I haven’t talked about Skype for a while, but now that the Genea-Bloggers are getting acquainted and more organized, this tool will become even more useful to help us communicate and collaborate.

Skype is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) – or Internet phone – system. This means that if you have a broadband Internet connection, speakers and microphone (headset is best) connected to your computer and a free Skype account you can talk to any other Skype user anywhere in the world – for free! That’s not all. Add a webcam to your computer and you can make video calls. And I’m still only touching the surface of Skype’s capabilities!

Skype uses peer-to-peer (P2P) technology to make the system work. You install the Skype software to make and receive calls. While your Skype application is running, it not only manages your calls but is used to support the entire system. Your computer is used to pass calls on to others. It’s because you are part of the support system that you can call other Skype users for free. All calls are encrypted during transmission to insure that no one can eavesdrop on your conversation even if your call passes through 20 other computers between you and your caller.

If you have family or friends across the country or around the world, this is a great way to stay in touch. We use Skype for video calls with our grandchildren on the west coast. They can meet our new dog or show us their latest artwork and karate moves. Some of our military friends use Skype to stay connected during deployments. When the network becomes too congested for a video call, it’s easy to switch to audio without losing the connection.

Skype works with Windows, Mac and Linux systems as well as any number of portable devices. You will need speakers and a microphone connected to your computer – a headset works even better – to make audio calls and a webcam for video calls. First, download and install the Skype software. Once installed, it will walk you through the process to set up your Skype account. You only need to provide your name and email address then choose a username and password for your account.

Call the Skype Test Call account to check your audio equipment.

The next step is to check you equipment using the Skype Test Call account. Click once on the Skype Test Call user in your Contacts list, then click on the green call button to initiate the call. The example shown here is the Mac version. Your call button may be in a different location, but it performs the same function. The phone will ring and a lovely English voice will answer directing your to record a message which it will then be played back to you. Once you hear yourself played back, you know you’re ready to go. If you don’t hear the English lady or your message played back to you, then you have some mechanical issues with your equipment that you’ll need to fix. There’s a page of Sound Setup Guides (choose the one matching your operating system) to help you set up your system configurations for sound. Their Help Center has all kinds of useful information on all Skype’s features and functions.

Once your Skype system is up and running, it’s time to get connected with others. Skype provides several options to search for other Skype users, but for the Genea-Bloggers I recommend you take advantage of the Call Me on Skype Facebook application. This is one of several Skype applications on FB, but looks to be the most functional. Once you’ve installed the app and walked through the setup process (entering your Skype username, etc.), you’ll be able to see other Skype users and whether they are online at the moment. Click on the Add button in a user’s profile to request to be added as a contact – which must be approved before he/she appears in your Skype contact list.

All right, now what? With Skype up and running, you can look at your contact list and see who’s online and if they’re available. This is called presence. I could be online with Skype running, but be set as “unavailable” or “away”. If I’m taking the dog for a walk, running an errand or involved in something else then I’ll change my status to unavailable. If your contact is online and available, you have three options for Skyping [yes, Skype has become a verb just like Google] him/her – a text chat session, an audio call or a video call. Like making the test call, first click on the contact in your contact list, then click on the appropriate call button – the green phone button or the blue chat button. The appropriate call will be initiated and you’re off and running. What about video, you ask? Once you’ve connected as an audio call, you can click on the video camera icon appearing in your call window to activate your webcam. [More about that in upcoming posts.]

Why would you want to text when you can talk? A text chat allows you to share links, images and even files. And, a text connection doesn’t use as much of your system’s resources so it won’t slow your computer down like an audio or video call could. You might leave a chat call open while you’re working and send messages sporadically. You can have both an audio/video call and a text call open at the same time – to share photos or links to interesting genealogy sites while you’re talking. The possibilities are endless.

Hopefully you’re interested enough to give Skype a try. Stay tuned. We’ll be talking a lot more about this very useful tool and how we can all put it to use – not only with family and friends, but as a research tool as well.

Related posts:

• Research Toolbox: Skype Account
• Keep in Touch with Skype
• Five Best Video Chat Applications
• Skype is 5!
• Conversations

Tags: Skype, voip
This entry was posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 10:53 am and is filed under Collaboration, Tools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.