A Beginner's Guide to Skype

Today's world is full of communication. We work everyday on our phones, email, texting, and more. But more and more companies are switching to VOIP and Video conferencing solutions. And now today, though Skype, users can call each other for free over the internet with other Skype users and engage in interactive phone calls. Skype is a VOIP client, which is a Voice over IP, and the technology has finally reached millions of users. Skype right now has over 10,000,000 people online daily talking and communicating. One of the greatest advantages of using Skype is that if you want to call your loved ones or friends off in foreign countries, it's completely free! In this guide, I'm going to go over getting Skype and starting a video call with a friend of mine in Canada. Note: You will need a Microphone and Speakers to use audio calls and a Webcam for Video Calls. Visit http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/ and look around the site. You can find out more information about SkypeIn and SkypeOut, which I will cover later on in the article. Once Skype has Downloaded, open SkypeSetup.exe and start the installation process. It will ask for your primary language, so if you are comfortable having Skype in another language, feel free to set it to do so! Once Skype has installed, it will open a Register for an Account window. You will create your Skype Name which is your username. You can't change this so pick something you will want to keep. Once you are done, Skype will open up the main Window. Inside this window you will see the main window, where you can call the Echo / Sound Test Service and test the audio configuration of your microphone. Double click the Echo / Sound Test Service to start your first call. You will then be able to test your audio sound quality for using Skype! Once you've finished your first call, then you have configured Skype correctly! To do a video call, get another friend on board with Skype, and click the Video Call Button. You then will be able to see and hear each other while calling! (Note: you must have a webcam to use this feature.) Skype will automatically detect any webcam you have installed on your computer. Let your friends know your Skype name and start calling each other for free! Skype has many other great products. Including SkypeOut, which you pay for credits to call landlines and mobile phones for amazingly low rates internationally. I use SkypeOut to call my clients and use my computer to make calls. There is also SkypeIn where you purchase a phone number for your Skype Account for people to call you with so you can keep in touch with everyone! Check out more about Skype at their website: http://skype.com Click the button below to add me on Skype!