While we’d hardly made 25 dollars (U.S.) worth of long distance calls that month, our bill after taxes, fees and surcharges came to just over 45 dollars. Not being a very big fan of chatting on the phone for hours on end to begin with, I started searching for alternatives to the landline monopoly in this area.

For the purpose of this article, I’m going to lay out 3 alternatives to local phone companies that you can use, depending on what technologies you like best or what your particular situation calls for. After reviewing these three alternatives, I’ll share with you what option we chose back then, as well as a more dramatic move we’re planning within the next few months.

The Power of VOIP – A Standard Alternative to Local Phone Companies

One of the most common alternatives folks choose when they get sick of getting stuck with an exorbitant phone bill every month is the VoIP solution offered by the local cable company. These services are being offered more and more in local communities throughout the country, and more people every day are taking advantage of it.

There are a few downsides that simply scare some people too much. If you lose power you’re out of luck. Some companies try to compensate for that by adding a battery backup to the VoIP enabled cable modem that keeps the phone service operational or an hour or so, even if your home loses power. This is a great solution, but our experience has been that this backup doesn’t always work, especially when outages are widespread. On the flip-side, if you have cellphones as a backup, this drawback to VoIP service may not really matter to you.

The benefits of VoIP far outweigh that one major drawback. Monthly service is very cheap and typically unlimited throughout your home country (and sometimes other parts of the world). There are no erroneous fees or charges thrown in, and the extra “features” such as call forwarding, caller ID, and voice-mail all come free with a standard package. Your local cable company may have a digital phone offering, and it might be cheap enough to tempt you. Make sure to ask about any “all-in-one” deals where you get a discounted rate for purchasing cable TV, Internet and phone service through the one company and you’ll save even more.

Of course, we wouldn’t be MakeUseOf if we didn’t offer you other ways to make use of the Internet – and there are lots of great non-cable company VoIP services out there that offer stellar phone service over the Internet. One of the highest rated VoIP company that has received rave reviews by customers is Phone Power.

Phone Power will send you free hardware and lets you have a free 2nd line. Calls are unlimited and the plan is cheaper than the competition, including Vonage. The service will work in any country in the world where there’s a broadband connection, the only drawback is that the company only ships the equipment to a U.S. address and only accepts payment from U.S. credit cards.

There are ways to get around those limitations, such as having someone in the U.S. send you the equipment and bounce payment through U.S. accounts, however it’s unfortunate that the company doesn’t better accommodate the worldwide market. If you’re not sure what VoIP service to go with, make sure to check out Cheapest-VoIP to check for rates in your part of the world.

Luckily, worldwide VoIP consumers have additional choices beyond the standard VoIP services that offer not only “discounted” rates – but absolutely free calls all across the world. Read on.

Make Free Internet Phone Calls Using Your PC

One of the most significant competitors to the large VoIP services are smaller companies that are offering telephony services almost exclusively through the Internet. Skype started this trend, and I recently compared Skype and Gizmo as two solutions. But since increasing their rates, Skype consumers are now looking for other free-call solutions. The most significant drawback to these web-based services is that they don’t typically send you hardware that allows you to make calls through the regular landline phones in your house (although there are ways to do that – we’ll get that that in a minute).

However, since most VoIP consumers care less about the power outage issue, and they are also usually avid computer users – many of these consumers are more willing to give up the few additional benefits of the major VoIP telephony services in exchange for the ability to make absolutely free (or at least dirt cheap) calls just by using a headset with your PC. MUO covered Flashphone before, a flash-based Internet app where you can place free calls over the net.

There are two services I’d like to touch on that I feel are the best solutions, because they compete best with hardware-based VoIP services. The first is iCall, a fully web-based application that you install on your desktop or laptop PC where you’d like to send and receive calls.

The iCall interface is very simple and clean, and the service comes with cool features including personalized voicemail and call forwarding. You receive calls by giving your friends and family one of the iCall access numbers. When people call that number, they can enter in your extension.

Like many software-based VoIP solutions, “free calling” isn’t completely free. Using iCall you can make free 5 minute phonecalls all day, every day. For a guy like me who usually has 2 minute phone calls, I’m cool with that. But for your teenage daughter who likes to talk for 3 or 4 hours with her boyfriend who lives across the country – forget about it.

Luckily, even the paid service through iCall is about half the cost of PhonePower, with unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada and really cheap calls across the world. Unfortunately the software is only offered for Windows.

Want an even better solution? Leave it to the folks in the UK to develop a truly free software-based VoIP solution, which goes by the name of VoIPCheap.

Like every online VoIP service, there are limitations to the free calls with VoipCheap as well. You’re restricted to 300 free minutes each week (that’s 1,200 minutes a month), but if you find that the free service isn’t enough you can buy credits (sort of like how Skype works).

Even if you end up paying for calls, you’ll pay nowhere near what you’d have to pay if you used your regular landline. Would you rather use a regular phone to make calls instead of your computer headset? You can either invest in a phone-2-pc adapter or USB phone that connects to your computer, or you can use VoipCheap’s solution, which is a call initiated through the Internet to any phone you want.

In VoipCheap, you just click the Phone2Phone tab and type in your phone number (use your cellphone) and the number of the person you want to call.  VoipCheap dials your cellphone first. When you pick up, it dials the other line for you…pretty simple, and you’ve just removed the need for your local phone company.

Cancel Landline and Switch to Mobile Phone

I’ve always loved using VoIP services, especially since overall voice quality has dramatically improved in recent years. The solution my wife and I ultimately chose was to go with our local cable company through an all-in-one package that included a hardware-based, battery backup unlimited calling plan. This worked well over the past few years, but it still feels like our phone service should cost less – after all, we’re already paying for our mobile phone service.  But then again, maybe that’s the solution.

Recently, I noticed a few more cell towers going up in our area, and soon our the mobile signal strength at our home should be at full potential. This introduces a whole new alternative to local phone companies (and cable companies) for phone service – exclusively using the mobile phone for all calls. Too extreme? In an upcoming article I’m going to examine different ways to save even more by completely canceling your home phone service and using VoIP technologies to not only switch to your cellphone for all calls, but also to eliminate paying for mobile per-minute charges in the process.

Have you got off traditional landline service yet? What solution did you choose? Share your experiences with other readers in the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Use BudgetSketch To Make A Household Budget That Works (25)
• The Best Sites For Making International Telephone Calls (13)
• How To Make A Budget And Wipe Out Debt With Quicken Online (6)
• How To Get A Skype-In Phone Number For Free (23)
• Free Alternatives to 10 Popular Commercial Mac Applications (Part2) (13)

In those circumstances I need a good tool that can record the phone call so that I can later transcribe it into a text interview. If you want to know how do you use skype for these sort of interviews – my tool of choice for this task is HotRecorder. HotRecorder is one of the most effective tools to record any VoIP call, not only Skype. However, if you are a Skype user you can rest assured that it’s a tool that’s very well integrated with the Skype application.

Getting Set Up to Record a Skype Call

Installing and using HotRecorder is about as simple as it gets. There’s virtually no setup. After you run the install and launch the application, it attaches (literally) to your Skype window. Whenever you move your Skype window around the screen, the HotRecorder window stays attached at the upper left edge.

There are a few things that you may want to configure in HotRecorder depending on your preferences. For example, in the options menu, you can assign a folder on your computer to save all of the audio files. The Sound Quality and Recording Type settings are also important because they’ll ultimately determine how quickly the size of your audio file grows.

If you have a huge hard drive and are only recording the call for yourself, by all means keep the sound quality high and use Stereo sound. However, if your intent is to email the file or you’d like to store it on smaller media that doesn’t have quite as much storage capacity, you may want to consider using Medium or Low quality.

Recording a Skype Call

When you hit “Rec” and then dial a phone number or connect with another user on Skype, you’ll see the HotRecorder display status change to “Recording” and the size of the audio file updates as well so that you know how much space the audio file is going to consume on your hard drive or USB drive.

The current time duration of the call is also displayed, so if you’re running a Podcast or radio show and you don’t want the conversation to go beyond a certain time interval, you’ll know exactly how long the discussion is going. If there are parts of the conversation that you don’t want to record, just click on “Pause,” and then when you’re ready to start rolling again you can click “Rec” again and the call will continue.

