Why not Skype as VoIP?

Submitted by Corey Smith on Thu, 04/10/2008 - 08:05

In my search for VoIP, I decided to check out Skype as an option for VoIP. I figured that I am always on Skype... it only made sense to use it as a soft phone.

I looked at their services and pricing and noticed that they have Skype Pro, Skype Credit and you can get a local number. What I couldn't tell was how all the pricing and services worked together. You can get a "personal online number" (which took a little to understand that it was likely a phone number) for $6 per month. But, I couldn't tell if I also needed to get Skype Pro for an additional $3 per month. Then, If I got those two services, would I then need to also buy Skype to add minutes?

Well, on their website, there is no way to really understand that as far as I could figure out. I think that I have a reasonable understanding, but not 100% clear.

I thought that if I could just sign up, the answer would be more clear. At the point of entering my PayPal information, I realized that I still didn't really understand, so I went to their contact page and found a phone number.

I called the online store... I figured since I was buying product, that made sense.

I was told that the online store couldn't help but if I would call the Skype voice team they could help me. When I asked if he could transfer me or give me the number, he said, they can't receive phone calls.

So, I guess I can't call. I was ready to buy that moment if I could get an immediate answer.

I asked what the Skype address was so that I could just use instant messaging. They don't have a way to use instant messaging in their pre-sales efforts.

What? A company based on instant communication doesn't have a way to communicate instantly with people who are ready to give them money?

You can call toll free numbers for free, so I thought I would at least try the service to see if it merited further investigation. I guess my 8Mb connection isn't enough for them because I dropped my first call.

So, Skype I'll continue to use for instant messaging and video, but I won't pay for their voice service.



Corey Smith is the president of Tribute Media a web development firm providing high performing, industry specific websites. He is a businessman, writer, technology fanatic, graphic designer and web developer. His greatest passion is teaching, consulting and speaking.

You can find him on Twitter, FaceBook, FriendFeed, and LinkedIn.

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Submitted by Ken Stewart (not verified) on Thu, 04/10/2008 - 11:53.
I'm glad you are doing all this research. I hate that you have to go through all of this, but it is definitely educational for me. I had a very similar experience at a doctor's office the other day. The main office was open but the sub-section I go into wasn't yet. So I went up to get my router form and pay my co-pay. They wouldn't let me. She said she was helping another customer even though the other customer was filling out paperwork and not at the window. What made things even more irritating was that there were 2 other windows and they couldn't take my payment either. I was told I had to wait 15 minutes and come back up. Even though I was the first one at the office prior to this, I then was 4th in line after having to go through all that. Wow! That put me behind 1/2 hour in my schedule for the day. PS - I did find it funny that you made such a big deal about Packet8 wanting to talk live vs. e-mail and here you just pick-up the phone and call Skype ;-)

Submitted by Corey Smith (not verified) on Thu, 04/10/2008 - 14:19.
I am convinced that your doctor's office problem is a prime example what happens when payment is guaranteed because of insurance. As far as your PS is concerned... I was wondering if someone was going to call me on that. The difference with Skype is that the phone number on their site automatically rang through my Skype account for free. After I clicked the number, all I had to do was put on my headset and start talking. If they could have just answered the question I had, it would have been worth it. In addition, I was ready to buy that moment and I wanted an immediate answer.
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