You need to do video conferencing with Skype? All your friends are using it, but you have no idea or what it is, or how does it work?
In this mini-guide I will try to dissolve your doubts and help you organize your first online video.
Skype is the most well-known program for communicating with other people using the Internet network. This is for several reasons:
- It’s free for voice calls and chat between Skype users
- It is available for all desktop operating systems and mobile
- It has a wide range of features
Skype uses a technology called VoIP, which allows transmission of voice in the form of digital pulses and sending it over the web but this description so tank, do not do it justice: Skype, in fact, can do much more for you.
Here are some of its key features:
- Video conference up to 10 people (with Skype Premium subscription)
- Economical phone calls all over the world (from 2.2 c VAT included)
- Text chat with two or more people
- Sending large files
- Screen Sharing
Let ‘s see how it works:
Download Skype
To download Skype, you just go to the official website and choose your operating system (Windows, Mac or Linux). I suggest you download the file to your Desktop, so you’ll have immediately at hand.
Once you have downloaded the file, proceed with the installation on your computer. Do not worry, the wizard does pretty much everything myself.
Registration
To use Skype you need to register. This is because the program needs to associate each user with a name and an email address to make them recognizable and traceable.
Then choose the email address that you normally use, a unique username that will identify you (I suggest you use all lowercase name, as in “johndoe”), the place where you are now, and add a photo to make it easier identify you for your contacts.
Contacts
Once you have completed the installation process, it’s time to add your contacts.
Go into the menu “Contacts” and select “Add Contact.” You will find yourself in front of a search window (such as Google) that allows you to type the user name of a contact or email address.
Skype will provide you with a list of contacts that match your search. Next to each contact, you will find his place of residence in order to avoid cases of homonymy. Repeat for all the contacts you want to add.
Video Conference Call
You’re almost ready for video conferencing! Now, you just need to double click on the user name you want to call Skype and start calling for you.
At this point, you will hear a sound similar to a traditional ringing of the phone, and the person you are calling, a message appears on the computer that invited him to agree to get in touch with you.
Once you accept the call from the receiver before you will see a big box with the video of that person and you can hear his voice from the speakers of your computer (we recommend using a headset for better acoustics).
See an example of a group video below:
During the call you can also use text chat to exchange text messages with your partner, transfer files and even share your screen (useful if you want to help someone solve a problem remotely on your PC).
Remember that you can video call another user, if this is online as you. If you are looking to contact a user that is not online, they will receive a missed call notification (as is the case with mobile phones), the first time you connect to Skype.
Make sure you have properly set your microphone and webcam from your settings for optimal performance during communication. If you have a computer with a webcam and microphone, do not worry, Skype does it all by himself.
Costs
The voice calls between one or more users and Skype video calls to two participants are always free. In contrast, group video calling (up to a maximum of 10 people) are not included and are part of your subscription Skype Premium.
The Skype premium subscription costs € 4 (inc VAT) per day or € 6.89 (VAT included) per month.
For a group video call, it is not necessary that all users have Skype Premium, but only those who start the video call inviting other participants.
For all new customers, the group video calls are free promotion for 7 days.
