I just tried out Skype to Canada, phoning a landline. I could hear the guy clearly but he said my voice was like it was coming through cotton wool. I was using a decent microphone, so where in my PC system can I make improvements? The mic goes into a typical generic socket on the back of the computer.
It may be your mic or soundcard, or it might be Skype.
If you use Skype Out to call another number (Like a voicemail system you can then listen back to) how does that sound? or if you do the skype test call, can you hear yourself clearly?
Without casting aspersions on the members of this group, who of course know everything there is to know on any topic, you might be better off posting in uk.telecom.voip (x-posted and f/ups set).
I'm a long-time Skype user. Generally the quality is good to very good. At its best it is far better than a landline. I mostly call Hong Kong and France. It's best to use a USB phone, even a very cheap one, rather than using the computer's audio. You get better quality sound and you don't get the clangs from Windows breaking through. I've got a Philips VoIP321 setup that allows me to use the same cordless handset for standard landline and Skype calls. There are cheaper ones that are similar.
Yes, there are occasional drop outs and noise but I wouldn't use anything else. To call a mobile in Hong Kong for 1p a minute is amazing!
I've generally had very good sound quality but there have been occasions where quality slipped. Are you connecting to a network using wireless? If so consider switching to a wired connection or tweaking your network to get better bandwidth.
Used to be quite a bit of Skype across my family, and it was good when it first appeared, but seemed to go downhill, probably as more people joined, both on connection quality and line drops.
Changed nearly everyone to proper VoIP, and that's much better, and more accessible to the non-computer users in the family (or at least that was the case at the time -- there are now a number of non-computer Skype solutions too). There's still one bit of Skype in use, which is useful to remind us just how good the real VoIP is;-)
Google "Polycom communicator" for a similar cheaper device.
What these basically do is have a mic and a speaker in the same box with some echo cancellation firmware which when configured with Skype means that you get a clear signal with almost no "chatter back".
But before spending any money you should use the Skype test call Robot to understand how you sound first.
That's not a differentiator - either type works either way. By "proper VOIP" I really mean standards-based, using SIP. Skype is a private proprietry protocol, intended to lock out anyone who doesn't have Skype's consent to join (although some people have reverse engineered parts of it).
Depends on your network setup and what you want to do with it and your VoIP skill level. You should take this to uk.telecom.voip
It can be, or you can simply get a VoIP ADSL modem/router, and sign up for a VoIP package with a service provider. If you're in the market for doing this, you could do a lot worse than signing up with Draytek who sell very good DSL modem/routers and provide the DrayTel VoIP service.
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Do I need a service provider for this?
It would probably work out for the best. You need a registrar service so that other people can route calls to your VoIP phone.
Yes, it's not a busy group - which is sometimes a good thing! Also there are a few (myself included, I guess) who don't really "approve" of Skype, much prefering standards based VoIP to closed, proprietary systems.
But the advice you've been given so-far is valid - get a USB device is probably the best which keeps it independant of your PCs audio hardware.
Also have you checked that your microphone input is actualy OK? Try recording some audio with whatever tools Microsoft provide for this (I'm guessing you're running XP or similar) Another thing you might try is another soft-phone not designed for Skype - some of them have audio tests built in. Eg. x-lite. Maybe your Skype client sotware had tests built in?
Skype does work - for most people, most of the time - most problems seem to be caused by your local audio setup and your own network/ISP. I'd start with the audio setup, or get an external (USB) device of some sorts.
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