Once you click on “Stop,” you’ll be presented with the screen above so that you can fill out details about the phone call including who you talked to and anything else you want to note about the call. The important field is “Conversation with” because the listing of your calls shows this clearly, and it’s one of the best ways you’ll have of remembering your calls. You can use any filename convention you like, so keep it in a format that you’ll be able to organize. In my case I sort all of my interviews by date, so I keep the date in the filename.

Once you click on save, you’ll see the application encoding the audio and saving it to file. One interesting thing to note here is how the audio will get encoded when you choose audio. HotRecorder saves the conversation in 2 channels – meaning that during playback your interviewee’s voice will play on the left and your voice will get played on the right. This is actually pretty cool if someone has stereo headphones. Unfortunately if one of your listeners has mono headphones or will be listening to your audio file on any mono device – the conversation will seem oddly “one-sided.”

Playback and Extra Options

Playing conversations back after you’re done recording is as simple as clicking on the “Player” tab.

When you click on the Player button, you’ll see a list of all of the conversations you’ve had. As I mentioned above, the saved recordings are displayed by who the conversation was with. If you accumulate a lot of conversations over time, there’s also a search feature available (this is where your description and keywords will come in handy).

There are a couple of cool extra features with HotRecorder, and one of them is an answering machine. Personally, I don’t use this feature – but I have to admit I like the fact that unlike your typical answering machine, HotRecorder will record the message that your caller leaves, attach the file to an email, and send off the email to any email address you like. You can be anywhere in the world and never miss a phone message again as long as you have Internet access to check your email.

If you run a podcast or a radio show, another cool feature are the “emotisounds,” which let you embed various sound effects into the conversation. This can get really hilarious if you play it right. Whenever someone says something that you don’t like, just click “boo” or if they’re boring you to death just click on “Snore” – you’ll have your listeners in stitches.

If you use HotRecorder the way that I do – that is, recording phonecalls for later playback and transcription to text, the free version is more than enough. I don’t care what format the file is stored in and I really don’t care about the advertisement panel at the top. However if you want to convert your files over to MP3 or WAV format so you can use them anywhere, you’ll need the inexpensive premium version that comes with an embedded AudioConverter.

You might also want to check out earlier Simon’s article that lists a couple of alternative programs to record Skype calls.

How do you use Skype to do interviews? Do you have your own solution for recording VoIP calls? Share them with the MUO readers in the comments section below!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac (12)
• How To Power up your Skype (16)
• 6 must-know Apps to make FREE Group Conference Calls (10)
• Tokbox & Etherpad: Potential Google Wave Competitors, Available Now (11)
• Technology Explained: How Does Skype Work? (14)

Yet even the great Skype cannot escape privacy and security issues that befall other IM applications and many new users often ask, “Is Skype Safe?” Skype’s philosophy is to allow the user to quickly see their call and chat records so that they can go back and remember what they had done or who they talked to. This approach is useful in office work where everything needs to be recorded for easy reference. But anyone who knows how to use Skype can always see what you are up to. And surely there are things in there that you do not want others to see.

Here’s how you can configure things to keep Skype safe and constantly on guard.

Tweak Your Privacy Settings To Make Skype Safe

One of the first things that you should do when you install Skype is to tweak your privacy settings from the Options windows. To get to the Options window, Go to Tools –> Options, then select the Privacy tab to bring up Skype’s Privacy Settings.

You can set your Privacy Settings to if you want only your Skype buddies to contact you. Click the advanced options to tweak your call, video, and IM settings. I personally set my calls and video to only the people on my contact list and set my IM settings to “anyone”. This protects me from unwanted calls and video chat while still being accessible through IM conversations.

Skype also allows you to clear your cookies and history from the Privacy tab.

Delete Your Skype Call History Automatically

I feel secure when I delete my history after I use Skype. But deleting my history every time is inconvenient especially for someone who uses Skype all the time. Since Skype’s Privacy Tab only deletes IM conversations, I’d have to go in and pick apart the program to delete my call history.

Thankfully, Privacy Controls 2.0 automatically deletes all your Skype chat history log and recent calls with one click. Privacy Controls also deletes your file transfer history, voice mail history, and stored files received through Skype.

Best of all, Privacy Controls runs in the background and automatically deletes your history with scheduled scans. This way, you never have to remind yourself to delete your call and chat history.

Privacy Controls also delete history and files created by P2P applications such as Kazaa and Limewire, IM apps like Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, and Windows Live, media players like VLC, DivX and Quicktime, internet browsers, desktop search utilities, and even unwanted history items from Adobe Acrobat and Flash.

And yes, Privacy Controls is freeware – although you have to register to get a Free license key.

View The Log Files Created By Skype

When it comes to privacy, a good offense is your best defense. You will not know if there is anything “unusual” going on with your Skype unless you see for yourself. SkypeLogView from Nirsoft reads the log files created by Skype and displays all the details of your activity – incoming/outgoing calls, IM conversations, and file transfer made from/to another Skype account. You can also select and copy items from the log or export them into HTML, CSV, TXT, XML.

SkypeLogView is a very light program – there is no installation process or additional dll files involved. You just need to run the .exe file to start using it.

SkypeLogView is also a great way to troubleshoot your Skype. For example, you can find out which Skype user is causing problems during file transfers, or know the hours of the day when your Skype reception is poor.

Encrypt Your Chat

CryptoChat 4 is an encryption software made especially for Skype and is one of the most effective ways to make Skype extremely safe. CryptoChat is useful if you are working on a confidential project and want the added layer of security for you and your Skype buddies. Cryptochat encrypts your conversations with 1024 bit asymmetric RSA keys for ultimate privacy. Just install the program and select the contact that you want to have encrypted chats with.

CryptoChat is very useful against hackers forcing their way into your conversation history and protects your IM conversations not only on your end, but also on your contact’s end in case there are snoopers on their computer.

These are just some suggestion on how to keep your Skype safe and primed against snoopers. Hit us with your comments and suggestions to keep our Skype snoop-free!

Image Credit : Malthe

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Protect And Track Your Laptop In Case Of Theft (18)
• Ophcrack – A Password Hack Tool to Crack Almost Any Windows Password (24)
• Keeping Under the Radar and Securing Your PC Files (21)
• How To Secure & Encrypt Your Instant Messaging Chats (19)
• How to Hide Folders Using 7 Free Apps (28)

Within just a few years of the advent of Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol, Skype emerged as a leader in the industry. The reason Skype became the leader was because, at least in the U.S., you could install Skype on your Internet-connected home PC and make completely free phone calls to any phone number in the U.S.

Today, the structure of the VoIP industry has evolved to meet the demands of increased infrastructure costs to support such a large VoIP user base, as well as to compete with the frightened but savvy telecommunications industry. In addition to becoming public enemy number one in the eyes of the big telecom companies, Skype also finds itself faced with a plethora of VoIP competitors. Today, we’re going to focus on one particular competitor – the emergence of an application called Gizmo. The following head-to-head VoIP review compares the features and costs of Skype Vs. Gizmo so that you can decide if Gizmo might be worth a try.

A Skype Vs. Gizmo Comparison Reveals Features and Flaws of Both

If you’ve used Skype, then understanding Gizmo is easy because it’s practically a perfect clone. In a few areas, the application is a bit too much like Skype, to be quite honest. With that said, there are some benefits to Gizmo that deserve mentioning, so this Skype vs. Gizmo feature will lay out those features side-by-side with Skype. At the end, we’ll review whether or not Gizmo has a chance of outpacing Skype in capturing VoIP customers.

This particular review is focused on the PC-based application, but it should be noted that each service, both Skype and Gizmo, offers a very useful application for your mobile phone that can save a great deal of money in both calling minutes and text messaging.

The first, basic part of any application to consider is the main page. In this respect, Gizmo has figured out how to make the navigation and control of the communication software much more clean and straightforward compared to Skype. In Skype, I’ve often spent a fair amount of time trying to remember how to get to the dialing pad or how to view message history.

In Gizmo, every major feature is clearly outlined in a tabular format at the top, and the most common actions, such as sending a text message to mobile users, adding a contact, or sending a message to other IM users, are clearly identified as large icons at the bottom.

