off topic... I need opinions on SKYPE

[Skyway Scott]

Okay. I am interested in setting this up. I would be investing some time and energy of my clients. Does it suck? Is it good?
Any opinions. I trust you guys more than the skype forum :)

I don't want others to hassle with it if it sucks. Plus, it'd make for a really bad impression. Thanks for any input. All inputs appreciated.

[mobettah]

Okay. I am interested in setting this up. I would be investing some time and energy of my clients. Does it suck? Is it good?
Any opinions. I trust you guys more than the skype forum :)

I don't want others to hassle with it if it sucks. Plus, it'd make for a really bad impression. Thanks for any input. All inputs appreciated.

I'm using Skype while I'm down in Hatteras to talk to my wife back in Ontario. Great quality on the sound, no lost voice packets, I'm impressed. Certainly would be a good feature for a web based business.

Hope that helps.

[inferno]

if it helps...
skype is the only web based communication (IM style) that we are allowed to used at Jabil.... im sure there is a reason why my company choose that one....

[Little Miss Sunshine]

I use Skype to do video chats with my friends in Pakistan and in Moscow and I love it! Sometimes, the video isn't as "clean" as say ichat (i'm a MAC user) but to do international calling, whether it is video or not, for free - its the best!! Easy and user friendly!

[Big G]

Bad experience...

I downloaded Skype to my laptop about a year ago one Saturday morning. I remember when I did it because I was not happy with what it did...

Without warning, Skype forwarded itself to everyone in my address book with a message that read something like this...
"Gary Henderson has sent you a message that he is using Skype and he has invited you to download it to speak with him" This may not have been the exact wording but it was the bases of the message.

The inconvenience was that some of my contacts are business owner that I only make contact with on occassion. I heard from many people that received the message wanting to know what I wanted to talk to them about and they also downloaded Skype...what a mess. Some of theses same people started hearing from some of the people they had in there address book that were receiving messages to download also...What a mess!!!!

I quickly fired off a letter to all of my contacts not to use or download this program and the message from me to them was not generated my me.

They may have changed the software so that this does not happen anymore or it just may not be an inconvenience to some.

Good Luck if you choose to download and beware of it sending messages to your email contacts.

[inferno]

i think when you down load it it asks if you want it to sync with outlook.... id choose no based on gary's experience....

i think i downloaded an earlier version that this option didnt exist, but when i upgraded to a new version it did load all my outlook contacts into skype, but didnt actually email them....

[windrad]

123

[Skyway Scott]

Thanks for all the inputs.

Has anyone tried desktop sharing through yugma or similar?
I understand all the features with Skype and it looks good so far. I was hoping for mainly a positive response.
I am now wondering about the certified API add ons. Yugma looks great on paper. But I have read literally hundreds of people whining about yugma on forums, then read how great it is on reviews. It's hard to weed out the whining pimps who knock one thing and then say - 'We are Great'..... ya' know?

I really really appreciate your guys inputs, cuz I know they are real and you obviously don't sell the stuff. :)

Because of your inputs, I have decided Skype is fine (10 million people AND you guys can't be wrong :) ). I will be doubly safe with the sync dealio, thanks for the info, Gary.

It's Yugma I am now concerned with. Anyone had experience with this or similar?

I am basically trying to talk with people and show them how to do stuff on my desktop. So I need a 'true' web collaboration tool.

I have used similar products while working for others, such as Adobe Acrobat Connect. But, that's not cheap. Pretty expensive.

Again, thanks for all the information.

I am willing to pay for a reasonable web conferencing (with desktop sharing) tool if anyone knows of one. Reasonable to me is 70 bucks a month. It would have to be cross platform and allow others to view my desktop as well as control it, if I am going to pay :)

I would obviously prefer to know of any useful free or inexpensive tools out there.

Thanks guys. :cool:

[tonykite]

Hi,
I am using this tool on a daily basis:
http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

Super light and user friendly. You can try it for free.

[inferno]

why dont you just use VNC?

[bryanleighty]

yo yo yo..

check this out..

http://www.magicjack.com

[Skyway Scott]

Thanks for all the responses, guys.
Danny, isn't VNC just a term, sort of like SLE? Is there one company in particular that you are talking about?

Bryan, I read (keep in mind, read) that MajicJack is the dumbed down version of Skype and has no benefits over Skype. Can I do the virtual desktop stuff with MajikJack? Thanks.

Tony, thanks too. :)

That looks good. No problems for you so far and it's free to start, sounds like I can't lose. I will give it a whirl. That's what I was looking for, I think.
Thanks so much guys for giving me some solid info. :cool:

[inferno]

http://www.realvnc.com/

[inferno]

i use it to control my testers in michigan and guadalajara, it allows the other engineer to watch what im doing and even control it at the same time.... kinda fun when both people try to move the mouse....

i havent tried myself but i believe you can have multiple people viewing/interacting on the same pc simultaneously

[Skyway Scott]

thanks Danny.
That's the brand I thought you might have meant. It's not compatible with Mac until you get the Enterprise edition. :(
Too bad, it looks really good.