I'm getting out
of VoIP, and this product is no longer available:
Reason:
I got a lot of people involved in the
technology, but every man and his dog is selling these now, and the number
of questions I get, doesn't justify my input.
VoIP manafacturers are now spamming
me trying to sell me their phones. I don't want or need this, so I have
simply said NO! When I say spam, I mean it, they won't take no for an answer.
It is also what I refer to as "white goods".
What I mean by that is goods that don't have a lot to do with in my niche
market. Sort of like Dick Smith selling TV's, phones, cameras, etc., when
the company started
off selling kits, components. Now you
have trouble getting a resistor or cap there. Staff generally don't understand.
Think you are a dinosaur. And perhaps we are :-)
I sold Nexdisk, one of the first USB Ram
drives that appeared. It wasn't long before I was swamped with fraudulent
orders with stolen cards/numbers, and soon after that faster/cheaper units
came on the market.
And so it goes, I'll find something new
that interests me and possibly my customers, and away we go again.
I have left the phone information below
for a short time to support my existing customers, however it will be removed
eventually.
Free PC to PC calls. Very cheap calls to standard phone
numbers world wide.
Can be used on any PC with a USB port
Requires Windows 98 SE or later, or MacOS 9 onwards.
Audio works with free software on Skype, Firefly, etc.
This light weight, trim little unit, leaves the K-1000/Corinex type
bulkier designs well behind. 80 grams verses 95 grams.
Why purchase a brick, when you can own a surf board?
This one is small enough to be a nice Laptop Companion.
FCC, CE, and C-Tick approved.
Vision
Skype is the Global P2P Telephony Company™ that is changing the telecommunications
world by offering consumers free, superior-quality calling worldwide.
Fortune Magazine, February 16, 2004
“I knew it was over when I downloaded Skype,” Michael Powell, chairman,
Federal Communications Commission, explained. “When the inventors of KaZaA
are distributing for free a little program that you can use to talk to
anybody else, and the quality is fantastic, and it’s free – it’s over.
The world will change now inevitably.”
Niklas Zennström, CEO & Co-founder of Skype
“The idea of charging for calls belongs to the last century. Skype
software gives people new power to affordably stay in touch with their
friends and family by taking advantage of their technology and connectivity
investments.”
OK Gang, this is about as simple as it gets:
Most single user VoIP Phone users are after Skype compatible phones
and the AU-100 is a Skype compatible phone.
Goto http://www.skype.com/home.html
and then to http://www.skype.com/download.html
and download Skype.
Skype is free for PC to PC phone calls, there are no hidden costs.
The User Guide is at: http://www.skype.com/help_userguide.html
System Requirements for Skype:
PC running Windows 2000 or XP
400 MHz processor
128 MB RAM
10 MB free disk space on your hard drive
Sound Card, speakers and microphone (or AU-100 USBPhone)
Internet Connection (either dial-up: minimum 33.6 Kbps modem, or any broadband:
cable, DSL, etc.)
After installing Skype, you will need to set up your Hand/Headsets setting
in the options menu as below:
Make sure you plug in your Net phone before trying to configure the
Audio Options, otherwise the Generic USB Audio Device entry won't appear
in the list.
Skype controls a big cyberspace telephone exchange, and all you need
to configure this software for your PC, is a username and a password.
Your email address is never shown to other users, and is only used for
Skype to contact you.
Sounds too simple. It is. There are no other settings that have to
be done to allow you access to your free Skype account.
Once you have done this, you can then call any other Skype user, anywhere
in the world for free. You can also control incoming calls from various
sources, see below:
SkypeOut:
Last but not least, you can put credit into a Skype account. This is
from 10 to 30 Euros, which enables you to call external phone numbers at
a very low rate. For example, Australia, UK, and the US are .017 Euros
per minute for a standard land line phone call. That's about $00.02USD
per minute right now.
Other rates are given here: http://www.skype.com/skypeout/help.pricelist.html
Ringing Australian mobile numbers isn't cheap, however many countries
offer the same low rate for both land line and mobile phones.
"Skypeout" currently only accepts Visa card, but are making plans
to accept other payment options.
