If you have friends and family overseas, you’ll know that Skype is a pretty convenient tool to communicate with them for free or at a relatively low cost. You’re also one of already 663 million registered Skype users.
Skype celebrates it’s eleventh birthday this year and was developed as a voice-over IP and instant messaging service by Janus Friis from Denmark and Niklas Zennström from Sweden. Friis and Zennström came up with Skype by combining the two words – sky and peer.
Microsoft became the owners of Skype in 2011 at the significant cost of $8.5 billion. However, the head offices aren’t located in America as one would expect, but in Luxembourg and the largest part of Skype’s development team and 44 % of it’s staff os located in Tallinn and Tartu in Estonia.
Skype enables you to communicate with anyone through earphones, via video with a webcam or by typing instant messsages. Calls to other Skype users are free, while land line and cellphone calls are debited from your account.
Other than these usual functions, it can also be used for file transfers and group video calling. Until recently group video calling has only been available at a cost to premium users, but luckily this has changed and the service is now free to all Skype users.
Skype video calling gives you the opportunity to make group calls to a maximum of 9 people at the same time with a webcam. If you want to use this new, free function, you can read more about it on the Skype website.
As jy vriende en familie oorsee het, weet jy dat Skype `n handige middel is om gratis, of teen `n relatiewe lae koste, met hulle te kan kommunikeer. Jy is ook een van 663 miljoen geregistreerde Skype-gebruikers.
Skype vier die jaar reeds sy 11de verjaardag en is ontwikkel deur `n Deen en Sweed genaamd Janus Friis en Niklas Zennström as `n stem-oor-IP- en blitsboodskapdiens. Friis en Zennström het die applikasie se naam afgelei uit twee woorde – sky en peer.
Sedert 2011 is Skype die eiendom van Microsoft. Dié maatskappy het Skype gekoop teen die stewige bedrag van $8.5 biljoen. Skype se hoofkantoor sit egter nie in Amerika nie, maar in Luxembourg, terwyl die grootste gedeelte van die ontwikkelingspan en 44% van Skype-werknemers hulle in Tallinn en Tartu in Estonia bevind.
Met Skype kan jy met enigiemand gesels deur middel van oorfone, via video met `n webkamera en ook deur blitsboodskappe te tik. Oproepe na ander Skype-gebruikers is gratis, maar landlynoproepe en selfoonoproepe word van jou rekening gedebiteer.
Buiten die gewone funksionaliteit, soos bo genoem, is daar ook funksies soos leêroordrag en video-oproepe vir groepe. Laasgenoemde is onlangs eers gratis beskikbaar gestel aan alle Skypegebruikers. Voorheen was dit slegs vir premium-gebruikers.
Skype video-oproepe gee aan jou die geleentheid om groepoproepe deur middel van `n webkamera te maak met tot `n maksimum van 9 ander mense op een slag. As jy gebruik wil maak van hierdie nuwe, gerieflike funksie, kan jy meer daaroor lees op Skype se webwerf.
Tags: skype