Hope this is the right place to ask this, even though it is not image related ! ! !
Basically we are thinking of giving this a "try" in the next few months and was wondering wether any one here has first hand experience of using the pc as a telephone ? I dont think it is widely used here in the uk at the moment but as more people have broadband i think this will increase usage Plus the prices of telephone use is increasing,
we were thinking along the lines of skypeout so we can use landline as well as pc !
Any comments and advice gratefully received.

Palms

Hi Palms,

I've been using Skype for over a year now ....
My husband and myself travel a lot and spent a fortune on phone ...
The first time I tried it I was on a dial-up connection and the experience was somewhat frustrating ... The voice was 'coming and going' , or, sometimes, very 'fragmented' ....

With the DSL is just incredible ... Only a couple of weeks ago, from South Africa (where I'll be until the end of March), we had a phone 'conference' with our son in Germany and our daughter in the UK .... and it sounded like they were sitting right close to me!!!

I haven't tried the Skypeout option yet, (a kind of pre-paid amount you can recharge when used up)... but a friend of mine does it regularly and she is very, very happy with it!!!

Tried Skype briefly, but like Google "Talk" better.
Sound is perfect and it's extremely easy to use. It's also totally free.
http://www.google.com/talk/

Hi Vikki,

thank you for the link!!! :happy: :happy: Im going to download the 'Google Talk' and try it ....

The Skype version of PC > PC is also totally free ...

The Skypeout version/option (the one for a fee) is PC > Normal Phone/land line .... when one of the 'party' isn't sitting in front of his/her computer ....

Ladies, I didn't know about either of these. Very interesting.

Vikki, with Google Talk, do you have a problem talking to someone on dial-up? My son and several people I know are on dial-up connections.

An alternate to these for those on dial up is Roger Wilco, is mainly used for gaming, but you have greater control of the recording, can be used for internet to internet communication with family overseas. The fact that when you are speaking you hold down a key, means that you don't get the drop out and walky talky style of speech. Uses an IP address so someone needs a bit of knowledge to get a connect. Does not clip on dial up

Tried Skype and it was pretty gnarly, but this was some time ago. Wanted to try Google Talk, but never got the chance. I can't say for sure, but I think both of these are strictly person to person.

Roger Wilco, Team Speak, and Ventrilo
I've had nothing but good experiences with these. Use Vent and TS frequently to talk during matches with members from the UK to Cuba while I sit here in MI. (Although, if I remember correctly, later versions of RW are bloated.)

Thank you all for you info, will have a look at the google talk, We was interested in the skypeout as this meant we could talk to land lines at 1.1p per minute instead of 3p per minute. With the added bonus of free pc> pc. As i am sure that when one of us does it the rest of friends and family will also join in,
The other thing is that the usb phones now have come down in price and can be bought for around £10 > £15
Thank you again for your help

Palms