At the time of writing Skype is an app that has basically fallen way out of favor with people. We don’t want to dive too deep into why that’s the case. Instead, we want to explore the viability of making international calls with Skype. By this, we mean calls through the app as well as calls to a regular phone. Which is actually something that you can still do with Skype. Even though virtually all of the features on the site, it is not as used anymore. Actually, we may have amended this idea.
In the media, the idea is that Skype is essentially dead and buried. If you have experience working with an international team you may actually be surprised by this. Many international teams are actually still held together through Skype international calls. Without actually getting in on the Zoom boom that essentially took the world by storm in 2020. The real question could be whether or not you should be looking at Skype as a viable option both for business and for travel. As we’ve said we want to explore some of the reasons why there was a considerable downfall in Skype usage. We will also want to explore whether or not it’s a good idea for you to use it!
- The Benefits of Making International Calls With Skype
- The Disadvantages of Making International Calls Via Skype
- What Led To The Skype Downfall?
- Is Using Skype As A Traveler A Good Option?
- Would We Put Skype Ahead or Below Other Options
- Cost of International Calls Via Skype
The Benefits of Making International Calls With Skype
Certainly one of the main benefits that you are going to have with international calls with Skype, is that holding an account is pretty easy. If you have an outlook or Hotmail account you are going to have direct access to Skype. Ironically though, this acquisition of Skype by Microsoft is what many people blame for its downfall. You are going to be able to call anyone though that you have as contact through the app. Another one of the main benefits that you are going to have is that you are going to make calls through the app to mobile phones and landlines. We are going to talk about how those work in a bit.
Another main benefit is that if you have the app on your phone you can essentially make calls to and from anywhere in the world as long as you have some type of data or wifi coverage. This last reason is of course the main instance why we have decided to explore this option. Skype can work as a mobile app, a desktop app, and an online platform. This means that you are going to be able to use it across virtually any device that you happen to have with internet access.
We would say that the main benefit of international calls with Skype is that they can be “free” as long as you are making calls through accounts on the app. You have unlimited time to hold a video call with people from anywhere in the world. As we mentioned this is a benefit that you are going to be able to access through the mobile app, the desktop app, and the online version. These are benefits that Skype has seemingly offered for years. Here is where people can start to get a little bit suspicious. If it’s so great why are we doing an article on it right?
The Disadvantages of Making International Calls With Skype
Essentially the first thing that we could point to that led to the “downfall” of Skype was the fact that call quality came down instead of up. If you are someone who was a Skype user back in the day, you know that with video calls in the late 2000’s you could expect certain sound delays and things of that nature. It was basically the norm. As a recurring user through the years it’s hard to say that things actually got better over time. That is what really has become frustrating drop calls and delays seem to still plague the app on all of its platforms.
This next reason is one that is a bit more important to some people than it is to others. The thing is Skype is no longer a peer to peer method of communication. Basically all of the interactions that you are going to have through this particular platform are going to run through Microsoft itself or Outlook more specifically. People who are heavy conspiracy theorists are not too happy about knowing that Bill Gates and company would have the ability of eavesdropping on your conversations. Naturally, business conversations that were had through Skype at one point have since looked for other methods. Is this something that hurts everyone? Not really, but as we mentioned some people feel watched.
The only other thing that we could think of as a negative is that you can only communicate freely with people who have an account. That is basically the same knock that we could have for virtually any communication app, like Whatsapp, Telegram, etc. A big part of the Zoom revolution could be attributed to the fact that you don’t really need to have an account to access a conversation. We could say this last issue is certainly the lesser evil. Accounts on apps are virtually a must these days anyway.
What Led To The Skype Downfall?
We don’t want to get too technical here. Since it is probably not something that is essentially relevant to international calls with Skype. What we can say is that one of the things that people pointed out was that they were not very comfortable with the Microsoft takeover. Which in turn led to today’s version of Skype. Which is a system that runs through Microsoft software. As we mentioned the idea is that Bill Gates has access to your calls. That is basically one of the key things that we found out led to many people abandoning the platform.
Another main reason why Skype is not as commonly used any more is the fact that there are plenty of other apps on the block. From personal experience, we can say that Skype didn’t really take things to another level. You still to this day have dropped calls and some issues. One would think these things could have been left back in the 2000s. That just wasn’t the case. The fact that new competition emerged with cool features such as how easy it is to jump on a group call through Zoom really took a toll on Skype.
In spite of all of the things that we’ve mentioned though there are still many people that use Skype. That is why we decided to explore the option of making international calls with Skype. If you are someone who is familiar with the platform and you have a team of workers or even family that still uses the platform we imagine that you are not too bothered by some of these negative aspects. Truly the reason why we explore multiple points of view and options in our articles is that we never really know what can work for whom!
