Skype Down – 6 Alternatives to Skype
I don’t know about you, but I rely on Skype for many communication needs. The service’s outage today raises many reliability questions, and although I am sure the staff at Skype are working hard to fix the issues, it’s probably time to list a few alternatives, “just in case.” (Sorry to our friends at Kaplow PR who represent Skype)…
To make things clear, I don’t use Skype as a chat client, but to make voice calls. A few alternatives would then include: Jajah, QuteCom, ooVoo, VoipBuster, SightSpeed and Vbuzzer. I am sure there are many other alternatives, and I encourage you to mention them in the comments if you know which they are. In the meanwhile, here is what each of these services does:
Jajah lets you call contacts anywhere in the world, and even save up to 98% on your bill when you use your existing phone. The system works on any phone, including land lines and mobile, and doesn’t require download of additional software. Jajah provide white label and outsourced telephony services in more than 200 countries.
QuteCom, previously known as WengoPhone, provides voice and video over IP. It is an open source project, that requires some programming skill. Ideal for the tech savvy IT users.
ooVoo lets you video chat with up to six family members or friends at once – a service ideal for video conferencing for business purposes as well. There are many affordable plans to choose from, with features like file sharing, audio and video recording, text chat, priority customer service and more.
VoipBuster is a program that uses the latest technology to bring free and high-quality voice communications. With VoipBuster you can call regular phones in various popular destinations for free or call at an incredible low rate to any other phone on the planet. You can also call all your online friends (pc-to-pc calls) as long as you like, for free.
SightSpeed is an award-winning provider of Internet video chat and voice calling for friends and family, and video conferencing solutions for businesses. The service also features video emailing, text chatting and more.
Vbuzzer offers everything from computer to phone calling, faxing and SMS, to web conferencing, video email and more.
Those of us in Public Relations need to always be communicating.
