Discovering SKYPE

David

Loved your comments...

I tried Skype about a year ago and also enjoyed it however once my free time ran out I was stuck. So I gave them my credit card number to get more time. Well my card company called me to see if I had actually made the transaction. Apparently they have had problems with Skype ( it is out of England ) so I stopped using it.

Is the price still reasonable and have you had any issues with payment?

Callie Sinkinson, e-PRO

Cutler Real Estate

Akron Ohio

Hi Callie,

I have not actually made any payments in to the Skype system nor do I plan on doing so at this point. I am still exploring Skype and presently only anticipate conducting Skype to Skype communications. My understanding is that the only time there are charges in the Skype system is when a Skype user uses Skype to call a non Skype phone. I have my regular phone for doing that.

Skype is very easy to set up and Skype to Skype communications don't cost anything.

I did learn something over the last 24hr period. If a person puts their Skype client in "Skype Me" mode and leaves it that way (like I did), there are a myriad of people out there from all over the world that attempt to have contact. A person would need to exercise DISCRETION in terms of who they have contact with. I took my Skype client OUT of Skype Me mode and plan to only have contact with people I am aware of and know who they are.........like other real estate professionals.

I can think of a number of synergistic advantages to having free real time voice and video communications with other real estate professionals. 

SKYPE me at dave.gibbs.florida.usa and be sure to let me know you are from RealTown.

I tried Skype out and even had their 'Skype Me" on my web page. Nobody called :~( so I took the call me off the web page. I'm using Google Talk amoungst my peers and was think about using their Gtalk gaget on my web page along with realping. Anyone else have any Skype experiances?

Mike

I have both Skype and Google Talk on my site. People who come to my site use whichever they are comfortable with and so far it is working just fine. I only make Skype to Skype calls myself - and since that is free I love it! Options are what everyone wants and options I try to provide. You can add Skype ME to your emails and Blog as well!

Re Skype:

I have waited to post here until we had our website ready for broker owners to look at.

Skype sounds like a teriffic service for individuals. We now have a VoIP phone service for Real Estate Offices called SmartVoice. This service does not carry traffic opver the Internet, but rather carries traffic over a dedicated broadband circuit that we put in your office.

Even though it is VoIP, you can use your existing phones, and your existing telephone numbers. You can even use single line phones instead of a key system or a PBX. Savings will run 30-40% over conventional phone lines.

Additionally Realtors then have access to find-me numbers, webfaxing, conference calling etc.

There is no "ROI", because there is no " I "

Just a note you might not have known about. Remember the ads for Sprint in 1986; You can hear a pin drop? They were introducing VoIP

Check us out on our website; we are a RealTown vendor

Garrie O'Neill

http://onecall.realtown.com

I use Skype to 'chat' with my co-workers - even to have video conferences or multi-way voice conference calls. I usually just use the free computer-to-computer service, but when I'm overseas or in a hotel with very bad cell service, sometimes I use the "skype-out" functionality that costs a few cents a minute but lets me connect to regular telephones/cellphones.