networkguy
04-09-2008, 11:05 PM
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?
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?