Basic Features – Dialing Landlines and Adding Contacts

For the most part, if you do a Skype vs. Gizmo comparison on the dialing feature alone, they almost come neck and neck. Skype’s dialpad is a bit more aesthetically pleasing with blue stylized buttons with large white numbers on the keypad. Gizmo, on the other hand, features a somewhat boring, standard gray keypad with black letters.

But what it lacks in style, it makes up for with functionality by adding the ability to send various sound effects during your phone call. If you can picture how your friend would react when you click on the “BOO” button after they say something you disagree with, I’m sure you can imagine how funny some of these would be.

When it comes to adding a contact, Gizmo scores a point over Skype. As you can see below, Skype allows you to add other Skype users to your contact list. The one other IM app that Skype is integrated with is MySpaceIM. On the other hand, Gizmo offers users the ability to add contacts from GoogleTalk, Jabber, MSN, AIM and other major IM networks.

The one thing any communications company should understand is that not all users are every going to be using the same applications, and expecting everyone to adopt your application isn’t realistic. Interoperability is a key element to success.

Advanced Features – Sending/Receiving SMS and Voice Conferencing

Once you start getting into the more advanced features, you’re more likely to discover fees or you may need to purchase the “pro” version of the application for it to work. Comparing Skype versus Gizmo on these terms reveals that in both cases the applications offer some very cool and useful features – but if you want it to work you’re going to need to be willing to pay some small fees of one form or another.

One of the most valuable features that I’ve found all of these VoIP applications have been adding over the past few years is the ability to send text messages to mobile users. While this is a feature that’s just sort of “neat” when you’re using it as a desktop application, when you consider that these applications have a mobile version, the value becomes much more clear. You can even disable text messaging on your mobile plan, and just use your Internet connection to send and receive SMS. Both services, Gizmo and Skype, offer this feature.

Another valuable feature is the ability to set up conference calls. In both cases, Skype and Gizmo allow this feature for free among their own users, but if you want to have a landline conference call, expect to pay for it in some way – either through the landline pricing or a fixed fee.

Conferences are easier to set up in Skype, where you simply add users or phone numbers (who you call out to first). In Gizmo you need to go through setting up a conference call number that everyone can connection to. This is an extra step in Gizmo, but it does create the convenience of everyone having a central number to call in to.

Another interesting and valuable option for both Gizmo and Skype is the option to have a voicemail box. In the case of Skype, the voicemail feature isn’t available unless you pay for the upgrade to Skype Pro. For Gizmo, the voicemail feature doesn’t make it clear whether there are any charges or fees applied, however the feature itself does appear enabled in the free version of the software.

Advanced Options and Configuration

Finally, each application has a whole series of screens where you can configure your PC audio and microphone settings, videocam options and all of the other specific features of the software.

This is the one area of the Gizmo software that really raised my eyebrows. If you look closely, you can see how Gizmo developers apparently just reverse-engineered the options menus and screens from Skype. This section of the Gizmo software makes it painfully obvious that, at least in this area, Gizmo is very much a clone of Skype’s application. With that said, the additional features that Gizmo offers beyond the Skype features make up for this – but not by much.

Ultimately, my own summation of this Skype vs. Gizmo comparison is that Gizmo simply does not offer enough additional free features or services to effectively compete with Skype.

Have you ever used any VoIP software other than Skype? Which ones are your favorites? Share your own opinion in the comments area below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• The Best Sites For Making International Telephone Calls (13)
• Technology Explained: How Does Skype Work? (14)
• Save Money on Local and International Calls with VoipBuster (1)
• Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac (12)
• How To Use Skype To Record Calls or Conduct Interviews with HotRecorder (Windows) (8)

Whereas as little as five years ago, most people still had to rely on obscenely expensive mobile and PSTN (Public Switched Telephone) networks to carry their voice over short and long distances. Today, everyone seems to be using in one way or another VoIP.

As a reader of MakeUseOf and probably a geek, you must have asked yourself at some point – how does Skype work?

Skype, one of the most comprehensive multi-platform VoIP applications, running on a Macintosh

VoIP owes its versatility to another fantastic technology, the Internet. Instead of sending signals via a PSTN network, be it analog or digital, a VoIP application usually uses SIP (a variation of the standard TCP/IP protocols) to create data packets, and sends them on the same network you use for email and web surfing.

By using data packets, the technology can be used to carry more than the standard mono voice your old telephone does; VoIP can carry text, images, live video and high quality stereo sound as well as ’screen sharing’, depending on the speed and reliability of your internet connection.

With the continually expanding broadband users market, more people are able to use VoIP without investing in a separate physical connection or contracts.

A Tesco VoIP phone designated for home use. It connects to an ethernet port on the router and the landline for emergency calls.

The journey starts at the receiver, which can range from specialized hardware appliances like the ‘Skype-phones’ and Cisco VoIP phones to software applications installed on other mobile terminals or computers. All devices must be capable to send and receive data packets via an IPv4 network. Your voice is captured and transcoded from the analog format that the microphone captures, into a digital format, then passed on to a compressor that minimizes the size of the audio stream enabling transfer on slow connections.

An VoIP enabled phone disguised as an old-style PSTN machine. These are becoming more common in businesses as a simple measure to reduce costs of long distance calls and provide improved security via encryption protocols.

The audio stream is then divided into small pieces, each small enough to fit in a packet, which is stamped with the destination address and sent through the network.  Since VoIP uses SIP as the means to spread, it is inherently prone to its negative sides, which are quite a few, since it was never engineered to support live conversations; VoIP is susceptible to stutter and latency.

Gizmo, a multi-platform VoIP application, a worthy competitor to Skype.

The receiving end must reconstruct the packets sequentially for ideal reproduction, which does not happen on most public networks, which are prone to congestions during peak hours. Latency and packet loss can render the receiving end to be unable to reconstruct the complete audio stream resulting in blank audio space for short periods.

Although it’s much more versatile than traditional PSTN communications, VoIP has been criticized by many as being unreliable, especially in emergency situations where electrical power is absent or intermittent. Supporting hardware such as wireless routers need electricity at all times to function properly. Most people in the United States still keep a landline for emergency situations, which can provide enough direct current to power most analog phones without any additional power sources.

Emergency services have strongly objected to the use of VoIP for emergency calls due to the inability to locate the caller within a reasonable area. For example, a user connected to the office VPN network would appear to be in the server building instead of the real location.

A Skype-phone, like the one pictured above, will connect to any available WiFi access point to access the internet. Similar applications will run on select SIP-enabled mobile phones, like the Nokia N70 (it can also use the native mobile carrier data network if available).

In ideal situations, where a broadband connection and electricity are available at all times, VoIP technology provides an incredibly cheap and comprehensive way to communicate, mitigating roaming charges that traditional service providers require for long distance calls. Many consumer VoIP service providers offer free calls within their user base of Internet connected clients (computer-computer, skype-phones and other terminals). They also offer to interconnect with traditional networks for low fees. Some, like Skype, even offer standard telephone numbers than can be dialed from any telephone and which redirect to your Skype enabled device.

There are many VoIP service providers, and reviewing the capabilities of each would take an entire article. Besides Skype and Gizmo, you should also check out Vonage and this comparison list.

Don’t forget to share your favorite applications and services in the comments. You should also check out How To Make Skype a Portable App, How To Get A Skype-In Phone Number For Free and Instant Conference Calling With Gizmo5.

Image Credits : fsse8info, Chung Huang, fsse8info, icherche

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac (12)
• How To Use Skype To Record Calls or Conduct Interviews with HotRecorder (Windows) (8)
• How to Set Privacy Settings to Make Skype Safe Against Snoopers (8)
• How To Power up your Skype even more (4)
• How To Power up your Skype (16)

If you pay for Skype credit, you can call out from Skype on your computer to normal phones (wireless or landline) at a discounted rate. Also, for an additional cost, you may get a “Skype-In” phone number, which is essentially a Skype number disguised as a local land line, so that all calls to that number will be forwarded to your Skype account, allowing you to take the call anywhere and on any computer with Skype installed. This benefits the caller — if Skype is not available, he/she can always contact you simply by dialing a local number.

