VOIP GUIDE

Featuring

(VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL) FEATURIN

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BY: LUCAS ALMEIDA

Skype Features: page1 - 2 About Skype and Requirements: page 3 – 6 Skype for Mac: page 7 Downloading and Installing: page 8 – 10 Creating Account/Security Privacy: page 11 – 12 Skype Credit: page 13 Making/Receiving Skype calls: page 14 – 18 Skype Business use: page 19

Contents

Skype Features Skype to Skype call (Users) Make your own conference Group calling Video calling Screen sharing Instant messaging Send files Send SMS Online Number Call phones and mobiles

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Skype And facebookAnother great Skype features is that you can connect

your facebook account with Skype. It makes it much easier to communicate with your facebook’s friends because you don't need to go to the website and log on facebook you can do it by Skype.

You can also call them and import contacts from facebook to Skype, which is even more impressing and time saving

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What is Skype? Skype is a software used to make voice and videos calls,

not with only one person but a group. It is used world wide by business companies and also individuals. It has 633 million people registered in its system and it still growing.

It is a well known software, especially because you can call people within the Skype service area (users) for free from anywhere in the world.

Skype has become famous because of it’s instant messaging, it’s file transfer and the fact that it can make video conferences.

Skype can be used in any kind of computer, Smartphone and tablets.

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Skype Requirements PC running Windows® XP, Vista or 7, both 32- and 64-bit operating systems.

Internet connection – broadband is best (GPRS is not supported for voice calls). Speakers and microphone – built-in or separate. For voice calls recommend broadband connection with 100 kbps down / 100 kbps up. For group video calling everyone on the call needs Skype 5.0 for Windows or Mac or higher plus

webcams, and at least one person needs a group video calling subscription.  For best quality  we recommend you use a high-speed broadband connection of 4Mbps down / 512kbps up and a computer with a Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz processor.

As a minimum you’ll need a high-speed broad connection of 512kbps down / 128kbps up and a computer with a 1 GHz processor.

1GHz Intel processor Mac OS X v10.5.8 (Leopard) or newer. 100 MB free disk space. Either USB or regular headset if your Mac does not have a built-in microphone. Download drivers if you are using an external webcam. For voice calls recommend broadband connection with 100 kbps down / 100 kbps up. For group video calling everyone on the call needs Skype 5.0 for Windows or Mac or higher plus

webcams, and at least one person needs a group video calling subscription.  For best quality we recommend you use a high-speed broadband connection of 4Mbps down/512kbps up and a computer with a Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz processor.

As a minimum you’ll need a high-speed broad connection of 512kbps down/128kbps up and a computer with a 1 GHz processor.

Skype for Mac

Skype for windows

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LinuxHardware requirements 1 GHz processor or faster. 256 MB RAM. 100 MB free disk space on your hard drive. Microphone and speakers or headset. Internet connection – broadband is best (GPRS is not supported for

voice calls). Video card driver with Xv support.

Software requirements Qt 4.4.0 • D-Bus 1.0.0 libasound2 1.0.18 Pulse Audio 0.9.16 (optional) BlueZ 4.0.0 (optional)

Ref: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/welcomeback/

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Equipments needed to use Skype

Microphone - it can be the simplest microphone you can get. Skype system does not require you to have good quality microphones even though, better your microphone is, better people can hear you.

Webcam – You can use any type of webcams, the better the webcam, better the picture will be.

Internet – Skype uses internet to load and connect .

Headphones – Headphones are needed for making calls but not necessary for a meeting.

Computer/Smartphone – You can use Skype from computer or a phone and this depends whether your phone system runs Skype. Any computer should be able to run Skype, as its requirements are very simple.

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Skype For Mac

As every other software Skype also has bugs and errors. They are always fixing it and coming up with ways to avoid them.

The Skype version for Mac is much less evolved them the window’s one. This means that if you have a Mac (or Linux) it might not work as well as it does on Windows. It can come up with a couple of bugs and the quality should be lower.

Skype recently came out with Mac’s version and it still not the same as the Window’s. People have been complaining about that for a long time and Skype is doing everything as possible to improve the system to give the users more options and more quality.

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Where to find SkypeTo find Skype follow the states below:

Go to www.google.com Search for Skype Follow the link www.skype.com (Skype’s home address)

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How To Download Skype

Select the “Get Skype” link which will show a drop down menu.

Once you are in Skype Webpage:

From the menu select the appropriate link.

If you need more information about how to download it, go to: www.skype.com/intl/en/home

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Installing Skype

Installing Skype is fairly easy.Once you downloaded Skype, go where you saved it and run the application.Once you ran the application this new bar should appear on your screen.You can choose the language that you want your Skype to display and click on “I agree – Install” and just follow the Installation wizard

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Security and PrivacySkype is a very secure software and is always trying to improve its security system even

more but there is no 100% safe software.