Last 4 digits of the Phone numbers rang have been blacked out in the
Call List below:
There is a small CD that comes with the phone, and it can be very useful
for exploring many aspects of the phone operation, however most of the
working software on it can be ignored for now, as Skype gives you everything
you need to get started. I threw my disk away.
StanaPhone, a New York Company, is mentioned
on the CD, but if you just want Skype, don't bother with the disk. You
can apply (via Stanaphone) for and receive a free NYC phone number which
works for incoming calls, peer-to-peer calls and US 1800 numbers without
paying a cent. Handy for those stateside tech support calls.
Throw the disk away if you jut
want to use Skype. It can be very confusing.
The latest version of the USB phone dialer has been put online recently,
covering both Vonage and Engin VoIP systems. You can download it at http://www.ob-wan.com/voip/files/usbdialer_en.exe
This version is also supposed to cover MSN 7.0 but has been found to
be faulty on that system. The bug has been reported to the manufacturer.
Works with the following programs:
Skype
X-Lite
Stanaphone
SJPhone
Net2Phone
MSN Messenger
Australian Firefly
The big blue button is the volume control, and will only work with Skype
(or any other program) if the USB device is set as the main audio device.
This is a limitation of Windows, not the phone itself. Oh, and they do
work with MacOS 9 and higher, we are told.
Press the top side of the blue button to increase the volume,
and lower side to decrease the volume.
Testing Software Before Phone Purchase:
Install
Skype, conduct the tests below, and you can check that Skype will work
on your computer, even before you purchase a phone, as your standard Windows
default audio device will allow you to hear the echo123 voice as well as
the ring back. This will prove that your operating system, firewall, and
computer system, is capable of receiving free Skype calls.
Skype Testing Service:
Type echo123 into the drop down
text input box just above the red and green phone Icons, and click on the
green Icon.. This allows you to record a 10 second test message, which
should play back to your phone. This fully tests your USB Phone, and configuration
setup. Also a good spot to adjust your volume control.
Ring Back Test:
If you set up echo123 as a contact
in the Skype menu, you are then able to send an instant message to the
contact. Send callme to echo123 and
your phone will ring back.
Please Note. There is only one line available for echo123 testing,
so if it is busy, you won't be able to connect.
echo-chinese is
another alternative test that I have set to "13" on my speed-dial numbers.
Instant Messages Test Between Two Computers:
If you set up two Skype user names on two different computers, you should
be able to send each other instant messages, further proving the software
and access suitability for your PC systems.
Skype Me:
By placing callto://name/
in your email, or on a web page, a clickable link will be available that
will launch Skype and make a call to the Skype username in the link..
Problems:
If you are having problems with your phone, and
you have read all of the text on this page, including the echo123 testing,
then try: http://skype.com/help/index.html
Also you can do a search on an item such as "microphone"
at: http://forum.skype.com/bb/index.php
and check in the hardware section first.
If you can't find your answer there, you will
need to register to ask a question. You can register with any name. It
doesn't have to be your Skype name, and you can remain completely anonymous.
And if you can, check the phone on another computer.
This should prove your phone is OK. Chances are it won't be a problem with
the phone.
World Times:
http://www.worldtimezone.com/index12.html
Over its first year, skype signed up over 10 million users, which amounts
to about 27k per day, or 190k per week.
obviously, the signup rate today is much higher than the average over
the whole year.
Silicon Chip (Australian Electronics Magazine) Article: http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_102491/article.html
If you have any additional questions about
Skype services, then goto: http://www.skype.com/
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 10:15 pm Post subject: SKYPE
wows BBC Newsnight
How good is Skype with a dial up service?
http://forum.skype.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=51649#51649
Skype
or PhoneConnector Audio Problems?
USB Phone
Verses PhoneConnector. Which is better?
Support:
http://forum.skype.com/index.php
http://en.atcom.com.cn/bbs/viewforum.php?f=5
P.C. Hong Kong 3-Oct-2004
HK telephone people and
ISP people have gone berserk about this. Letters to everyone warning about
disconnection if they are used.
Don:
They jumped the wrong way,
should embrace it like the telcos have done in most other countries. No
good burying your head in the sand. |
| 3-Oct-2004
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/TechNews/BizTech/2004/10/01/651482.html
VoIP -The big small business
advantage?