It’s a cool thing to have, but outside of this site’s staff I don’t have much use for the service (many of my friends are still using AIM for goodness’ sake). That changed today when I signed up for phone numbers to forward calls to my Skype account, and unlike the Skype-In service, they didn’t cost me a thing.

So, how to get a Skype phone number?

If you don’t have a Skype account, please be sure to set one up first. You’ll need to provide your Skype ID when you register at Ring2Skype.com, which is where you get your free “Skype-In” numbers. There are a lot of countries to choose from, and you may register multiple numbers. For example, I’ve registered numbers in Windsor, Canada and London, UK as well as a US (New York City) number. My friend in Manhattan can call me up as if I lived there. Co-workers in London and Canada can now call me without ringing up international charges.

Here in the US, we have but a few choices as to our number’s calling area. I could get a number (with a three-digit extension) in California, Florida, Maine or New York. Japan’s numbers are limited to Tokyo, and Israel to Tel Aviv. It’s going to be a bit odd giving friends in Louisville my Manhattan number, but these days when long-distance and local calling are often the same price, it shouldn’t be too big a stretch.

There really is no catch. Call quality for me was as good as a regular Skype, Gizmo or Mobile Phone call. I plan on giving these numbers out to business contacts, and once Google Voice (which I hope to review for you soon) allows forwarding my GV number to extensions, I plan on using this service with friends and family as well.

While you’re here, you might like 30 free tips and tricks to improve Skype which Kaly wrote some time ago.

Do you have s Skype-In number? Are you aware if any alternative way to get a Skype phone number? How do you plan on using your Ring2Skype numbers? Let us know in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• WhoCalled.US Tells You About That Call You Missed (US Only) (10)
• The Best Sites For Making International Telephone Calls (13)
• Technology Explained: How Does Skype Work? (14)
• Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac (12)
• How To Use Skype To Record Calls or Conduct Interviews with HotRecorder (Windows) (8)

The only thing I found TalkShoe lacking on was adequate instructions on getting your podcast going. After rolling up my sleeves, whining like a child to my wife, and many glasses of cherry kool-aid, I got it figured out. Now, I’m going to share my new found wisdom with you. There may be other ways, even better ways, to do this but this is the way I did it.

Step 1: Get the Gear

Go and buy yourself a headset that has earphones and an attached boom-style microphone.  I prefer the kind with just one earphone so I can hear the dulcet tones of my sweetie’s voice as she tells me to get off the computer and finish my laundry. Gives me goosebumps.

The headset doesn’t have to be expensive. I bought a $12 pair from Wally World and the sound is good. The podcast sounds as good as any other that I’ve heard.

Step 2: Download and Install a VoIP Client

For the neophyte, VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol.  For the newbies, neophyte means newbie. TalkShoe does have its own VoIP client called TalkShoe Phone, but it doesn’t really work well at all. I went with something called SJPhone from SJLabs. They have clients for Windows, Linux and Mac. I’m a PC, so I’ll stick to that.

You also want to ensure that you have a broadband connection. VoIP requires a minimum of 96kbps upload and download speed. If you aren’t sure whether your connection is capable of supporting a good VoIP connection, head on over to MySpeed’s VoIP Speed Test to check on it.

Setting up SJPhone may seem a little complex, but you only have to do it once. Here’s what worked for me.

Open up SJPhone and click on the Menu button near the bottom of the phone, and click on Options…

In the Options window that opens, first take a look at the Profiles tab. We need to make a new one so, click on the New… button. Yet another window will open.

In the Create New Profile window, you need to type a name for the new profile. Why not type TalkShoe? Then it’s easy to remember what profile you need for calling TalkShoe. Change the Profile Type to Direct SIP Calls. Now, you can click on OK.

When you click on OK, you’ll be back at the Profile Options window. Let’s go into the STUN tab, shall we? Here, we simply want to make sure there is a checkmark in the Use discovered addresses in SIP checkbox. Let’s get out of here by clicking OK.

Now we are looking at the Options window again. Make sure that TalkShoe is noted as being in use.

Why was all that convoluted stuff necessary? Well, it makes SJPhone play nicely with TalkShoe. Since TalkShoe’s built in VoIP phone doesn’t work well, this is the necessary work around. There are other workarounds, but this is the one I’m familiar with.

Now that that hurdle is hurdled, we can move on.

Step 3: Go Sign Up at TalkShoe

Signing up for an account at TalkShoe is very straight forward. Once you are on the TalkShoe website, click on the button near the top-left corner that reads Sign-Up.

You’ll be required to enter your information in a form like this one:

A few notes here – the Phone/PIN number is to help you identify yourself automatically to the system when you call in. If you are going to be using a VoIP client, like I am in this tutorial, just use your home phone number. Oh, and that’s obviously not my real PIN number.

Click on Create User and you are on your way to your podcast.

Step 3: Create the Test Podcast

I suggest setting up a Test Podcast that isn’t listed publicly, so that you can work out the kinks before going live. Simply click on the Create button near the top-left of the screen.

You’ll go to a new page, where you should click on the Or Create a new Call Series… link.

Once you do that, you’ll see this:

I suggest that you use the word TEST somewhere in the title. That will help you later, if you have to manage more than one podcast. Change the Type to Unlisted – doing so prevents people from popping into your podcast test. Change the Recording option to Automatic. What that does is set up TalkShoe to start recording your podcast as soon as you start it. This is important because you want to be able to play it back to yourself later to review your own show.

Go ahead and click on the Start Now button. It’s a bit misnamed as it really doesn’t start the show right now. Instead it brings you to a new page. On the new page, you’ll see a green box near the middle of the screen like this one:

Doing this opens up a new window that looks like a chat client. The reason it looks like a chat client is, well, because it is! Hang on, because this is where things get a little tricky….

Step 4: Calling In to Your Show

In the chat client, near the bottom, you’ll see some different numbers. The one we’re concerned with is the Enter Call ID.

Go ahead and open up SJPhone. Now the next part is REALLY important. You want to enter the following as the number to call:

7463#CALL_ID#PIN#@proxy.ideasip.com

CALL_ID is the number of your show. Let’s say it is 53082. PIN is your pin number that you chose when you signed up. Let’s say it is 123456789. So you would enter the string 7463#53082#123456789#@proxy.ideasip.com. Why does that work? I don’t know, honestly, it just does.

Now click on the blue telephone icon to make the call. If it is working you should get a confirmation message that you are connected. Start talking!!!

While you are talking away on your test show, play around with some of the controls in the chat client. Get to know how they work. Now is the time to do it when no one else can hear you mess up. It seems like a lot of work to set this up, but it really isn’t much more than a half an hour. Plus once it’s done, it is done. You shouldn’t have to monkey with it anymore.

If you are still having difficulties calling into your show and getting your VoIP working, I suggest heading over to TalkShoe’s show, Get TalkShoe working, do you need HELP? They’re very helpful.

Be sure to also check out other MakeUseOf articles regarding podcasts:

• Easily Create & Manage a Podcast Blog with Podcast Generator
• 7 More Fantastic Podcasts for Geeks
• From Wordpress to iTunes: How To Podcast With Wordpress
• Top 5 Podcast Directories you Should See

Do you have a show on TalkShoe or a podcast? What do you use to create your podcast? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Welcome to the MakeUseOf.com Podcast #1 (19)
• Two Websites to Watch Talks by Great Thinkers and Doers (10)
• Top 5 Podcast Directories you Should See (9)
• The Best Sites For Making International Telephone Calls (13)
• THE 9 daily show – 9 Best Things from the Web (3)

However, the rapid advancement of VOIP technology has led to an interesting integration between the Internet and phone lines. That integration now provides teens with prank call websites and other Internet technologies that make prank calls not only easier and more anonymous, but even completely automated.

How Prank Call Websites Work

If you consider how making a call from a VOIP application like Skype works, this process is much the same. When you dial a landline number from Skype, your call travels through what’s called an IP gateway that transfers data from the Internet to phone networks. In fact, more and more phone companies are switching over to IP telephony, making the entire line between “landlines” and “VOIP” even more vague.

MakeUseOf covers VOIP technologies often, such as Finding the Cheapest VOIP Calling Rates or Charnita’s article on The Best Sites For Making International Telephone Calls. Another aspect to VOIP are applications where instead of initiating the call yourself, you have the computer do it for you. And whenever you have the computer do anything, an entire world of possibilities open up such as scheduling calls or playing music or hilarious sounds and voices.

