#Are skype phone calls free phone install
#Are skype phone calls free phone Pc
#Are skype phone calls free phone Bluetooth

However, if customers start running Skype on dedicated networks, many of those issues could become moot. 'If I'm on the phone with a client, it doesn't make a good impression.' 'In a business setting, the product still has a residential flavor to it,' says Steve Hilton, small and medium business analyst at the Yankee Group, a Boston telecommunications and IT research firm. Many argue that Skype is a consumer service at best. Naturally, Skype's push into small business has raised more than a few eyebrows. 'For branch offices, this is pretty remarkable,' says Gunjan Bhow, ActionTec's director of marketing.

For example, a new product called Vosky Exchange from Skype partner ActionTec lets you set up a PBX that supports IP to dial out to up to four Skype lines.

Products that can bridge PBXs to Skype should be especially appealing to VARs. In all, these offerings are the first of what promises to be a new crop of Skype-enabled phones. I also have external speakerphones from US Robotics and ClearCube, which I will report on at a later date, as well.

#Are skype phone calls free phone Bluetooth

I did, however, recently test the company's new Bluetooth USB adapter, which was relatively easy to set up (easier than an older Belkin Bluetooth adapter I once tested). Though I haven't tested it yet, I have TrendNet's new ClearSky Bluetooth VoIP Phone kit. The phone also lacked the color display of the Linksys phone, and the interface was less intuitive. Unfortunately, the wire made the phone clumsy for me to handle. Unlike the Linksys model, it has a permanent wire that connects to the USB port, from which it draws its power (no wireless base station came with the phone). Next, I tried US Robotics' USB Internet Phone. NEXT: Jeff test-drives US Robotics' USB Internet Phone. I walked around my office, and the connection seemed solid-no better or worse than any cell phone. But I did connect with a colleague and, I have to say, it was not a bad experience. At this point, I only know a handful of people who use it. Once complete, I was making calls to Skype users. The phone comes with two AAA NiMH batteries, which take 14 hours to charge.

#Are skype phone calls free phone install

I already had a Skype account, so all I had to do was install the CD that provides the drivers for the base station and the connectivity of the Skype data to the phone set. Installation of the Linksys CIT200 was relatively simple. Or a caller can use the Skype In and Skype Out functions, which permit calls to be sent and received for a fee. The latter sends signals from the Skype interface to the phone, effectively letting a caller see who is online and dial anyone on the Skype network. So far, I've had the opportunity to test the Linksys CIT200, which, for $129, consists of a handset and USB base station. Other hardware providers that have released or are readying new products for Skype are Cisco's Linksys, ClearOne, Plantronics, TrendNet and US Robotics.įor its part, Skype insists it is only going after small businesses with less than 10 users-for now, at least. D-Link's DPH-50U, for one, links any corded or cordless phone via an RJ-11 port to the Skype network.

#Are skype phone calls free phone Pc

But now Skype is taking it up a notch, targeting small businesses as of last month when it launched the Skype For Business initiative.Īs part of that push, several vendors have released handsets that connect to any PC via a USB port. Until recently, Skype was only accessible to those with a microphone and speakers, or a headset connected to a notebook or desktop computer. They also can call non-Skype users for a small percentage of what other phone services charge, even at their newly commoditized rates. Its appeal is clear: Nearly 300 million subscribers can call each another anywhere in the world for free. Skype is quickly creating a new ecosystem for how people will be able to make and receive international phone calls.