Section 8.4. Skype Instant Messaging Tricks


8.4. Skype Instant Messaging Tricks

Instant Messaging as an advanced trick in a broadband phone book? Yes, when it's part of the world's most popular broadband phone network.

There are two important tricks for advanced users available with Skype Chat. One of these tricks may save your some aggravation one day.

First, Skype offers a decent IM client that works with almost every company's network yet avoids the bad reputation of AOL IM, MSN Chat, and Yahoo Chat for business use. If you have a small company and see where an IM product will help you, such as for quick questions and answers between employees no matter where they are in the world, Skype gives you one for free.

Within the Skype Chat application, a complete history stays on your hard disk by default. Better than that, each participant has that history on their own computer, making automatic backups. Need to refer to something? Everyone has it.

You can export the history text and search the file, offering even more value in some situations. Did Alex tell you how to set up your Word styles two weeks ago, but you forgot? Did Laura send you a phone number you need again? Rather than contacting them both and admitting you're lost and or forgot what they told you, check your Skype IM history and then go about your business.

Second, a company named Connectotel (www.connectotel.com) tested a text-messaging gateway between certain types of cell phones and Skype. Designed for GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) cell phones, widely used in Europe, the Connectotel gateways allowed cell phone users to send text messages to Skype users and vice versa.

Why do this? Why not? This just opens the door a little between the digital cell phone network (GSM) and the world of broadband phones.

Admittedly, this would be a much smaller deal if the GSM cell phone users could just call the Skype user through the Skype phone network. But until SkypeIn debuts, you can stick with text messaging or switch to Teleo so calls to a person's laptop would work.



Talk is Cheap
Talk is Not Cheap!: Saving the High Costs of Misunderstandings at Work and Home
ISBN: 1885167334
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 102

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