Dossier Skype : test and description of services

Created in 2003 by the famous authors who came up with Kazaa, Skype is today surely the most well know voice over IP program in the world!

Using the same technology then its cousin Kazza, Skype is built on a base of P2P, and is the internet’s pioneer in regards to VoIP (Voice over IP) making its mark by providing a sound quality infinitely better then anything their competitors were offering at the time of original release.

At the time that skype started to make a name for itself, ADSL connections were not the same as what is available these days. People where still often using dial up connections and skype was able to revolutionize this form of communication by being able to offer clear voice communication even on these low speed connections. 

Skype however did not stop with just making software that ran on low speed connections. These days it is now available on various operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac OS) and platforms (Computer, PDA, mobile phone) in the choice of 27 different languages! Skype has the benefit of not being just a voice provider, but is also full of other features; the ability to transfer files, video conferencing (Windows version only) and an integrated toolbar in Internet Explorer. Besides this there are other services offered such as an answering machine, personalized ring, national telephone number (SkypeIn) and calls to national or international fixed telephone lines (SkypeOut). Of course, not all of these services are offered for free, but are available for those that are ready to spend a few bucks ;-)

Since September 2005, Skype Technologies is owned by the auction site, Ebay which already purchased PayPal in 2002. This purchase had the goal of facilitating communications between buyers and sellers both during and after an auction, but no doubt Ebay has other things in mind for skype.

For starters, we should not forget that Skype has had some misadventures during their rise in popularity. For example, they were refused access to the now very coveted Chinese market, and also found closed doors on one of France’s largest networks, the Renater University network! Software going by the name of SkypeKiller has also appeared in the last few months, allowing network administrators to uninstall skype remotely on user’s workstations.

At the heart of this file we are going look at the functionality side of skype, starting with the “basic” functions that are offered free for all 55 million members. Then we will be looking at the “optional” services that require an account with money deposited on it to be functional. We will also look at some performance and security tests at the end of the file.