If you and your friends are the type that likes to poke a little fun at each other, using the following prank call websites on your friends is sure to give them a good laugh.

Bored.com – An Automated Prank Call

One of the simplest websites for making prank calls is Bored.com, which is basically a website for bored people, filled with categories like videos, games and humor. Under the “dumb” category, Bored.com offers this tool where you can enter the phone number to call, the number that you want to show up on Caller ID, and what you want the automated message to say.

Once you submit the information, Bored.com’s computer system places a VOIP phonecall to the number that you specified. The system utilizes text-to-voice technology, so that when your friend answers the call, your message is repeated in a digitized voice. There are a few things to take note of here; first, this particular tool allows you to make just 3 calls a day (from your IP anyway), and second, don’t even bother typing in any vulgar or curse words – vulgarity is filtered and your call won’t be made. This site could be a riot for a group of friends who occasionally want to fire off a prank call to each other containing some inside joke or really funny quote.

MyPhoneBlaster – Blast Them With an MP3

If a computerized voice reading off your message just doesn’t cut it for you, then consider MyPhoneBlaster, a free service that lets you send an MP3 sound file to someone’s phone number. The sound file can be anything at all, from a song clip to a voice recording that you create yourself.

The only limitations for the free calls on this site are that the files need to be under 8MB, and the call will only allow 30 second clips. Personally, I think a full half of a minute is more than enough to put together a hilarious MP3 that a friend will get a kick out of.  I have a few friends who would really get a kick out of a 30 second clip from the movie Office Space, or from the TV show King of the Hill. Of course, then they’d immediately know it’s from me.

PrankDialier – Just Pick A Sound and Send

Now, if you really don’t have time to put together a sound file of your own, PrankDialer is a fun option. It’s also one of the few free services that offers non-US service to select countries. All you have to do is select one of the pranks and type in the phone number that you want the service to call. The pranks range from various song clips to some pretty comical clips.

One of the funniest clips I found in this decent sized selection is one called “David after the Dentist.”  Basically, the clip is an audio of this 9 or 10 year old kid who just left the dentist’s office. He’s still feeling a bit drugged up – possibly either from the novocaine or laughing gas. The kid really starts to freak out. At first he just says, “I see two fingers. Okay now I see four fingers… I can’t see anything!” And then, he lets out an ear-splitting panic-attack scream that – I’m telling the absolute truth here – had me on the floor in stitches for a full ten minutes. Funniest clip ever.

Wakerupper – Using a CallBack Service

Another method people use to make prank calls on the Internet is by using one of the many free callback services, such as the ones Aibek reviewed, that have sprung up all around the Internet ever since free VOIP calling became viable and popular. One of those is Wakerupper, which is a lot like the automated prank call sites above that used a digitized voice, except with this site you can schedule the call at some point in the future.

While the service was intended as a tool people can use to schedule birthday wishes or to remind yourself about an important appointment, obviously it can also be used as a free prank call website that let’s you schedule exactly when the call will be placed. This is perfect if you have friends who are on different time zones and really don’t want to fire off an Internet prank call and wake them up at two in the morning. There’s funny, and then there’s just plain rude.

When a Prank Call Goes Over the Line

For many kids, making prank calls is just a part of growing up. For adults, prank calling friends is a really fun way to keep in touch with people in a hilarious way. However, these services also allow people additional anonymity and security – which makes it more comfortable to cross over a dangerous line. In fact, some things can get you arrested in many countries – such as prank calling 911 or the police, calling in bomb threats, and threatening or harassing people. Just this year, a teenage boy was arrested by the FBI for “prank calling” bomb threats to North Carolina schools in order to shut them down for a day. So, prank calls are fun, but remember to use common sense whenever using any of these free sites.

Have you ever made or received VOIP prank calls? Tell other MakeUseOf readers about it in the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• 6 must-know Apps to make FREE Group Conference Calls (10)
• 3 Best Sites To Download Free Funny Voicemail Messages (10)
• 2 Cool Ways To Poke Someone On Facebook (7)
• Yahoo! Games: WordRacer is my Boggle Game of Choice (6)
• Wordle – Become Addicted To RSS Feeds The Fun Way (13)

This should be done for the same reasons as keeping letters, even though they’re a dying practice. Two main reasons, actually.

The first one is emotional, as a keepsake. There are few people who wouldn’t enjoy going through some personal conversations from a few months, or even years ago. It’s interesting to look back upon situations, and to analyze your past self.

The second reason is also referance, but in a more serious way. It can support you, as an information source, to look up spoken dates and facts. In an even more serious way, these call recordings become even more crucial, as they can have great legal value. Of course you could also just be a paranoid dweep like me – great fun.

Whatever reason you’re doing it for, microphones and tape recorders are kind of old fashioned. Instead we’ll go with the flow and head the software way. Read on to see how Pamela and SCR will provide you with all the tools you need. Macintosh users might want to scroll even further down, to see what they’ll need to do.

Windows is, for now, still the dominating operating system. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then, that it is more supported by a wide variety of applications. There are workarounds on the other operation systems, but no free dedicated software like on Windows. There are tons of suites available, but we’re going to skip the ‘extensive ones‘ with all their superfluous buttons and functions, and focus on one simple application that does all you really need.

Record Skype Calls on Windows

Skype Call Recorder is a smart and minimalistic application, a perfect example of ‘name says it all’.

It can be hidden in your system tray, and automatically starts recording any incoming or outgoing calls to an mp3 file. It supports multiple conversations at once (e.g. one active, the others on hold), and records each to its own file.

For the amateur private detectives here, it’s also an easy way to place a tap on someone’s phone. Mind you, that’s pretty illegal in most countries.

Record Skype Calls on Mac

Sadly for the Mac users amongst you, the above app is Windows-only. Although there are no free dedicated applications for the platform, there are several workaround ways to record your Skype calls with your Mac.

Audio Hijack Pro is probably easiest to use. This cool utility will record the sound output of any application to an AIFF file, including Skype. No automatic recording, I’m afraid, but still as simple as clicking the button. The free version can record up to ten minutes, so don’t take too long. If you’re a really big chatter, refer to the alternative solution.

If you have GarageBand, there’s another workaround you could give a shot. No limitations this time. You’ll also need the free LineIn and Soundflower applications. Read the set-up instructions here.

We hope this will help you with your personal surveillance. Any questions or comments about the above, or related applications can be directed to the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• How To Use Skype To Record Calls or Conduct Interviews with HotRecorder (Windows) (8)
• How To Power up your Skype (16)
• Tokbox & Etherpad: Potential Google Wave Competitors, Available Now (11)
• Technology Explained: How Does Skype Work? (14)
• Instant Conference Calling With Gizmo5 (1)

So here are a few services to get you going and have you making international calls in a matter of minutes.

EvaPhone

EvaPhone, allows you to make free PC-to-phone calls anywhere in the world. There is nothing to download and there’s no sign up required. To get started you simply follow the link and enter the country and number that you want to call. Evaphone is definitely one of the easiest free phone tools available on the Net.

PokeTalk

PokeTalk provides totally free domestic and international calls to over 55 countries via your own phone. So, you will need your own phone number in order to use the service. Since PokeTalk is an ad-sponsored service, there are no fees whatsoever plus there is no download required.

A great feature that PokeTalk includes is the ability to connect to Facebook. When you make a call, an update with the country you dialed will be added to your Facebook profile. They also provide a widget that you can add to your website and will allow your visitors to make free calls from your site.

FreeRinger

FreeRinger allows you to make free calls to more than 30 countries worldwide. Calls are made from an easy to use widget right in your browser, so there are no downloads required. Also, you can receive calls from regular and Internet (SIP) phones.

FreeRinger also has an unique feature that allows you to have “speed dial hyperlinks”. Meaning you can save phone numbers as links and then bookmark them for easy access later.

YouTring

With YouTring you can make free PC-to-phone and free PC-to-PC calls. It’s not totally free but they do offer very low international calling plans. Their calling plans range from $25 – $100 and they claim that you’ll never have to worry about bad reception or interrupted calls.