Is Using Skype As A Traveler A Good Option?
That is going to depend on where you are traveling and how you are traveling. If you are at least a sporadic Skype user it can make total sense. For one, you are already going to have an account so there is a good chance that you know how the system works. There is also a chance that you already have contacts on the app that you may want to talk to. If not you are going to be able to teach your family members how to use it. If you are not a user, then maybe it may not be a great idea to even start. There are other options out there!
Speaking of other options out there we want to present a scenario to you. The way that you are getting coverage abroad is through a local SIM card on a burner phone. One of the big problems with burner phones is that you may be limited to only being able to download a small number of apps. Should Skype be a part of your app list? Honestly, the increasing answer seems to be no! Some of the features that once made Skype great such as video calls are features that you can get from many other apps. You can have a video call through Facebook with anyone on your friend’s list!
If you are an avid Skype user and your contact base is already on the app then it’s a no brainer. Of course, you would download Skype on that burner phone and use up your data or wifi connection to call people through it. It seems though that the app is becoming outdated and could see the same fate as MSN messenger. For those of you that don’t know that was a messaging app that was very popular in the 2000s. Which was essentially wiped away by the rise of social media options.
Would We Put Skype Ahead or Below Other Options
We’ve pretty much answered this question already. If you have a contact base on Skype and you use it often then making international calls with Skype totally makes sense for you. These days where the bulk of your contact list happens to be is usually where you are going to go. In many countries that can mean having to open a WhatsApp account, Telegram is popular in other areas. Really what’s going to usually end up determining what you use could be your contact list. It’s not that you should always be following the herd. At times though it can be easier to go with the flow.
The app that many people want to compare Skype with is Zoom. Actually there are a couple of advantages that Skype has over Zoom. That is why we said that you should not always just go with the herd. Skype is better suited for one on one conversations. You are going to have a text bar where you can send written texts that are going to remain within the conversation that you have with another person. You essentially can’t join a group call anonymously. At least that was not the way that Skype worked. If you want to make one on one international calls with Skype it can totally make sense.
To be clear then, we would actually put Skype above some of the other options that are out there. As we’ve mentioned before many people still use it for business calls. Its popularity has been declining though. Will this decline be enough to put it down for good? That is actually a good question. At this point, it seems that it still keeps a relatively decent user base. Although many other apps are taking a bite out of their market share. It seems like they are not doing much about it.
Cost of International Calls With Skype
User to user calls through the apps are 100% free you don’t need to pay for a subscription or anything. As far as we know there are also no time restrictions on these calls. Which is actually not the case of the free version of Zoom. So that is something to consider. If you want to have longer calls you may want to think about switching over to Skype. There is a feature that Skype offers that actually most other apps like it don’t. That is, the ability to make calls from the app or your desktop to a landline or cell phone. Neither the cell phone nor the landline of course, need to have the Skype app installed.
These calls that you make directly to phone numbers and not Skype users do have a cost. You have to pay for a monthly subscription to the service. The cost of the subscription though is relatively low. If you want to make calls to the US you can sign up for 3 dollars a month and you get 2000 to call all over the country. If you use up those minutes you are going to be charged 15 cents a minute. You can get the same 2000 minutes to call 63 countries for around 14 dollars a month. When you think about this, it could actually make a lot of sense to get this plan.
As long as you have a wifi connection you are only going to be using up your minutes. The problem is if you don’t have a wifi connection you’ll be using up data and minutes. Doing this can make the deal much less attractive. If you call a lot of landlines from other countries though this could be one of the best options out there. It can end up being a lot less expensive than many other mobile phone options.
International Calls With Skype: Final Verdict
International calls with Skype can still make a lot of sense for many people. With the last example that we saw, there is actually true value in the monthly plans as well. Not just the user to user calls. Again, it has a couple of features that can actually make your international calls with Skype more worthwhile. You can talk as much as you would like if you are on a user to user call for example.
The problem that we see is that Skype is an app that seems to be fading. It still has a strong user base mainly in the freelancing and world business worlds. Yet, as we mentioned there are other apps out there these days that look ready to take their place. Some users will no doubt remain loyal to Skype. It’s just a matter of whether they are going to be enough to keep the company with good finances moving forward. The big issue that we see is that if it becomes a burden for Microsoft it could be sold off. If that happens that could mean the begging of the end for the company. We’ll certainly have to wait and see what happens though. For now, we feel comfortable saying that they are still a viable option to make international calls.