptop to full capacity, and if I am on a call, this can impact it: sound drops out, lag, and even a Max Headroom stutter on occasion. Still, the overall quality and ease of use is impressive, and the mobility factor is amazing.
My conclusions are that Skype needs to get their Scandinavian heads out of their asses (and their masters at eBay's crotches) and either embrace this as business, or keep to their little personal calling tools. I did look at the Gizmo Project, but reviews pointed to far spottier call quality. I did not look at Yahoo Messenger's or AIM's phone options, and I desperately craved a version of Google Talk that calls landlines, but Skype owns the space. If I had to do it again, I would still choose Skype, but these guys need to get their customer service in gear, as no business should have to go through what I did.
In any case, if you happen to be on Skype, feel free to give me a call.
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