In Skype you can manage to change your privacy setting and keep it as you want.

You can block people for any reason that you do not think they should be in your contact list, However they wont be able to contact you again through Skype. You can report people from you contact list for abuse, spamming and also trying to ask for your personal information. If you change your mind you can always unblock the person.

You can change your password whenever you want if you are feeling unsafe You can manage to keep you conversation history forever. You will always have a conversation

history on your computer, if someone is harassing you. Abusing or spamming you have the conversation history and you can send it to Skype and they will analyse it.

Only the people in you contact list will be able to see your profile picture. anyone that searches for you can send you an IM but you can change that once you go to

your account and on the privacy settings. You can also control who is allowed to make Skype calls, video and share their screen with

you.

Ref: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/welcomeback/11

How to create a AccountTo create an account is fairly easy:First you need your name and an E-mail address.

And than you just need to fill in your profile information

Such as: Date of Birth Country/City Language Mobile Number Password

And others, which are going to be what you contacts will see once they added you.

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/welcomeback/ 12

Skype “Cash”“Skype credit” is a very simple and clever way that Skype found to beneficiate people that really

need it and use it in their everyday and also get benefits from it.

What is Skype Credit?You need to buy it with real money (like credits in a pay as you go phone) and it gives you a range of extra

Skype features that you can do on e.g. SMS, Calling mobiles phones and landlines.

Skype Credits extra features:

Call landline as mobiles phones – you can call them from Skype whenever you have Skype credits

Texting messaging – text mobile or landlines phones from Skype

Online number – This number reaches you wherever you are. This is a number that anyone can call you on from their mobile or landline and you answer on Skype you also can get voicemails.

Skype Wi-Fi - Log in the Skype app that you are provided. When you open the app, you will see a list of hotspots you can join.

Skype To Go Number - You can call family and friends from your Skype To Go number. You get numbers for friends, family and colleagues based abroad, call them and stay in touch.

Caller ID – If the person you know does not answers calls from “unknown” numbers, you can set up your caller identification (ID) so every time you call them, it will show your called ID and they will know its you calling.

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Making a Skype Voice callTo call someone on Skype is very simple. If you have a friend that uses Skype you can add him/her and you can call him for free from any country (microphones are required)

•Go to your contact list.

•Select the person that you want to call (his/her details will be on your right side)

•Click on the button “call”*It works the same way for video calls. Both

people need webcams or either you wont be able to see him/her or he/she see you.*

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/welcomeback/14

Making a Skype callAfter you click on “call” and he/her accept it. Your screen will look like this, if you are making a voice call.

Call bar:A – Mute

B – Volume

C – Share You Screen

D – Dial pad

E – it shows the IM window where you can send instant messages To end the call simply click on the “End

call” button.

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Receiving a Skype Video/Sound call

You can always receive Skype calls from people on your contact list

When people call you, you are going to hear a ringing and this new tab is going to appear on your screen with the picture and name of who is calling you.

You can either answer it by clicking on “Answer”, “Answer with Video” or “Decline” the call if you don't want to talk to the person

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Making a Video Call

•Make sure you are using the latest version of Skype.•A high-speed broadband connection.•A webcam.•A microphone and speakers.•If using Windows, a DirectX 9.0c compatible video card.

To make a video call make sure that your system and the person you are calling meets the requirements:

if their status offline or on a mobile phone , unfortunally you wont be able make a video call.

After you have everything running, go to your contacts select who you want to make a video call with and click

The screen will change and call bar will appear on the bottom. You are going to hear a ringing sound until the person answers.

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If you cant see/hear the person you are calling or they cant hear/see you. It should be because you or the person you are calling does not meet the system requirements for a video call. Sometimes it could be because you and/or the person you are calling have a low internet connection. You can check that by looking and clicking on

Making a Video call p2This is what it will look like after the person accepts it

You will see two bars The one on the top gives you the following options:A   Take a video snapshot of the person you are calling.

B    Full screen mode, you can click again to exit full screen mode.

C    Zoom in. Click again to zoom out. This option is only available if the video call is High-quality or HD.

D    View the video call in a separate window. You can drag the new window to any location on your screen.

You can also add more people to the video call by clicking and choose anyone from your contact list.

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Business UseSkype is often used in business companies. It’s features make it

easier for a business to communicate and share work safely.

People use Skype for business because it can: Make group calls with voice only Group video calls Share image and files fast – you can share large files in a really

small period of time Voicemail - if you are away your colleagues can leave a

voicemail Texts from you phone or computer – you can send texts though

Skype to other users phones Most features are free

To get more features from Skype you have to pay a small amount to get what they call “credits”.

Ref: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/welcomeback/ 19

All the information seen above was found on Skype's official website.

You can find more information useful information about Skype at it’s homepage.

The you can also get more help with Any questions that you might have. Any technical issue.

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