In order to use the service, you will need to download a fairly small file to your computer.

Globe7

Globe7 also has a lot of unique features and is a great tool for those that like online entertainment. This handy tool can be used for more than just making free calls. With Globe 7 you can watch videos, play games, watch live TV, listen to live radio, send SMS messages, upload and share files, and so much more. To get started, you will need to download the program to your computer.

What’s also great about Globe7 is that it’s not only for Windows users, Mac and Linux users can enjoy it as well. Plus, there’s also a mobile version that’s free to download.

Flaphone

Flaphone is one of the most interesting web-based telephones I’ve come across; you can make and receive calls using the service. You will need to sign up but it’s very quick and easy.

Calls can be made straight from the website so, there’s no downloads required. If you prefer though, they do have an AIR application that you can also use from your desktop.

Flaphone allows you to not only make calls to SIP and regular phones but you can also call any Skype user. As an added bonus, you can also make video calls with Flaphone as well as use it as an instant messenger.

You will need Adobe Flash Player version 9 or higher in order to use the service.

Which online service do you use to make free international calls? Which service mentioned above do you plan on trying? Please let us know in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• How To Get A Skype-In Phone Number For Free (23)
• A Head-to-Head VoIP Review: Skype Vs Gizmo (27)
• 3 Alternatives To Local Phone Companies That Will Save You Money (20)
• WhoCalled.US Tells You About That Call You Missed (US Only) (10)
• vTap – Download videos on your mobile for FREE (10)

If you want to create a conference room without your computer, you can just dial (605) 475-8515 (USA phone number) and press 0 to create a new conference room. Be sure to write down the conference room number, because anyone you want to join will need to use it to enter.

If you want to create a conference room with your computer, just visit the Gizmo5 free conference call setup page. You enter your email address into the form, and then you will be brought to a page with your conference number. You will also receive an email with your conference number.

Once you have your conference room number, just give it to those you wish to attend along with the (605) 475-8515 dial-in number. When they call the dial-in number, they will be prompted for the conference room number. They can then enter the conference room number you gave them.

That’s all there is to it, and you can do it without even signing up for an account. However, if you’re outside of the USA or you don’t have an unlimited long-distance calling plan, you will need to sign up for a Gizmo5 account if you want to use the service without having to pay long distance charges.

Just download the Gizmo5 client and sign up for a free account.  They have clients available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Once you’ve installed the Gizmo5 client, you can launch it and create a free account right from the application.

Once you’ve installed Gizmo5 and logged into your account, just dial CONFERENCE. Once you’re connected, click the Dialpad tab and then enter the conference room number.  You’ll be connected to the conference room and will be ready to chat with the others as they join.

What free conference calling services do you use? Are you aware of any other free sites to setup instant conference calls? Let us know in comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• 6 must-know Apps to make FREE Group Conference Calls (10)
• Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac (12)
• How To Use Skype To Record Calls or Conduct Interviews with HotRecorder (Windows) (8)
• Tokbox & Etherpad: Potential Google Wave Competitors, Available Now (11)
• The Best Sites For Making International Telephone Calls (13)

Read on to find out how to make skype portable. It’s extremely easy.

1. The first step is to make the folder on your USB stick where it will all stay. So call it whatever you want. Let’s call it “Portable Skype” for example. But you can give it whatever name you want (it can be ’skype portable version’ or just skype, doesn’t matter).

2. Now go to the installed Skype app on your computer (normally located at C:\Program Files\Skype) and look for a file called Skype.exe

Right-click and copy that file. Do not move it anywhere. Just right-click and copy.

3. Now go to the “Portable Skype” folder and insert that copied “Skype.exe” file into the “Portable Skype” folder.

4. In the “Portable Skype” folder, make a new sub-folder called data

5. Inside the “data” folder, make a new text document using Notepad or something similar.   Name the file skype.bat

6. Open this file up and insert the following line: skype.exe /datapath:”Data” /removable

7. Save and close the file. That’s it. You’re done. You now have a portable version of Skype.

I tested this by moving the whole lot onto a USB stick and then launching it from there. It launched immediately but the firewall asked me if I wanted to let it pass. So you would need to configure the firewall of the computer you would be using the portable Skype on to allow the app through.

There is an interesting thread on PortableApps about what should be put on the skype.bat file. If you want to fine-tune the file, you might want to read the thread.

This is just a “rough and ready” hack to put Skype on your USB stick and how to make skype portable app. Please note, future releases of Skype may cause this hack to stop working. I am hoping that Skype will eventually bring out an official portable version that works for ALL portable USB sticks, not just the U3.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Technology Explained: How Does Skype Work? (14)
• Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac (12)
• How To Use Skype To Record Calls or Conduct Interviews with HotRecorder (Windows) (8)
• How to Set Privacy Settings to Make Skype Safe Against Snoopers (8)
• How To Power up your Skype even more (4)

However, some of you will NOT see it yet as Gmail is doing their usual and rolling it out slowly to users.   So some of you will have it and some of you won’t.   So if you don’t have it yet, don’t despair.   You will see it eventually!

This new feature is a really big deal because along with also being able to put Google gadgets in the Gmail sidebar, this means that your Gmail inbox is no longer just for email.   Your Gmail inbox is now the center of your entire working life.  I hesitate to use the phrase “nerve center” as it is over-used and a bit of a cliche but that is basically what it has now become.   Everything you need to work with is now sitting on your Gmail page :

• Your email
• The Google Calendar gadget (enabled from the Gmail Labs section)
• The Google Docs gadget (enabled from the Gmail Labs section)
• Any other gadgets you may have installed.
• Remember The Milk “to do list” gadget or the Firefox extension.
• And now….video and voice chat!

You need to install a small plug-in which Google provides but right there, you see the first drawback. If you are working on different computers, you need to have the plugin installed on ALL of the computers for the video and voice chat to work. So if you are say in an internet cafe or on a computer where you don’t have the administrator rights then you won’t be able to use the video and voice features. Any feature that requires something installed is always going to have limited appeal and limited use.

You are also obviously going to need a webcam. Google “helpfully” gives you some suggestions (obviously they’ll get their commission if you follow their ideas!)

Once you have the plug-in installed and you’ve plugged in the webcam, go to your Gmail settings, then the “chat” tab. You’ll now see a new section:

Make sure that the settings are correct and that your webcam is showing up.

If you now look at your GTalk inside Gmail, you’ll now see yourself with a little camera icon next to your name:

If anyone sees that camera icon, they’ll know that you are able to speak to them via webcam inside Gmail’s GTalk and if you see cameras next to their name, you’ll know they can do the same.

Finally, here is Gmail’s official little YouTube video on the subject :

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Watch YouTube Or Google Videos Inside Gmail Chat (1)
• Turn Your IM Program Into A Productivity Tool Using Imified (23)
• How To Add Google Talk to Your Webpages (14)
• Addons to Make Google Talk Better (25)
• 6 must-know Apps to make FREE Group Conference Calls (10)

Once you’ve downloaded ooVoo you’ll be asked to create an account if you don’t already have one. You’ll be required to enter a ooVoo ID, a password for your account and your email. When you click the next button you can enter a display name and a picture. Then when you click next again you’ll be asked to enter some personal information but this is optional so you can just click finish. When you click finish you will then be logged in to ooVoo and see a welcome window telling you about the features that ooVoo has to offer.

Features

• Video Call
• Video Message
• Find Friends
• Record Video Call
• Video Effects
• Chat
• Send Files
• Sidebar View
• ooVoo Link
• Privacy

ooVoo has quite a few nice features that makes it different to any other messaging client I have came across. A nice feature that I like about ooVoo that (as far as I know) no other messaging client has is that you are able to record video voicemail messages. So if someone is offline and you need to tell them something, instead of sending an email, send a video message and give your fingers a rest.

You’re also able to record video calls so this can come in useful if you have a meeting over ooVoo and you need to check back on something later that was said that you may have missed or you need to clarify.

If you want to find out if any of your friends are using ooVoo you can simply do this by clicking “import contacts”. You will then have a choice of 8 services to check if your friends are using. The 8 services are AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, IcqMail, mac.com, Yahoo, LinkedIn and Mail.com. If your friends aren’t using ooVoo you can either send them an email from ooVoo or send a video message asking them to sign up and add you.

