Using Skype:
As a Company that values it’s bussiness associates very much, Azaka ltd. wants to make business communication easy and inexpensive. To this end, Azaka has signed up for and implemented many of the features made available with the Skype service.
I would like to briefly explain, without too much “techno-mumbo-jumbo”, Skype and how you can use Skype to contact Azaka. For those who are interested, later on I will attempt to explain how you can do this sort of thing too.
“What is Skype?”
Skype (www.skype.com) is an Internet based telephony service. That means that using a computer and a high-speed Internet connection you can make “phone calls” to other people, be they down the street or in Azaka’s case in Pisek, Czech Republic. Skype services are free to use if you are calling from your computer to another Skype user at their computer. This is a great (and free) way to call friends, family, and business associates all over the globe just or across town.
“That sounds cool. How can I do it?”
You need to start first by installing Skype. It’s available for Macintosh, Windows and Linux. You can go to the download page by clicking here:
Like other software installations, you will need to select your operating system and then click the “get it now” button. This should start the download. You will then install it like any other application. Instructions on installing in Windows can be found here:
Instructions for installing on a Macintosh can be found here:
Macintosh install instructions
Once installed, you start the program. It will ask you set up an account. Follow the on screen instructions. It’s pretty easy.
“I have it installed and have set up my account. Now what do I do?”
This is where the fun begins. To call Azaka you type in the Azaka ltd. screen name, which is:
azakaltd
Then you click the call button. At this point you call will go over the Internet to the Skype computers. The Skype computers will then figure out if Azaka ltd. is taking calls at the moment. If Azaka is online the call will be connected through to one of it’s computers. If Azaka does not answer the call at a computer, your phone call will be forwarded to a mobile phone that one of the Azaka associates carries at all times.
“How do you set up call forwarding with Skype?”
Skype offers a lot of cool features. One of the coolest is call forwarding. If Azaka does not answer your call at it’s computer Azaka pays Skype to forward the call to a mobile phone. The cost of this depends on where the phone call is delivered to, not where it originates from. Here in the Czech Republic such calls costs about 18 cents per minute ( $ .18 USD). If you make a call delivered to the USA, it only costs 2 cents a minute ($ .02 USD). The Call forwarding aspect of this program is experimantal. If Azaka ltd. does not find the expense is worth getting unanswered Skype calls sent to a Mobile phone, Azaka ltd. will turn off the call forwarding.
To set up call forwarding on a Macintosh that already has it installed, you go to Skype menu, click Preferences, the click Calls. Here you will put a check in the box to forward unanswered calls, and then type in the number to forward them to. Be sure to put a “+” and the country code infront of the number (i.e. +1-555-800-1212). The USA country code is “1″. The Czech country code is “420″. Instructions for a windows computer can be found here:
Setting up call forwarding with Skype and Windows
“What else can I do with Skype?”
Other features that Skype offers include: receiving voice-mails, being able to call to normal phones, allowing normal phones to call you on Skype using a local phone number that Skype creates for you, Video Calls, etc.
“So what is this Call me! button for?”
Skype and others makes available little snippets of javascript code that allow you to embed one of these buttons into a web site. What follows is an example of one of these buttons:
With the “Call Me!” button, if some one has Skype installed on their computer, they can just click the button and the Skype program will open, and then place a call to the Skype user that set up the button. You can get a Skype button of your own by going here:
If you look at the top right hand corner of this page you will see another Skype button that gives you several options on how to contact me or add me to you Skype contact list. If you want to find out how to add this button to a WordPress powered website such as this one, the following link will give you the information you need:
One other thing that I would like to point out is that if you have a laptop computer, but no Internet, you can often go to a coffee-shop or Internet-cafe and use their Internet connection to make free phone calls. Some coffee shops require you to use a WI-FI card, others allow you to plug in with an Ethernet cable. In the United States this seems common among most good coffee shops in large cities. Free internet seems to be far less common in other parts of the world.
Thanks for reading this. I hope that is useful. If you find any factual errors please feel free to let me know.
