On VOIP and Skype

I've just begun to use Skype. It is the VOIP (Voice over the Internet Protocol) software company that was recently taken over by E-bay. See Wikipedia for a definition of VOIP. It is basically a system that allows you to have PGC to PC telephone calls with other Skype users across the Internet, for no cost

Skype seems to becoming the market leader in VOIP, largely because it has achieved a critical mass and now has the weight of E-bay behind it, but other companies are fighting for the market. Google have launched Google Talk. Microsoft seems slow to enter the market, but are planning to do so.

Anyway, I got round to trying out Skype when my son who is working in London wanted to save on his phone calls. Setting up the software was very easy and since then we have been using Skype regularly. More recently I have found that you can use a webcam with it too. You just need to download and install a plug in from Dialcom called Spontania at http://www.video4im.com/

Again very easy to install. I fond an old webcam I hadn't used for ages. What held me up was finding software on the web for that, as I had lost the original CD software. So now I have the whole thing working. If any of you doing sociology of cyberspace want to try contacting me, ny Skype address is BTLeach

I have only got it working at hme at the moment, but will try it at work soon. One of my colleagues informs me that American friends of hers sometimes have to be available for conference calls at their universities if they are working from home. Not so sure about that, but good if all someone is just coming in for is one meeting which instead they could happily engage with from home

Bernard