If you’re using the Windows version of ooVoo you will be able to do video effects with your friend when in a video call. This feature is not available for Mac OS X so you won’t be able to do it unless you install Windows on Bootcamp, Parallels or VMware.

Just like every messaging client, ooVoo will let you message and talk to your friends with text. Up to six people can join a conversation and you can send messages to offline contacts and they will receive the message when they next log in to ooVoo.

With ooVoo you can also send files to your contacts and friends and can send up to twenty files to as many contacts as you want at any time. A really nice feature is that you are able to send files to contacts who are offline and they will receive them the next time they log on.

Another cool feature that I like about ooVoo is the Sidebar View. If you’re working on many files and ooVoo is getting in the way you can switch to Sidebar View and it will put ooVoo to the right of your screen so that it is out of the way but you can still see your friends and contacts if you’re in a video call.

If you want people to see if you’re online on ooVoo and available, you can add an ooVoo link to your blog, website or email signature. If someone views your ooVoo link and sees your online status, they will be able to call you and chat to you instantly. Within the privacy settings you are able to set who can see your ooVoo status.

Within the privacy options in ooVoo you can also set whether everyone can see your picture or just your contacts, if video calls start automatically and who can contact and call you.

Do you use ooVoo? Or do you have another preferred VOIP application?

(By) Wez is a student studying computers, also does programming and video tutorials and writes about technology, software and websites, check out his blog @ www.TheTutorialBlog.com

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Send several GBs of data to Friends using Podmailing (15)
• Run Windows Applications on Linux (or Mac) with WINE (15)
• Music Sharing with Mojo (18)
• Mid-Game Messaging and More with XFire (for Gamers) (2)
• How To Use Skype To Record Calls or Conduct Interviews with HotRecorder (Windows) (8)

MeBeam – Online Video Conferencing

Quick and simple way to setup informal video conference calls. Using Mebeam you can instantly setup video conferences with up to 18 people simultaneously. The cool thing about it you don’t have to register or install any kind of software, just create the conference room and share it with others. The only requirement is a working headset.

ooVoo – Video Conferencing on your PC

ooVoo is a free video chat program that lets you chat with up-to 6 people at the same time. Basically, it’s a video messaging program with powerful video chat capabilities. At the moment it’s only available to Windows users, but they promise to release Mac client soon. Check out ooVoo video demo.

Rondee – Phone Conference Calls

Schedule phone conference calls and invite as many friends as you want. Calls can be scheduled both from the web or phone. You can think of it as a virtual meeting space where you can invite and conference with a group of people using any US phone. To join your conference room, participant only needs to dial Rondee access number (619-276-6333) and enters his/her access code.

For complete features list go to Rondee: Phone Conference Calls

Foonz – Free Group Calls

Quite similar to the above Rondee, but you also get the option to send group voice messages and organize contacts into groups (i.e. family, freinds, work etc.). You get a separate number for each group. Again, works with any phone, both mobile or landline. Read more @ Foonz : Free Group Calls.

TalkShoe – Live Talk Shows and Conference Calls

Online community where users can host, participate, or just listen to live interactive talk shows and discussions. You can schedule live multi-person conference talks and invite interested people to join as participants or listeners. The below image shows the whole idea.

Thinkature – Real-time Collaboration Dashboard

Thinkature is an easy-to-use online brainstorming dashboard with conference support. Here you can create mindmaps, draw and discuss ideas with your teammates in real-time. You can invite as many people as you want. Here is the screenshot.

You can check out Thinkature video screencast here. Interested in other brainstorming applications? See our round up on Top Brainstorming Applications.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Tokbox & Etherpad: Potential Google Wave Competitors, Available Now (11)
• Phonevite – Blast Out Voice Messages To Your Team For Free (8)
• Instant Conference Calling With Gizmo5 (1)
• How To Use Skype To Record Calls or Conduct Interviews with HotRecorder (Windows) (8)
• Gmail Introduces Video & Voice Features (12)

But first a disclaimer – do NOT do this if you are not comfortable changing settings on your computer. MakeUseOf is not liable if you mess up your Skype application. Only proceed if you know what you are doing!

OK, go into your Skype folder (under “Documents and Settings”) and find a file called “config.xml”. Open that up and find the video section. It will start with <video>.

When you have found it, enter the following lines under <video> :

<CaptureHeight>480</CaptureHeight>
<CaptureWidth>640</CaptureWidth>
<Device>enter the name of your webcam device here!</Device>
<Fps>25</Fps>

Once entered, save the document and close.

Next, install a program called ffdshow-tryout. The set-up is a little complicated but the main thing is to ensure that “Raw video” is set to “all supported”, and that the “Deinterlacing” checkbox is checked.

Now re-start Skype and call someone with a webcam. If you’ve done everything correctly, the screen should now be bigger and the quality much better!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• How To Power up your Skype even more (4)
• How To Power up your Skype (16)
• Tokbox & Etherpad: Potential Google Wave Competitors, Available Now (11)
• Technology Explained: How Does Skype Work? (14)
• Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac (12)

I can understand why some people are not even aware that there is an Extras Manager in Skype as it is obscurely tucked away in a drop-down sub-menu and not really placed or promoted prominently. If you are not aware of the Skype Extras Manager, you can find it by going to How to power up your Skype application even more

Tools—>Do More—>Organize Your Extras.

When the box opens, you’ll see a wide variety of Skype tools which are available to download and use. Some are completely useless but there are some real gems in there such as Unyte (remote desktop sharing), Talk and Write (collaborative file work), and of course my personal favourite – a chess game! OK, chess won’t make you productive but a little bit of fun and relaxation never did anyone any harm…

To download and install a plug-in, just click on the green arrow button and it will immediately download and install. But if it is not “Skype Approved” then you download it at your own risk.

All of these plug-ins in the Extras Manager have been designed by third-party developers using Skype’s API. So if you have a good idea for a Skype plug-in and you have the technical know-how then Skype allows you access to their application so you can develop your idea. Once made, it can then be added to the Extras Manager and some of these programs eventually obtain the “Skype Certified” status, which obviously enhances their standing.

But as with all plug-ins, the more you install, the slower the program. So unless you want to wait ages for Skype to open, choose and install your plug-ins wisely and sparingly!

By: Mark O’Neill is a freelance writer, proofreader and blogger. Visit his blog at BetterThanTherapy.net

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• How To Power up your Skype (16)
• Integrate Facebook Chat Into Pidgin Instant Messenger (3)
• How to get better picture quality in Skype video calls (3)
• Top 10 Blogger Hacks and Tips (123)
• Technology Explained: How Does Skype Work? (14)

So today, let’s take a look at my Skype and two of the features I have found useful.

Record your Skype calls with PowerGramo

After a disasterous experience with Pamela Recorder, I next turned to PowerGramo and I have never had any cause to be disappointed. PowerGramo is a small software program which you can use to record your Skype telephone conversations. Unlike Pamela, PowerGramo runs silently and automatically in the background and the person whom you’re speaking to will never know they’re being recorded.

Calls are initially recorded as “PGA” files (PowerGramo’s own file format) and from there, you can convert the audio file into MP3, OGG and WAV (although MP3 files need a “lame.dll” encoder file which I can give you a copy of if you like). The sound quality is also crystal clear.

Upgrading to the paid version, you can also record conference calls (the free version limits you to recording conversations with only one other person)

The only problem I have found with PG is that if you run several Skype programs at the same time (under different Windows accounts), PowerGramo crashes (maybe because you have to connect a specific Skype account to the program and if you run other Skype ID’s at the same time, the program doesn’t know what to do). I often run up to 4 Skype lines at the same time and during those times, I have had to shut down PowerGramo. I have reported the bug to the company but have not received an answer to date.

Another little niggly thing is that PGA files can be pretty big in size so converting it to another file format is a must. When I convert my audio files to mp3’s, they are often more than half the size of the original PGA file!

How PowerGramo has helped me: Since I partly use Skype for business calls, I’ve often found that keeping a recording of a phone call helps when chasing bad debts or negotiating agreements. In a “he says, she says” situation, having a MP3 file of the phone call can make the problem go away instantly or the call recording can be used in court as evidence if you’re collecting a bad debt. Which is why I like the fact that PowerGramo doesn’t warn the other person they’re being recorded, unlike Pamela Recorder, which broadcasts it far and wide.

