Turn me on to/put me off Skype!

[ColinJ]

There are 3 people I know who use Skype and would like to be able to use it to make video calls to me. I tried it at my sister's house recently and was quite impressed, but I am cautious about installing software like that on my computers. I'm concerned about security, privacy and performance issues.

I'd want to be able to 'whitelist' those 3 people, and any others I might choose to add in the future. I don't want random people to be able to find my contact details. I don't want spammers or even over-chatty relatives (!) to be able to pester me.

I don't want to pay to use Skype so I don't want to give the company any financial information which might then be compromised.

So ...

Can I sign up for nowt, and not have to give Skype my debit card info.?

Can I set the software to block everybody except those on a whitelist?

Can I switch Skype off or does it always run in the background? (I want to only run the software when I have prearranged a Skype session by text or email.)

If I can safely run Skype in a way that suits me, I'll sign up. If Skype would significantly slow down my computers, drain my internet bandwidth and PC resources in the background, expose me to spammers, crooks, nuisance/crank calls and security risks then I won't.

So - To Skype or not to Skype - that is the question!

 

[PpPete]

You only have to give them debit/credit card if you want to make calls to non-skype users.
IIRC you can block all but the contcts you have entered in your Skype contact list
Default is for it to always run in background - but easy to turn off

I've not found it a problem with spammers

X-posted with Mort

 

[ColinJ]

That sounds promising.

I'm supposed to be setting it up today so that someone can call me from Ireland later to discuss bicycles!

I'll wait a while though, to see if anybody here comes up with a Skype horror story ... (I found a few online but they were quite old reports, and hopefully the system has been tightened up since then.)

 

[ColinJ]

Since I installed Skype, a poltergeist has moved in and we get attacked by crazed buzzards every time we go outside.

Ha ha - not quite the kind of horrors I was worried about!

I 'bit the bullet', saved a System Restore point on my laptop and then installed Skype on that, thinking that I'd just go back if Skype misbehaved. It seems to work perfectly, however.

My Logitech webcam produces blurred and jerky output on my 12 year old desktop PC but actually works rather well with the faster Core 2 Duo processor on the laptop. I spent an hour chatting to my brother-in-law and he commented on how clear the picture was.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I've set Skype so that it only loads up when I want to use it. No real problems - I did use to get the very occasional ''Hi, I'd love to get to know you'' message ( not calls, just text) but that hasn't happened recently. I think they've improved their security.

 

[HovR]

As others have said, yes, yes and yes. It may be set to start up on start up by default (I can't remember) but you can easily disable that in the settings menu, or through a 3rd party piece of software such as StartupCPL or CCleaner.

I use Skype every day - With a good headset the Skype to Skype call quality is amazing. Haven't received any unwanted mail off them either.

 

[jefmcg]

Skype is good. Simple, secure, reliable. You can test your setup this way: https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA...h&q=skype+test+call&fromSearchFirstPage=false

I was working on a project with someone in France, Australia + 2 in the UK. The french woman set up Skype in (a landline number that goes to your skype account) and 8am once a week, I'd pull into a cafe and dial that number from my mobile, and the other two used their laptops, and we had a perfect conference call. If I had a phone that could handle skype, and was in a wifi zone, we could have done it for free. But they have the Skype number as a business phone.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

My late Grandpa, 85, on using skype with me: I keep getting these messages from a young woman, she says she wants to meet me .... Granpa, what's your status, click up on the top left and tell me .... available to chat ....

 

[ColinJ]

I forgot to ask how good the quality of the sound received at the other end was. I was using the mic built in to the webcam which produces reasonable results when I have recorded myself speaking into it.

I'd quite like to get a wireless mic/headset. I'd use it on Skype, when making videos for Youtube when I don't want to be getting tangled in cables all the time, and perhaps also with speech recognition software.

 

[gavintc]

We went the next step with Skype and bought a VOIP telephone. It looks like a normal phone, but connects to the router rather than the telephone line. We also rented a UK telephone number from Skype (but you can buy a phone number from almost anywhere in the world). This means that our UK friends can call us dialling a UK Edinburgh number while we are Italy. It has been particularly useful and we will almost certainly retain the number when we return.

 

[rusky]

I would never install skype on any PC I had to maintain!

Nah, just kidding

I've used it a fair amount & most people at work have professional accounts without any issues.

Having said that, my dad did have his skype credit hacked, I don't remember the details but IIRC paypal blocked everything before he even noticed the issue & all was resolved. I do know he stopped the auto topup option though.

 

[jay clock]

I use it a fair bit and no probs, and the three questions you ask are all fine.

One additional thing you can do is to set it up to send texts as if from your usual UK mobile. ideal when abroad. You do a one-off validation to check you own the UK mobile. The you buy £5 (minimum) credit. You can then send texts from within skype that appear to have come from your uk mobile, and cost 5p (i think) rather than the 15-25p you would pay with roaming. also a darned sight quicker typing the texts out. Credit lasts a long time and to avoid the credit being lost you can just make one call every 6 mths to their free test line

 

[swampyseifer]

I want to use skype, but have noone to call

#billynomates

 

[SavageHoutkop]

Can I sign up for nowt, and not have to give Skype my debit card info.?

Can I set the software to block everybody except those on a whitelist?

Can I switch Skype off or does it always run in the background? (I want to only run the software when I have prearranged a Skype session by text or email.)

yes, yes, and yes.

 

[SavageHoutkop]

I forgot to ask how good the quality of the sound received at the other end was. I was using the mic built in to the webcam which produces reasonable results when I have recorded myself speaking into it.

I'd quite like to get a wireless mic/headset. I'd use it on Skype, when making videos for Youtube when I don't want to be getting tangled in cables all the time, and perhaps also with speech recognition software.

Sound quality depends, but has gotten vastly better since I began using it quite some time back. Mic built into webcam is not the best way to use it, if you want good sound quality IMHO you need decent headphones and decent mike, which are usually NOT those sold as 'skype' things in your local PC shop. I've got a 'proper' Phillips mike and the same headphones I use for listening to music. The problem with some of the mic/headsets is that you can't control sound for the mike independent of the headphones, and often the max sound is too soft.