Voipally

A quick pointer to a good review of the Netgear Skype SPH101 Wi-Fi phone. They find it good, but quite expensive. They also note that the phone doesn’t have a built-in web client, so can’t use Wi-Fi access points which rely on browser-based authentication.

SKY-Click is a 100% web-based and easy to use call centre solution based on Skype. Implementation and usage is simple and quick. SKY-click enables free PC to PC and cheap PC-to-Phone communication between a company and its customers. It allows the seamless integration between a company’s website, its customers and its call centre.

from Techcrunch.

This looks like a pretty good idea. It’s surprising there aren’t more entries in this market.

Many podcasters use Skype to do Podcasts. The benefits of PC-based voice calling are obvious compared to trying to record telephone conversations, and the free nature of them has allowed many long-distance podcast teams to collaborate. However, there are some good reasons why podcasters should look at other non-Skype tools to use when podcasting. In particular, Gizmo has some very compelling features for podcasters whne compared to Skype:

1. Voice Quality
   While Skype is rightly know for it’s good voice quality in most circumstances, Gizmo’s quality is just as good. Some people even find it better especially for Mac to PC or PC to Mac communication.
2. Free Recording
   While Skype has a number of add-ons to enable recording of conversations (eg, Skylook, Hotrecorder) recording is a built-in feature of Gizmo.
3. More people in conference calls
   Skype allows up to 10 people per conference call (if you have the correct hardware). Gizmo’s only limit is the power of your hardware – while 10 people may be the limit in many circumstances, a simple work-around can allow up to 28 people in a call at once.
4. Easier to use
   While ease-of-use is often subjective, and increasing number of people are saying they find the Gizmo GUI better laid out and more intuitive. This is very useful when podcasting with someone who is unfamiliar with either Skype or Gizmo, as they will be able to use it quicker – a podcast filled with where much of the time is spent trying to explain how to use the software is likely to annoy the listeners.

Skype has released an early-access development version for Windows. This version includes a new audio library that is supposed to improve voice quality.

We’re working on a new version of Skype for Windows which will be released soon, including a new audio library. This page give you all the details on this new release and lets you know how to give us your feedback.

/!\ This is an early version of Skype for Windows 2.6 and users may experience some problems when using it.
We do not offer Customer Support for this early version of Skype for Windows 2.6.

We recommend that novice users and those on production systems only use later production versions of Skype for Windows.

However if you are an experienced user and do not fear getting some errors then you are welcome to use this early version of Skype for Windows 2.6 and report any issues you may encounter to help us to improve the final version.

Feedback so far appears to be mixed, with many complaining about the installation of a new browser toolbar.

Sony have just announced the MyLo (My Life Online), which includes a webbrowser, IM client and a Skype phone in a form-factor roughly the size of a PSP. The exciting thing about this device is that – unlike most present Skype wireless phones – the addition of a web browser means that users will be able to authenticate at WiFi hotspots that require browser-based authentication (ie – most commercial hotspots today).

This makes the MyLo a much better optin than most other Skype phones.

More coverage at TechCrunch.

If you’d like to use a traditional telephone device to call other phones using Skype Oldskoolphreak has documented the process at http://www.oldskoolphreak.com/tfiles/voip/skypeout_via_ata.txt

It’s not exactly a simple process, and required a virtual PBX installed. The instructions use the Axon Virtual PBX, but note that:

I’m probably sure you can substitute the Axon PBX for Asterisk, seeing as Uplink isn’t hardcoded to use Axon. It’ll require some tweaking though. I didn’t have much luck with it. If anyone wants to give it a go with Asterisk and succeeds, let me know, and I’ll add it to this text file with full credit given.

The process also requires a SIP-to-Skype bridge, so it might be possible to make this work using a SIP Softphone like Gizmo.

Skype have just relased their Office Toolbar which allows you to:

Place calls and send the file you are currently working on via Skype. The toolbar recognizes phone numbers within your document and lets you call them using SkypeOut or send SMS messages.

I’m a little surprised that Skype developed this themselves and didn’t leave it for one of their developer partners to create. Microsoft has a history of “stealing oxygen” from their partners by moving things that would have been add-ons into the operating system. Is Skype going the same way?

Vitamin, the producers of the Web2.0 podcast have an excellent how-to on using Skype in a podcast.

So you want to be a podcast superstar? Well, while this article might not make you a superstar, the aim is to help you record quality audio using Skype. Skype recording can be a tricky, but the benefits far outweigh the time investment it takes to learn. We use it on the Web 2.0 Show podcast to capture our interview audio and it has allowed us to interview some very big names without being in our interviewee’s location. Or running up large phone bills. This article will cover both Mac and Windows based recording techniques, and we will post follow-up articles covering post-production of the audio and how to upload and track your podcast.

Interestingly, on Windows they use HotRecorder instead of the more commonly used Skylook.

The GTalk2VoIP blog has details on how to call a GTalk user from a landline (or any PSTN phone including mobiles). It uses a gateway number provided by Sipbroker.com – with local number available in a wide range of countries. The instructions for use sound kind of complicated, but I suspect they in practice it isn’t as complex as it sounds:

1. Obtain your own SIPBroker ID from your personal page on GTalk2VoIP (follow the link displayed by MYPAGE command).
2. Choose one of the available PSTN gateway numbers. Complete list is at http://www.sipbroker.com/sipbroker/action/pstnNumbers
3. Dial the PSTN gateway number from your mobile or any other phone.
4. Punch in your SIPBroker ID using tones (DTMF) at voice prompt and wait incoming call to your Google Talk.

I haven’t tried this yet, but I’d be interested to hear from any readers who get it working with GTalk, or any other SIP based software. For instance, in theory this should work fine with Gizmo.

Updated: It is very easy to do this with Gizmo – go to the SipBroker.com list of access numbers, dial one, then enter your Gizmo SIP number (found by going File->My Profile and looking in the “SIP number” field). That’s it! I’ve yet to have the same success with GTalk, though.

WiFi phones for use with Skype or SIP based VoIP providers (such as Gizmo) are slowly becoming available. For instance, the following phones are already available on Amazon:

• Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype ( F1PP000GN-SK )
• NETGEAR WiFi Phone for Skype (SPH101)
• Linksys WIP330 – Wireless VoIP phone (SIP based)

The Skype phones are also available in the Skype Store

However, note that most of these phones don’t include a webbrowser, so there is no way to authenticate yourself at public WiFi hotspots that require browser-based authentication. This is quite a big problem, IMO.

I would hope that the second generation of these phones overcomes this limitation. Another possibility is that hotspot vendors could provide better support for non-computer based devices. However, since many hotspots are provided by telco owned companies I would imagine they will delay this for as long as possible.