Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.
AIA

Practice Tip ' Give yourself Skype for Christmas

by
19th Dec 2005
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

There are moments in my IT history which stand out in my memory. They're the occasions when you realise you have seen or done something that is going to change the way you work.

Visicalc was one, way back in 1983. From then on spreadsheets reshaped my world. Windows 3.1 was another. The first internal email network I ran was the next. The internet followed.

And now there is Skype. Dennis Howlett of AccMan Pro first drew my attention to it a couple of months ago. And I registered, and talked about it a bit. I wasn't the only one to do so, and now I've begun to use it.

So what is Skype? In a nutshell it's using your computer as a phone. Technically that's voice over internet protocol (VOIP) I think. But blow the technicalities, this is so easy anyone can use it so long as they have broadband (and it makes no sense to have anything else now). You download the software free of charge, get a headset (cost, no more than £10) or a Skype phone (no more than £25) and then you can call people using Skype, for nothing. I mean that. Not only is the software free, the calls are free too.

Better than being free though, the quality of the call is better than on a conventional line. Conference calling (a black art if ever there was one with conventional phone technology) is as simple as making a normal call. You may not want to use the chat facility, but for £5 a quarter voicemail makes sense, or you can instead download Pamela free to manage such things as voicemail and recording conversations. These can then (if you have voice dictation software) be transcribed automatically or can just be saved as MP3 files.

I'm staggered by this technology. If I held shares in telecoms companies I'd be selling them. Give it a year or so and the phone will be a thing of the past in many businesses in my opinion.

And for the accountant, this is even more important. Most people are now used to having their calls recorded. As part of practice assurance I think this will become a standard requirement.

Just like the times I first used those other technologies I think I saw the future when I first used Skype. You can too, for nothing. It's the best Christmas present you can give yourself. In an office, between offices and with clients I think its use will be of phenomenal value. And it needn't cost you anything (although I'll bet you buy some extras in time, as I'm sure they're banking on). Please try it.

Richard Murphy
AccountingWEB contributing editor Richard Murphy is a sole practitioner chartered accountant but was previously senior partner of a firm for 11 years. He has also been chairman, chief executive or finance director of 10 SMEs. A collection of previous articles by Richard on practice management themes is available in Practice Management Zone

Tags:

Replies (2)

Please login or register to join the discussion.

avatar
By John Savage
19th Dec 2005 09:26

Skype, IM, Yahoo
I have been using Instant Messenger for a few months now, and with a headset or microphone together with a small webcam on the computer, can both talk and see the person I'm talking to - anywhere in the world - all for free (apart from, of course, the cost of the Broadband).

If using the webcam, sometimes with the video data going down the line the quality can suffer a little (but have to say its still not bad).

Amazing stuff, and to think this is all in its infancy.

Thanks (0)
Dennis Howlett
By dahowlett
19th Dec 2005 10:57

There's more value to this than you think
Thanks for the hat tip Richard. The Skype service hasn't yet reached the point where you'd deploy it entirely as a practice but for individuals, it is a great service.

We use it to keep global call costs to a minimum. My average global comms costs are currently around €130 per month - including broadband, Skype, landline and mobile. Around €80 of that is subscription cost. I expect the overall figure will fall by a further €20-25 over the next year. But that's as far as it can go. Even so, I think that's an excellent result given my comms costs used to be in excess of €200 per month.

You can call those who DON'T have Skype at a fraction of the cost of UK landline calls, using SkypeOut which can be managed for 'groups' to ensure your users don't abuse the system by spending firms money on calls to Auntie Flo'in Perth.

Buying blocks of SkypeOut credit is no more irksome than placing an order on Amazon.

You can route calls to mobile or landline numbers, users can leave and receive voice messages that automatically appear on your computer. No bleeping answering machines. You can have a virtual number that operates over Skype - I have an 020 number so people that don't have Slype can call me for the cost of a UK local call, regardless of where I am in the world.

You can also get wireless headsets for office use. Personally, I'm not a great fan and today they're expensive but it means you're not tethered to the computer like some call centre operator.

The recording capability is something I love and use it for recording podcasts. That was how we recorded John Stockdyk's SoftWorld round up. It's how I record many conversations.

Now there's a thought for those empbroiled in 'he said/she said' discussions with the revenue...but...

I don't fully agree with Richard about VOIP replacing POTS phone systems because broadband, on which VOIP depends, has not yet reached ubiquity. But we are inexorably moving down that road.It will change the way we work - as will a few other things. 2006 is set to be a fascinating year for technology.

Thanks (0)