Send faxes on Skype with PamFax

I was overjoyed when this feature was rolled out as I have never been able to afford a fax machine and I lost track of the number of times when business clients asked me to fax them something, and upon hearing I had no fax machine, they virtually asked me if I was an amateur or a professional. So PamFax comes as a welcome relief. OK, you can’t receive faxes with this service, you can only send them. But hey, it’s a step in the right direction.

You have to download a small program and from there, it’s an easy step-by-step process. The cost of sending the fax is taken out of your Skype credit, there are no up-front or recurring costs, and you can get a status report of your fax’s progress by Skype chat, SMS or email.

The only problem is that, as I have said, you can’t receive faxes through Pamfax so if you send a fax and the other person tries to fax you back, it will fail. Strictly one way.

How PamFax has helped me: Obtaining new business clients by being able to fax back important documents quickly such as signed contracts, completed work and confidentiality agreements. Being able to fax documents also makes you look a little more professional – that is unless they try to fax you back then the whole professionalism thing goes right out the window!

Tomorrow, we’ll be looking at some more ways to build up your Skype application, including taking a look at the Extras Manager and the programs being used by Skype API developers.

Mark O’Neill is a freelance writer, proofreader, editor and blogger. Check out his blog at http://www.betterthantherapy.net

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Integrate Facebook Chat Into Pidgin Instant Messenger (3)
• How To Power up your Skype even more (4)
• Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac (12)
• How To Use Skype To Record Calls or Conduct Interviews with HotRecorder (Windows) (8)
• How to get better picture quality in Skype video calls (3)

(1) SKYPE EXTRAS (Windows, Skype 3.0 or higher)

SAM – Answering Machine – cool voice answering machine for your Skype client. Takes voice message, records conversations, includes inbuilt lie-detector and lets you setup video greetings . [requirements: Win. Media Player]

Media Controller – nice extra that lets you auto-pause/stop/decrease volume of your media player (Winamp, WMP, iTunes) at the time of an incoming call. It’ll change the state back to normal as soon as the call ends. (Note: little heavy on memory usage)

TalkAndWrite – collaborate with your contacts on any document (doc, rtf, pdf, xls, ppt, png, webpage, etc.) side by side. Demo

uSeeToo – lets you share images, maps, play multi-player games and collaborate with your contacts.

KishKish Lie Detector – fun, real-time lie detector that monitors stress level of the person you talk with.

Tumara VC for Skype – search your Skype contacts using voice commands.

Fadeout Fun – free Skype soundeffects, i.e. phone rings, toilet flushes, etc. [Works on any platform]

Last.fm – integrates customized (based on your favorite artists), ad-free radio to your Skype client. Automatically fades out on incoming calls. [requirements: Flash 7 or higher]

(2) DESKTOP WIDGETS (both for Mac and Windows users)

Yahoo Widgets (?): SkypeContacts [Win] / Skyper TM4 [Win , Mac] – displays your Skype contacts and lets you contact them by using provided action buttons.

Google Gadgets (?): Skype Plugin [Google Desktop 4 or above] – displays your skype credit and contacts.

Mac Dashboard: Skype Widget [Mac OS X 10.4 or later] – dashboard widget that lets you make calls, look up country codes and check calling rates.

(3) ADDONS (For Browsers, Email Clients and Microsoft Office)

SkypeWebToolbar [Firefox / IE] – recognizes phone numbers and Skype names on webpages, and lets you initiate a Skype call with a single click.

SkypeEmailToolbar [Outlook, Oulook Exp. 6, Thunderbird(win)] – access Skype contacts from your email client, call Skype names and phone numbers listed in the emails, view status of your contacts, add a Skype Button to your email signature and more.

SkypeOfficeToolbar [Win] – lets you send the file you are currently working on via Skype. Also recognizes phone numbers within your documents (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) and lets you call or SMS them.

Skype Sidebar [Firefox (1.5 – 2.0b1), Win] – handy addon that lets you call, add, find, check status, chat, voice mail and send files to your contacts right from your browser.

Callto: Linkify [Greasemonkey(?) script] – turns text phone numbers in webpages into ‘Skype Dial’ hyperlinks. When clicked it’ll initiate a Skype call to that number.

CustomizeSkypeAccount [Greasemonkey script] – integrates extra info to your ‘Skype Call list’ on your account page (skype.com), i.e total cost per month, total call time per month, etc.

(4) COOL TIPS

How To make a portable Skype phone from an old cordless phone.

Skype hack enables higher resolution video calls. For PC For Mac.

Router secrets that improve the quality of Skype phone calls. ‘HowTo’ video

Adding a ‘Skype Me’ button to your email as a signature

How To get Skype to work from your USB Drive. (aka portable(?) Skype)

(5) MORE STUFF

Anothr – simple and extremely easy to setup service that lets you use your Skype client as a notification tool for getting updates on your favorite blogs and feeds

SMS to Skype – allows GSM mobile phone users to send instant messages to any Skype user. (Note: Regular SMS rates apply)

JiWire Hotspot – helps you locate wireless hotspots anywhere in the world

Plusfax – fax paper documents from your fax Machine directly to any Skype user

KanTalk – free foreign language practice community for Skype users

SkypeMobile – install skype on your mobile for cheaper calling rates

Skype for Mac 2.6 (Beta) – newly released Skype version for Mac users with bunch of cool features, i.e. chat type indicator (i.e John is typing), call transfer (transfer your active call to anyone on your contact list) [requirements: Mac OS X v10.3.9 Panther or later]

Technorati Tags: skype, extras, tips

• Technology Explained: How Does Skype Work? (14)
• Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac (12)
• How To Use Skype To Record Calls or Conduct Interviews with HotRecorder (Windows) (8)
• How to Set Privacy Settings to Make Skype Safe Against Snoopers (8)
• How To Power up your Skype even more (4)

There are many VoIP providers out there (Skype, VoipBuster, …) each with its own features and pricing models. After going through a bunch of them I came to conclusion that VoipBuster is the cheapest one. It’s by far cheaper then Skype, upto 2.5 times in some cases and has same (if not better) voice quality. To start using it you have to install VoipBuster software and register on voipbsuter.com.

To call someone you’ll need speakers and a microphone, in case you don’t have either of them, you still can use VoipBuster through your landline telephone. For that simply open VoipBuster client and go to ‘direct call’ option. Once there, 1. enter your landline number, 2. enter destination number and 3. press call. VoipBuster will try to connect these two numbers and within 2,3 seconds your landline phone should ring. You will need to pick up the phone and wait for the other side to answer. Please note, when using this option your calling rates will be higher.

VoipBuster Features

• Free PC to PC calls (VoipBuster accounts required).
• When calling from PC to mobile or landline the following rates apply (much cheaper than skype.)
• All landline calls to these countries are free (some balance deposit required). Otherwise, free calls are still possible but limited only to one minute per call.
• Free inbound local number: Users can get a number from voipbuster which looks and functions exactly like a normal local landline number. People from any type of phone can call this number and pay local calling fees. Coolest part about it, is that user can receive calls on that number regardless of his/her location. [Ex. Joe lives in New York and has inbound number. Joe goes to study abroad to Germany. Joe's friends in NYC call Joe's local number and Joe's PC rings somewhere in Germany. Joe picks and they start talking. Joe's friend pays only NYC local calling fees and Joe himself pays nothing.]
• No expiry date on the deposited credit. Prolong it for as long as you want.
• Direct calling: An option to use landline telephone handset.
• Good quality connection.
• Line ‘Hold on’, ‘Call History’ and ‘Chat’ options.

Overall, I think it’s really cool service which can save you considerable amount of money. It’s especially useful for making long distance calls. Try it out, it may be not as feature abundant as Skype, but definitely offers a better deal when it comes to money.

• A Head-to-Head VoIP Review: Skype Vs Gizmo (27)
• The Best Sites For Making International Telephone Calls (13)
• Technology Explained: How Does Skype Work? (14)
• Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac (12)
• Instant Conference Calling With Gizmo5 (1)