I don't want to defend Skype after the outage their login system faced last week (16-18.08.07), as they are doing it lots better than me, but I'm amazed by the quantity of critical and harsh reactions following this unforeseen interruption of service.

I have the impression that Skype critical voices are not so loud and mean when their local ISP, mobile  operator, telephone company, electricity or any other services they subscribe, including indispensable ones such lift, coffee machine, PS3 etc..

Skype outage was the first major glitch for the last 4 years which is more than excellent record in term of reliability. During that period how many time you have not been able to send SMS, pass a phone calls and even access the Internet either from home or at work ? 

In addition, Skype took the decision to compensate their paying customers (Skype Pro, Skype Unlimited,
SkypeIn or Skype Voicemail customers) by extending their subscription for 7 days in a goodwill gesture.

What I would propose is to spead the word among all Telco's and ISP (to start with) that automatic compensations are most welcome whenever they are not able to deliver the service we are paying for (perfect example of bad ISP behavior in Switzerland, video in French). 

Tags: 2007, access, arc, art, availability, blog, ces, compensation, customer, electricity, example, failure, google, GTalk, ia, im, internet, IT World, lan, live, login, MIT, mobile, nomadcom.net, outage, phone, press, reliability, sco, search, services, skype, sms, space, switzerland, term, video, web, wp, www

Few years ago, it was Internet over Telephone network but the situation is shifting and we have now, with Internet broadband access, Telephone over the Internet.

With the so called "unify messaging system" all type of communication can reach your email inbox while travelling but in some situation, sending a fax (yes it still exists) while on the move may not be so easy than it seems and even very costly (money and time).  

This week, German company PamConsult launched a beta version of PamFax, a Skype Extra (add-ons), which makes possible faxing a document from any Internet broadband connected computer (with Skype software installed and activated).

The process is rather simple :

• Select the document to be sent
• Enter recipient(s) fax number
• Optionally, select a cover page
• Select notification methods : Skype Chat, SMS (0.26 USD) an/or email.
• Pay the fax using Sky Credits
• Optionally, preview it

PamFax comes with its own website where you can configure your default settings, consult logs and check current sending rates

There are 7 different, per page, rates which are currently the following:

• Most European countries and North America :0.23 USD
• 4 zones of selected countries from all over the Word with price tag between 0.40 and 1.38 USD
• Most African countries : 1.64 USD
• Rest of the World :  2.19 USD

  Check rates on Pamfax website

Technical requirments:

• Windows 2000 SP4, XP or Vista (32 or 64 bit)
• Internet Explorer 6 or better
• Latest Skype (min. Skype 3.0)
• Installed Skype Plugin Manager

During the beta phase, PamFax is only available to Skype users outside Canada and USA

Every user gets 1 test fax in zone 1 (0.23 USD) for free.

Download on PamFax website 

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Another multi protocol Instant Messaging (IM) application for mobile device (Symbian and Windows Mobile) is Fring (still a Beta). This free mobile VoIP software gives the possibility to communicate with Skype, MSN, Google Talk, Twitter.

Fring also supports SkypeOut as well as SIP-based services such as GizmoProject, VoIPStunt, among many others. Real-Time contact presence is also taken into consideration. 

Once connected using packet switching network (Wi-Fi, GPRS, EDGE, etc..) you can then select which communication option you want to use to establish a voice communication: Fring, SkypeOut, SIP or simply the GSM network.

Unlike Agile Messenger, Fring doesn't propose file or photo transfer and Yahoo protocol has not been taken on board.

To install the software on a supported device, once the installation page filled up, a SMS is sent with the link to your terminal. Your phone number will be used as User-ID. 

While doing some text and voice test using my HTC S620 (Dopod C720) I have very few points that require, on my point of view, some improvements:

• Different services cannot be managed individually
• Switch OFF external speaker while on voice call
• Add File, photo, video transfer

  test continues..

Source: SmartphoneMag

Tags: 2007, agile, air, art, blog, C720, Cavalier, ces, communication, dopod, free, fring, google, google talk, gsm, HP, htc, ia, im, install, instant messenger, lan, LED, list, live, messenger, mobile, Mobile Communications, msn, network, nomadcom.net, phone, photo, presence, project, S620, services, skype, smartphone, sms, space, symbian, term, twit, Twitter, user, video, windows, WM5, WM6, wp, www, yahoo