Skype on WM. Why?

[networkguy]

I run a HTC S710 however I think what I am saying here applies to most Windows Mobile devices and may well apply to other VoIP software as well.

So at home, BT are now changing their pricing which looking at the way we use the phone in our house is going to start getting expensive so I have been looking at my options. One of these was Skype especially as for £20 a year I can get unlimited calls to landlines in the UK 24x7. I then spotted the WiFi phones from Belkin, Netgear etc which meant that this would be something that my family could actually use like a normal phone.

But I wanted to try this first. Good news! My S710 comes with WiFi and Skype so 10 minutes later we have Skype running over the the home WiFi network. I can make calls to other Skype users, landlines, recieve calls and send messages.

But whats this? The sound only comes out of the speaker on the back of the phone not the earpiece.

So a bit of digging and I see that this is a limitation of the WM implementation in that the phone earpiece cannot be accessed through the WM software stack so this is just how it is.

In other words, I can only run Skype on WM in full hands free mode as a speaker phone. I can't actually use the phone as a phone and hold it up to my ear and have a private conversation. You know just like we have made calls for many many years.

To me this seems like a fundemental flaw in application. Certainly it has seen me uninstall Skype from my S710 as this does not offer a real phone alternative.

So hands up. What do you guys do with Skype? Is there anybody here actually using it in anger as an alternative to their normal calls or is this really just as duff as it looks?

[networkguy]

I run a HTC S710 however I think what I am saying here applies to most Windows Mobile devices and may well apply to other VoIP software as well.

So at home, BT are now changing their pricing which looking at the way we use the phone in our house is going to start getting expensive so I have been looking at my options. One of these was Skype especially as for £20 a year I can get unlimited calls to landlines in the UK 24x7. I then spotted the WiFi phones from Belkin, Netgear etc which meant that this would be something that my family could actually use like a normal phone.

But I wanted to try this first. Good news! My S710 comes with WiFi and Skype so 10 minutes later we have Skype running over the the home WiFi network. I can make calls to other Skype users, landlines, recieve calls and send messages.

But whats this? The sound only comes out of the speaker on the back of the phone not the earpiece.

So a bit of digging and I see that this is a limitation of the WM implementation in that the phone earpiece cannot be accessed through the WM software stack so this is just how it is.

In other words, I can only run Skype on WM in full hands free mode as a speaker phone. I can't actually use the phone as a phone and hold it up to my ear and have a private conversation. You know just like we have made calls for many many years.

To me this seems like a fundemental flaw in application. Certainly it has seen me uninstall Skype from my S710 as this does not offer a real phone alternative.

So hands up. What do you guys do with Skype? Is there anybody here actually using it in anger as an alternative to their normal calls or is this really just as duff as it looks?

[onlydarksets]

What if you use a wired handsfree set - does that work?

[Sven]

Yes, that will actually work. In some cases, you may still be using the mic in the device, but those that support a mic in the cord normally will use that.

The problem is that the phone hardware and regular sound hardware are somewhat distinct in the devices, and there seems to be no software way to shove regular sound output, media player, alarms, Skype, out of the phone speaker.

If they were the same, all your phone conversations would be routed out the regular sound speakers all the time too...at least the way it is currently designed. The hardware just wasn't designed with VoiP in mind, and the software can't do anything about it.

You will find a similar issue in most cases with a BT headset, as it is designed to cut off the music, alarms, Skype sound, when a call comes in and route the phone sound over the BT interface. If you have a stereo BT headset, you will notice that your tunes get cut off when you access the phone. Two different paths, designed to not be used at the same time.

So yea, using current WM devices that are also phones for VoIP can be problematic. It's not likely that the phone companies that are driving the WM converged devices have any interest in making VoIP easy to use.