Skype

Thesis
Skype helps people around the world stay in touch with more than just text-based communication.



Group Members
Minnal Aziz

Mohammed Omar

Willson Chan

Chris Natase

XiaoYuan(Lisa) Zhou

Introduction
Skype is a popular software program that is widely used across the world today. It has transformed the way people communicate around the globe. Not only does it allow people to make voice and video calls to other users of the service free of charge, it also allows for calls to cell phones and landlines for a low price. These conversations can be held at almost any location, either on computers, mobile devices, or other Skype certified hardware such as the iPod Touch. Millions of people also use Skype for instant messaging and file transfers.

Skype Limited
Skype Limited, founded by Swedish-born entrepreneurs Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, was established in 2003 with its headquarters in Luxembourg. Skype was acquired by eBay in October 2005. The software “Skype” was first funded by investments from the Draper Investment Company in September of 2002. During its initial development, the program was first named “Sky peer-to-peer”, then abbreviated to “Skyper”. However, domains related to “Skyper” were unavailable, therefore, dropping the “r” at the end, the program became “Skype”. With a continuous rise in popularity, Skype Limited followed by introducing numerous programs and features to support Skype such as Skype for Mac and Windows, Skype Find, Skype Prime, and just recently in March, Skype launched Skype for SIP, a service for business users. As of 2009, Skype has more than 300 million accounts and is adding about 30 million subscribers a quarter.

Features of Skype
Skype has various features designed to keep people in touch through long distance communication. These features include: videoconferencing, instant messaging and teleconferencing. Videoconferencing,instant messaging and teleconferencing are absolutely free. Skype also allows people to make calls to mobile phones or regular phones,at cheaper rates.For instance,you can call a mobile phone or landline an unlimited number of times for a monthly fee of: $2.95 in the US or Canada, anywhere in Mexico for $5.95 and anywhere in the world for $9.95. However, computer to phone calling is free if the phone is a 3 Skypephone. Compared to sites such as MSN, Skype has higher sound and video quality. This makes talking and viewing webcam much more funner and yields better results.Skype is also user-friendly,thus making it easier for people to stay in touch through the use of Skype.

Other minor free features included sms texting, call forwarding and voicemail. Skype can also be downloaded on most smartphones, as well as the iPhone and sony PSP.

How Skype Works
Skype is available to all Mac, Windows and Linux platfroms. This means it utilizes all available technology in terms of operating systems.Skype works much like MSN and Yahoo messengers, except it has a fallback feature, meaning that NAT and firewalls don't affect communication. Basically a fallback feature implements the use of port 80 or port 443,in the instance that the other ports normally used(the same ones used by MSN and Yahoo messenger) are blocked out.Port 80 is essentially a hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP), that is used in web page transfers. Port 443 is hyper text transfer protocol secure (HTTPS), this means it has a higher sublayer for securtiy: TLS (transport layer securtiy). This means that Skype has the ablity to obtain higher encryption levels if needed.This gives Skype an upperhand over other similiar programs, such as: Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger. And of course Skype uses typical technology such as webcams, phones and mobiles to implement its use.

Skype VS other similar programs
In this technological age, software companies find themselves constantly competing over developing programs that will be talked about and praised by the general public, and this has caused some companies' programs to be influenced by others, and sometimes blatantly imitated as well. With the emergence of chat programs like ICQ, developers like Microsoft and Yahoo found this area of instant messaging to be the "next email", and quickly began developing their own software. Msn Messenger and Yahoo Messenger use user-friendly interfaces where users could add friends, upload display pictures and eventually after much development, use services like audio and video calling.

What sets apart Skype from these two major programs is that while Skype offers text-based chatting and photo exchange, it is clearly designed for audio and video calling. This can be seen through Skype's cleaner audio and much more clearer video.

Skype is not a substitute for traditional land line phones, as it does not provide the ability to call emergency numbers such as 911 in the USA and Canada. Nevertheless, it does serve as a computer-phone since it has built in features that allow you to call any number you find on a website. For example, people looking up restaurants online would find the restaurant's number with a Skype symbol next to it, allowing easy one-touch dialling.

Another aspect that seperates Skype from programs like Google Talk, Msn Messenger, and Yahoo messenger is advertising. Google boasts its chatting program G-Talk through its email website, and Msn Messenger runs ads all over the web. But Skype's marketing expenses for advertising have been virtually non-existent. More than 25 million registered users, 3 million-plus of whom are often online concurrently, were persuaded to join Skype by word of mouth.

The Pros of Skype
This program is easy to use and easy to install into any PC or Mac, with this anyone with little experience with PC or Mac can use it. This program is useful for communicating between businesses, family and friends around the world. While Skype also offers instant messaging and image services, it excels in the video and audio department. Because it is designed for video calling, the image and audio quality are superior to those of programs like MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. It also can find people that you know that have the program online. Skype is also one of the most popular programs of communication available for free use for PC-to-PC calls.

The Cons of Skype
Skype requires an internet connection to function, so a high-speed or wireless connection is required and dial-up connections will cause lagging in audio and video. It does not guarantee high quality resolution when talking to another person, as it depends on what Windows operating system the computer is running on and how much RAM it has. The sound quality isn’t as great as landline or mobile, so there might be static noise coming from the background and the user won’t be able to hear well. Another downside to this is that people’s calls get dropped quite frequently because of a bad connection. Skype has disconnected many people from their call because of connection failure and many bugs can prevent you from logging back in after a connection is broken .This program is mostly free to use but users must pay a fee whenever landlines or cell phones are called. This can prove to be a hassle for people who can’t afford a monthly fee.