|
|
 |
Friday
March 19, 2010 Since 1922 |
Making calls on the Internet
By Aaron Barbee
Contributor Published August 2, 2009 Question: Aaron, I have grandkids in Ohio that I’d like to talk with as much as I can. There seems to be something you can do this for free with through the Internet. Do you know anything about this?
Answer: There are a number of ways you are able to use the Internet to talk via voice or even see video while talking to someone. While you are connected to the Internet your computer is technically connected to other computers on the Internet at the same time. Trying to do this without help will be virtually impossible, and a number of services have popped up to help out.
Sending information from one computer to another over the Internet (for example, e-mail) is completely free and that’s what these services are based on. You subscribe to a voice and/or video connection service and have the person you want to contact do the same. You both log into the service and connect to each other. That’s the easy part; the hard part is finding which one you like.
One of the most popular of these companies is Vonage. If you ask me, Vonage is a bit expensive, but they do offer a lot for the money. You will get pretty good technical support and some nice equipment to help you. Setting it up can be a headache, but with their support you can do it reasonably quickly. Once it’s set up, using it is very easy. You just use a telephone and you can make calls to people not using Vonage.
A popular purely software-based service is called Skype. You can find them at www.skype.com. Visit the Web site and set up an account. Then you download the software on your computer and have the receiving person do the same on their computer. The nice thing about Skype is you can also use video along with the voice call. Now you can even see your grandkids while talking to them!
I haven’t seen a real solution for conference calls. Gamers use a system called Ventrilo to coordinate with each other, and it seems to be gravitating toward business needs. The system works by paying a monthly subscription based on how many simultaneous connections you may want. Each person downloads the Ventrilo software on their computer and uses headphones or speakers along with a microphone to talk to each other.
Larger computer stores (like Fry’s) will have a handset you can plug into your computer. It may help with the awkwardness of using PC speakers and a microphone to talk to someone.
There are so many companies popping up using the same technology, it can certainly be overwhelming trying to decide which ones you may want to use for your needs. I suggest you go with the most well known services and try them on a trial period. If you like it, great; if not, just pick another from the huge list out there. I think the ones I mentioned above would be the most user-friendly out there.
Check out my Web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.
Contributor Published August 2, 2009 Question: Aaron, I have grandkids in Ohio that I’d like to talk with as much as I can. There seems to be something you can do this for free with through the Internet. Do you know anything about this?
Answer: There are a number of ways you are able to use the Internet to talk via voice or even see video while talking to someone. While you are connected to the Internet your computer is technically connected to other computers on the Internet at the same time. Trying to do this without help will be virtually impossible, and a number of services have popped up to help out.
Sending information from one computer to another over the Internet (for example, e-mail) is completely free and that’s what these services are based on. You subscribe to a voice and/or video connection service and have the person you want to contact do the same. You both log into the service and connect to each other. That’s the easy part; the hard part is finding which one you like.
One of the most popular of these companies is Vonage. If you ask me, Vonage is a bit expensive, but they do offer a lot for the money. You will get pretty good technical support and some nice equipment to help you. Setting it up can be a headache, but with their support you can do it reasonably quickly. Once it’s set up, using it is very easy. You just use a telephone and you can make calls to people not using Vonage.
A popular purely software-based service is called Skype. You can find them at www.skype.com. Visit the Web site and set up an account. Then you download the software on your computer and have the receiving person do the same on their computer. The nice thing about Skype is you can also use video along with the voice call. Now you can even see your grandkids while talking to them!
I haven’t seen a real solution for conference calls. Gamers use a system called Ventrilo to coordinate with each other, and it seems to be gravitating toward business needs. The system works by paying a monthly subscription based on how many simultaneous connections you may want. Each person downloads the Ventrilo software on their computer and uses headphones or speakers along with a microphone to talk to each other.
Larger computer stores (like Fry’s) will have a handset you can plug into your computer. It may help with the awkwardness of using PC speakers and a microphone to talk to someone.
There are so many companies popping up using the same technology, it can certainly be overwhelming trying to decide which ones you may want to use for your needs. I suggest you go with the most well known services and try them on a trial period. If you like it, great; if not, just pick another from the huge list out there. I think the ones I mentioned above would be the most user-friendly out there.
Check out my Web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.