Skype + Skypeout + hardware - good?!? Any others?!?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.voice-over-ip (More info?)

Hi, all,

Requirement: softphones, to be used with existing laptops.

I was wondering if anyone has implemented Skype with Skypeout service,
and - if so - if such people were kind enough to share some first-hand
experience about it. I have played - myself - with it, but only between
two Skype accounts.

Related to the above - is there any other solution, similar to the above
(softphones + POTS connection service + free communnication between
softphones - not necessarily from same "vendor"), with good quality, as
personally observed by you? I have read a lot from voip-info.org, but
nothing to make me comfortable that one solution stands out from others.

I would also appreciate if someone could share some info on what to use
for microphone hardware - the underlying system would be laptops, equipped
with USB ports.

TIA,
Papi

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.voice-over-ip (More info?)

>I was wondering if anyone has implemented Skype with Skypeout service,

I've used it. The sound quality is fine, comparable to a normal
phone, delay is worse than a real phone but not objectionable.

>I would also appreciate if someone could share some info on what to
>use for microphone hardware - the underlying system would be laptops,
>equipped with USB ports.

I got a Plantronics headset that plugs into the speaker/mic jacks on
my laptop since it was cheaper than the USB model and my laptop, an
IBM X40, has decent audio hardware. In the US, the Plantronics
headsets come with a coupon you can redeem online for about E2 of
Skypeout credit.