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You most likely have heard about VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
telephony, the new way to communicate over the Internet. It sounds exciting.
You may have been tempted to explore this fairly new means of making calls
but have been reluctant to add yet another communication tool to the
plethora of programs you already own and the monthly or yearly charges for
this service offered, for instance, by Linksys' Sun Rocket, Vonage, AT&T,
and others. But then, there is Skype, a free program which allows you to
make free VoIP calls worldwide between Skype subscribers aka skypers. Even
if none of your friends have a Skype account, you can still call anyone
worldwide over regular landlines for a rate that is much lower than those
charged by telephone companies. Go to
http://www.skype.com/download/features/ to find out more about
all the services Skype offers. It is very easy to get started. All you have
to do is to download the program, follow the instructions, and in no time
at all, you will be able to handle basic VoIP calls.
Plus, there is a lot more you can do with Skype. This book Skype for Dummies will guide you along in exploring the many features
the program offers. You do not have to read the book
from cover to cover before using Skype, however.
The book is well organized into five parts, which start with easily found
gray-colored pages and 5th Wave cartoons by Rich Tennant. Each section has a brief
description of the topics covered in that particular section. It is easy to
find one's way around, helped by the running page headers with the Part and
title shown on the left page and chapter and its title printed on the right
page. The 15-plus-page index is comprehensive. Also included are two
appendices: Appendix A with information about multilanguage support.
Appendix B is a troubleshooting guide with answers to some common problems.
Some nice touches are the tables at the beginning of the book listing the
Greenwich Mean Time differences between major cities worldwide, especially
useful when making calls to people outside one's time zone.
A newbie would best start with Part 1. More experienced users who want to
refine their skills can quickly scan the detailed Table of Contents and find
the topic they are interested in and read all about it. Each chapter is
self-contained with references to other chapters if additional information
is needed.
You will learn in Part I what equipment you need to get started: a computer,
fast Internet connection - Broadband: cable, DSL, or FiOS - a microphone and
a speaker. If your computer has a built-in microphone and speaker, that's
all you need. You may want to jump to Chapter 11 "Getting Clearer
Communications" to read about other equipment the authors consider
suitable. One thing to keep in mind with any of the authors' recommendations
is that this book is written with emphasis on Windows users and not all
recommendations are appropriate for Macs. However, the authors have taken
that into consideration and mention several instances where a particular
procedure for Macs differs from that for PCs.
Chapters 1 and 2 describe step-by-step how to download, install and
configure the basic program, how to establish a Skype profile, how to test
your connection, how to find skypers you can call (for free), like friends
and family members, and how to make your first call.
You could stop reading the book right there if that is all you want to do with the
program. However, once you have mastered the basic skills, you will most
likely want to explore other features, like video calls, video conferencing,
and chatting. The ins and outs of these are explained in lucid fashion in
Chapter 7 "Skyping Eye to Eye" where the authors describe what video cameras
to use, how to set them up for best results, and how to use them in
combination with other functions like chatting and even transferring files.
You can chat with just one of your Skype partners or, if you want to, get a
group of up to a 100 together. Chapter 6 will tell how to set up chats, what
you can all do while chatting, and even how to save chats. This section also
includes some useful hints and suggestions to ensure happy chatting. And to
help you with chatting, the authors have included at the very beginning of
the book some common chat abbreviations which are probably quite familiar to
those who do a lot of telephone messaging. Chapters 4 and 5 describe how to
personalize your Skype profile and touch on some security measures. Want
to make your Skype interface more exciting? You will find suggestions in
Chapter 11, "Spicing Things Up with Great Gadgets and Add-Ons," where the
authors describe a number of accessories and third-party programs that
enhance the Skype experience, citing their advantages and how they can be
successfully incorporated into the program.
If you are really ambitious, read Chapter 14, "Skypecasting,"
another free program, where up to 100 people can gather around their
computers at an agreed upon time to discuss particular topics, and how it
differs from conference calls.
If you continue reading, you will find instructions for some of the
fee-based services like making calls to those of your contacts who can be
reached only by regular telephones (SkypeOut) and how to receive calls from
them (SkypeIn), getting voicemail, sending short messages (SMS), and call
forwarding.
An interesting section is Part V where the authors summarize why one should
use Skype for personal communications, to promote one's business, and even
how to use Skype in schools, mentioning those that are free as well as those
that are not.
The witty style and amusing anecdotes make this book fun to read. Sidebar
icons flag special points the authors want to make. Among them: tips, notes,
things to remember, technical stuff, and the two one should definitely not
ignore: Caution and Warning.
The clearly written instructions printed in bold are easy to follow and are
frequently illustrated by screen shots. There is only one problem with
these: I found them hard to read because they have been reduced so much that
I needed a magnifying glass to read them. The one reason I gave this book a
tad less than five stars.
The title of the book Skype for Dummies is somewhat misleading because it
goes far beyond the "Dummies" stage. Even experienced users are likely to
find program features they might not have been aware off. All of the
information about Skype in this book are available at Skype's website
http://www.skype.com/help/guides/
but having this book right next to your
computer will make it much more convenient to learn and use this program
especially if you run into a problem while talking online. I highly
recommend this book to new as well as "seasoned" skypers.
Reviewer's note: Phone calls within the U.S. and Canada used to be free.
This is no longer the case. There is now an annual Skype charge of $29.95
for unlimited telephone calls within the U.S. and to Canada. More
information about other charges is provided at:
http://www.skype.com/products/priceoverview/
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Helge Gunther's first encounter with an "Apple" product was an Apple II Plus
acquired in 1978. Many generations of Apple computers have since stood on
her desk and portables have accompanied her on many of her trips. She has
been a member of MLMUG since 1999 and is MLMUG's book and video librarian.
Time not spent in front of her Mac is filled with extensive travels with her
husband, Wolfgang, and at times grandchildren to many different parts of the
world.
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