By Special to CANOE
VoIP, or Voice over Internet
Protocol, is quickly emerging as one of the dominant trends in telecommunications
this year.
So what exactly is VoIP?
Forget the technical jargon and think 'phone over the Internet' A pretty
simple concept really. VoIP transforms a high-speed Internet connection
into a phone line, converting your analog voice into a digital signal that
can be transmitted over the Internet.
While you can't use VoIP
with dial-up Internet service, (Don: yes you can 33K is fine, been tested)
it works with most types of access including DSL, DSL Lite and cable modem.
As well, VoIP offered through a company like Primus Canada also works with
most wireless service providers including Bell Sympatico, Rogers Cable
and Shaw to name a few.
So where do the savings come
in? Long distance charges, that's where.
Because a small business
owner can pick his area code without being restricted to geography, a virtual
office can be created in a local call zone.
For example, let's say a
marketing firm has employees in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By choosing
one area code, all calls on company lines between those three locations
would be considered local - and exempt from long-distance calling charges.
For a company that makes a lot of long-distance calls the savings can quickly
up to hundreds, or even thousands of dollars a month.
"It's basically faster, cheaper
service than what you would get from your phone company, " says Jon Arnold,
VoIP program leader with business consultants Frost & Sullivan.
Of course, there's more to
VoIP than being able to make a phone call over the Internet. It's about
bringing voice and data together in a way to customize your company's information
to gain efficiencies.
For example, voice-mail can
be treated as e-mail using VoIP, meaning you can forward it on to a third
party.
"The cool thing is," says
Arnold, "is that you really don't have to be a big business to take advantage
of VoIP."
But according to consultants
IDC Canada, small businesses aren't adopting VoIP as quickly as the buzz
around this product might suggest.
According to a recent study
by IDC, only 6% of businesses with 50-99 employees have adopted VoIP, or
are in the process of rolling it out. Just 15% were considering it and
looking at the different options available to them and 75% of respondents
said they didn't want to implement VoIP at this point. The remaining 4%
said they didn't know what their opinion about the technology was.
So what's keeping small businesses
from jumping on the VoIP bandwagon?
Michael Hyjek, analyst for
business customer segments at IDC says he's not surprised by the seemingly
low pick up. "Small business owners are slow adopters to begin with," says
Hyjek. "They're not going to buy it until they absolutely need it."
Arnold agrees. He says many
small businesses take a 'if it ain't broke - why fix it' approach to managing
their telecommunications. "The incumbents offer really good phone service." |
http://forum.skype.com
Posted:
Fri Oct 22, 2004 10:15 pm Post subject: SKYPE wows BBC
Newsnight
I have just watched BBC
newsnight, UK BBC2, @ 23:50 GMT and SKYPE must have been mentioned at least
a dozen times when they were discussing the decline of standard telecom
lines and the dramatic rise of VOIP using the Internet.
It was strongly stated that
VOIP was going to make standard phone lines obsolete, in fact BT stated
an actual year, which I can't remember. that they would be a fully
operational "Internet operater!"
They had top business speakers
from the Telecom industry, including BT, British Telecom (THE UK
telecom supplier), but with all the hype it was only SKYPE that was mentioned
as an Internet VOIP system.
It made me proud to be at
the forefront of technology and a avid user of SKYPE, way to go!
_________________
Mad Chef |
Skype Stories
rhdetiger Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2004 3:56 pm
Post subject: Thanks Skype !!!!
I (We) are using Skype for several weeks now to call
between the USA and Netherland Antilles and Skype saved us several hundered
dollars per month. ($0.13 per minute on the cheapest prepaid card) Initially
it did not worked very well, because my girlfriend used a dialup line,
but worked absolutely great once she switched to DSL. There is some 'humming'
background noise, but that might be related to the mic she's using or the
soundcard. I also tried skypeout, calling a land-line in Florida and the
connection/sound quality was great. Thanks Skype, you saved me a bunch
of money ! Regards, Ronald |
Skype
General Discussion
chesco Posted: Mon Sep
13, 2004 2:05 pm Post subject: Happy 700.000 users milestone
Today Skype got more than
700.000 users online. Congratulations to everybody |
All feed back welcome.
