Fongu

Skype is a VoIP (Voice over IP) program. It's sort of like instant messaging with voice call and conference call capability. So free long distance calls over the internet.

Just tried it with my brother in South Africa. The voice quality was surprisningly good. Actually better than some regular trans-Atlantic calls. The best part was there was little to no transmission delay. None of that CB talking required. There was a little voice breakup at around 5pm, but that was probably due to the typical internet congestion at peak periods. We didn't have super fast connections either. I'm on Rogers Lite (128 kbps) and my brother was on dialup. I did notice voice breakup while I was surfing and talking, but that would probably go away if I sprung for full 1 Mbps internet access.

Give it a try. It's free computer to computer. They do charge for computer to telepone, but at local rates.

http://www.skype.com

Muz

Try Firefly. It's full duplex and far superior.

http://www.freshtel.net/firefly/

Fongu

Muz, it's a surprise to see you here. You think you were Wantone or something

Thanks for the tip. Might give it a try, but quite honestly, I don't really make many long distance calls. The full duplex would be nice, but I wonder if the increased load on the upstream connection would really bog the connection. I've designed telco networking equipment, and knowing all the stuf that could go wrong, it always amazes me that stuff like this actually works.

Muz

I do like to travel but in reality I just use the 'New Posts' button a lot.

I have a cable connection so you are correct, what works well for me may not work as well on dialup (especially over long distance). Great technology though isn't it?

matrix

What codec standard does it use?

Fongu

I don't think it uses the standard conference call protocols like H.???? You have to use the Skype client at both ends. I'd be pretty surprised if they have standards based QoS, since it is not generically supported. They have their own servers to the POTS in each of their supported local calling areas. As for compression algorithm, who knows, probably propietary since you require Skype clients.

It not really a big deal since it's not like you need to support interoperability for a bunch of hardware. That might change when the big VoIP revolution is going to happen. Of course I'm still waiting for the ATM revolution, the video conferencing revolution and the consolidated network revolution.....

Oh yeah, I do know the difference between a router, hub and switch.

matrix

QoS is a moot point as the internet does not support it. Reason I asked about codec is this is where much of the difference my lie.

Standard codecs are G.711, G.729AB etc...depending on the one used it will affect the quality of the sound.