Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Forums are often set up by interest groups and cover every aspect of
life—from hobbies to transport, technology, health, and so on. Other
forums are hosted on a company's website so customers can request help
with support issues and get advice from other customers and from tech-
nicians within the company. On many forums, users can give a thumbs-
up to a post to show appreciation for it and to increase the poster's
forum rating.
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
is used to make voice calls via
the Internet by turning the voice message into small packets of data. IP,
short for Internet protocol, is used to identify individual devices that are
connected to the Internet and to route calls between them. For more
detail at how IP addresses work, refer to
Chapter 10, “Web Basics.”
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
A
means of providing web-based telephony. The
best-known example is Skype.
Making VoIP calls requires a reliable web connection with plenty of band-
width. This bandwidth is needed in order to translate your voice into bits
of data, transmit it to your friend, and then reassemble it in the correct
order so what you said makes sense. On slower web connections, this pro-
cess may not work so smoothly and the caller's speech may sound garbled
or have delays.
VoIP calls can be made from your computer using a SIP (session Internet
protocol) client and a URI (unique resource indicator), but it's far
easier—and much more common—to use a VoIP service such as
Skype
,
FaceTime
, or an IM client that also allows you to make voice calls,
such as Yahoo! Messenger. VoIP calls can also be made from a tablet or
smartphone using a VoIP app. Skype, Facebook Chat, and Truphone are
popular VoIP apps. Google users in some countries can also make calls
from their Google accounts just by clicking on the name of the person
they want to call.
Skype
A Microsoft-owned VoIP service used to
make phone calls and sometimes video calls
over a broadband, Wi-Fi, or cellular mobile web
connection.
FaceTime
An app installed on Apple iPhone
and iPad devices that is used to make video calls
between Apple device owners. VoIP was originally
designed for making web-based phone calls, but
the advent of much faster broadband and fixed-
line Internet connections has made it possible for
the web to carry video calls too. Not only has VoIP
become so dependable that many offices have
replaced their telephone systems with VoIP-based
ones, but it is now also routinely used for corpo-
rate videoconferencing.
Skype is the most popular VoIP service in the world. Skype began as a
VoIP service for making free computer-to-computer calls, but can also
now be used to make cheaper international calls from a smartphone and
for one-to-one video calls. Other VoIP services work in a similar way to
Skype, but they don't all have video calling options.
To use Skype, download the software client from
www.skype.com
.
Then use the software to create a user profile for inclusion in the Skype
database so others who might want to call you can find you. You can also
use your email contacts list and call anyone on it who also uses Skype.
Skype is part of Microsoft, so if you already have an Outlook, Messenger,
or Hotmail account, you can sign in with those credentials. You can also
sign in with your Facebook account details. A commercial version of
Skype enables you to add a Skype phone number that non-Skype sub-
scribers can use to call you.
To use Skype for VoIP calls on a computer or laptop, you need built-
in speakers and a microphone, or to use an external microphone and
speakers or a headset. To make video calls using Skype, you also need
a webcam. You can also make calls using a Skype app on your tablet or
smartphone.
