There has been a lot of chatting software that got invented over the years. Starting from the concept of IRC, chatting has always been one of the most popular uses of the internet, and it is safe to say that a lot of people got onto the internet so they could chat with their loved ones. This was followed by a few more programs which were more advanced, and allowed people to speak to their friends and family using a revolutionary technology known as VOIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol. This piece of programming truly juxtaposed telecom and the internet, and from then on, both those industries have been growing as one. After voice came video, file sharing, desktop sharing, and many more.
But if there was one program which truly revolutionized the way people were communicating with each other with the internet as a medium, that program has to be Skype. Till Skype came out in 2003, chat was primarily used as a personal medium of communication, and seldom was business transacted that way. With Skype, however, the primary target audience is of business people and professionals. In fact, Skype has become so popular that we find a Skype ID or a Skype allotted phone number on most business cards nowadays.
Most people just consider Skype to be one of the best online chatting and voice-calling programs but there is much more to it than just that. What made Skype extremely popular and helped it reach iconic status are the features called SkypeIn and SkypeOut. SkypeIn allows people to receive a call on their computers, just like on a normal telephone. There is a telephone number allotted to the user and other people can call them just like they would on a normal telephone! Similarly, there is ‘SkypeOut’, which allows users to pre-load their account and make calls to phone numbers across the world and to send SMS – just like they would from a normal telephone. Compared to normal telephones, Skype Credit is very cheap, and businesses have been saving substantial amounts on their telephone bills ever since they shifted to Skype.
Since Skype allows for group calls to be made between Skype users, it is quite common to see corporations have important conferences via Skype! Then there is the video calling option, and the latest release – Skype 4.2.0.155 for Windows – allows for audio and video that is clearer than ever before. Skype is also available for Mac and Linux, and those versions are pretty popular too!
Currently, about 40% of the total Skype user base is made up of business people, and that is a substantial number! Records show that 8% of all cross-border calls made last year used Skype as their carrier, and that in itself proves the mind-blowing popularity that the program has garnered across the world. Other features like instant file sharing, desktop sharing, whiteboard applications, interactive games, and many more have made Skype even more popular.
Skype has made the world flatter. Are you noticing it yet?