SKYPE,AND THE
BEST ALTERNATIVES
Skype
http://www.skype.com
We’ll startwiththemostpopularoption.As we’vealreadysaid,thisis
a programusedby millionsto communicatearoundtheworld.Skype
hasrisento thetopthanksto beingexactlywhatpeoplewanted
- a wayto talkwithoutyourtimecostinga fortune.Skypemadeit
possibleto talkto anyone,anywhere in eithervoiceor videochat.It
didthisat a timewhere VoiP wasstillrelativelyunknownby many, and
thiskindof internetcommunicationwasn’t all thatuserfriendly. Video
chathadexistedfora longtimeprior, butSkype madeit mainstream
andshuntedit intothepublicconsciousness.It wasoneof thefirst
genuinelyeasyto useoptions,approachableby usersof all abilities.
Skype’s features haveevolved,buttheprogramhasremained
straightforward. Alongsidethestandard voiceandvideocalls,Skype
allowsforconferencecalls,filetransfers,textchat,callsfromPCto
mobileandviceversa.It alsohasa premiumoptiongivingyoua Skype
accountviaa dedicatedVoiP phone– NoPCor smartphonerequired.
WhileSkype’s moveto Microsoftallowedit to reachnew
markets,suchas gamers,thanksto its incorporationontothe
Xbox,it’s thesimpleinterfacethatmeansit’s likelygoingto bethe
favouriteof manyfora longtimeto come.
Viber
http://www.viber.com
A majorcompetitorto Skypeandonethat’s hugelypopular, despite
stillmissingoutonthecrown.Viberis a more smartphone-focused
app,andit offerstotallyfree VoiP calls,as wellas textandpicture
messaging.Thisbypassesyourusualtariff limitationsas it usesyour
dataconnection,notcalls,andit worksin anycountryin theworld.
Standard callsthroughViberwillstilluseyourminutes,of course,and
youcanonlygetfree callswhencallinganotherViberdevice.Thisis
prettymuchthesameas anyother, similarVoiP app.
LikeSkype,Viberis availableforvariousdevices,includingWindows,
iOS,WindowsPhone,Android,Blackberryandmore. It boasts“Best-
QualityHDvoicecalls,”videocalls,as wellas a fullchatapplication
withsupportforphotosandstickers.There’s alsotheoptionto sync
youraccountandsetupbetweenmultipledevices,andtheappcan
accessyouraddressbookto automaticallypopulateits owncallerlist,
makingit easyto pickupandusewhateverdeviceyouhave.
A neatextrafeature is theabilityto transferan ongoingcall
betweendevices.Thisis veryusefulif you’re onthegowitha Viber
callonyourphone,andduringthecallyougethomeandwant
to continuefromyourlaptop,where youcanswitchto yourwi-fi
networktoo.You canalsousethepublicchatfunction,whichlets
youviewpublicconversations.It’s an oddfeature, butit advertisedas
beingableto eavesdroponcelebrities,so if that’s interestingto you,it
maybe wortha punt.
FaceTime
http://www.apple.com/au/ios/facetime
AlongsideViber, Apple’s FaceTimeis theotherbigalternative,
althoughit’s onlyavailableforusersof Apple’s devices,which
limitsits scopesomewhat.Despitethis,FaceTimeis verypopular
andembracesApple’s loveof deliveringpolished,standout
servicesthatofferstreamlinedandsimplefunctions.
FaceTimeallowsforvideochatto otherFaceTimeusersforfree
andis availableoveranywi-fi,internet-connectednetwork.The
videochatis amongstthebestaround,withgreatqualityvideo
andunparalleledeaseof use.720PHDvideois alsosupported,
althoughthisavailabilityis limitedto more upto datedevices.
FaceTimeis farmore simplisticthanmostappsfeaturedhere,
butfewhandlethiscore taskquiteas well,andif you’vegota
compatibleAppledevice,thisis probablygoingto beyourchat
toolof choice.GoogleHangouts
hangouts.google.com
Hangoutsis Google’s answerto Skypeandothers:a freechat
servicethatfunctionsviaa webportalinsteadof a downloadable
app.Aftersimplynavigatingto GoogleHangoutsyoucaninvite
peopleto chatusingthesimpleinterfacewhich,beingGoogle,is
populatedfromyourGoogleaccount.
Hangoutssupportstextandvideochat,augmentedbyemoji,
picture andGIFs,andyoucancreate,or takepartin a chatgroup
of upto 100people.Thischatroomsizeis limitedto 10fora
groupvideochat,butit’s stillveryuseful,especiallyforsmall
businessesin needof a cheapconferencetool.iFaceTimeiSkype
iViber