{"id":1180,"date":"2008-09-05T18:24:07","date_gmt":"2008-09-05T18:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2008\/09\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm"},"modified":"2008-09-10T09:22:53","modified_gmt":"2008-09-10T09:22:53","slug":"after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2008\/09\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm","title":{"rendered":"After more than four years of avoiding Skype, I discovered it&#8217;s not bad at all&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 2004, one of my colleagues tried to get me to use <a href=\"http:\/\/www.skype.com\/\">Skype<\/a>.  I wasn&#8217;t impressed, especially as I was working on a client site and the proxy server kept on blocking connections to strange educational sites all over the world.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve since learnt that was because of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theregister.co.uk\/2003\/10\/08\/how_does_skype_get_through\/\">the peer-to-peer networking nature of Skype with it&#8217;s system of supernodes<\/a> but, even so, for the last few years, I&#8217;ve managed to avoid it, favouring traditional voice communications and more recently, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2008\/07\/configuring-a-cisco-ip-phone-for-voip-using-sip.htm\">SIP-based VoIP<\/a>. Then, as I blogged previously, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2008\/06\/weve-been-thinking-about-launching-a-podcast.htm\">James Bannan and I decided that we would like to put a podcast together<\/a> and, as he&#8217;s in Australia and I&#8217;m in the UK, Skype looks like the most sensible communications option.  I listen to a lot of podcasts where the presenters are geographically dispersed and apart from the odd glitch when someone is clearly on a weak connection or running some CPU-intensive software, everything seems fine.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/skype-main.png?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Skype main page\" \/><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/skype-video.png?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Skype main page\"  \/><br \/>\nSo, one night last month, we gave it a go (we&#8217;ll only need audio but we tried the full video capabilities) and I was actually quite impressed.  I was at home, using Skype 2.7.0.330 for Mac OS X with the built-in iSight webcam in my MacBook and James was using a recent version of Skype on a Windows PC in his office.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t be put off by the pixellated picture&#8230; that was just because it wasn&#8217;t exactly the best picture of James (stills from video calls rarely are) but, apart from the deliberately mosaiced face, you can see that the video quality is not bad at all.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/skype-techinfo.png?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Skype technical information\" \/>Given that I have a consumer broadband connection and that James was on the other side of the world (although I don&#8217;t know what sort of network connection he had), things were pretty good.<\/p>\n<p>If you check out the technical call information screenshot you can see that the round trip (of at least 21,000 miles, through 4 relays was taking an average of 374ms (just about the limit before delay becomes noticeable but not exactly causing a problem) and there was negligible jitter and barely any packet loss, although <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SVOPC\">the SVOPC codec is designed to tolerate packet loss<\/a> (I found <a href=\"http:\/\/forum.meinskype.de\/ftopic2641.html\">a forum post on a German site which describes the various metrics used by Skype<\/a>).  Most notably for me, both CPU cores on my 2.2GHz Intel Core2Duo were being hammered as Skype encoded\/decoded the video conversation but we were still managing a respectable 15 frames per second.<\/p>\n<p>So, in all the whole experience was a good one.  Of course, like any VoIP connection across the Internet, experiences will vary according to the traffic conditions at the time but I was suitably impressed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2004, one of my colleagues tried to get me to use Skype. I wasn&#8217;t impressed, especially as I was working on a client site and the proxy server kept on blocking connections to strange educational sites all over the world. I&#8217;ve since learnt that was because of the peer-to-peer networking nature of Skype with &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2008\/09\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">After more than four years of avoiding Skype, I discovered it&#8217;s not bad at all&#8230;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[168,78],"class_list":["post-1180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-skype","tag-telephony"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>After more than four years of avoiding Skype, I discovered it&#039;s not bad at all... - markwilson.it<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2008\/09\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After more than four years of avoiding Skype, I discovered it&#039;s not bad at all... - markwilson.it\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 2004, one of my colleagues tried to get me to use Skype. I wasn&#8217;t impressed, especially as I was working on a client site and the proxy server kept on blocking connections to strange educational sites all over the world. I&#8217;ve since learnt that was because of the peer-to-peer networking nature of Skype with &hellip; Continue reading After more than four years of avoiding Skype, I discovered it&#8217;s not bad at all&#8230;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2008\/09\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"markwilson.it\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-09-05T18:24:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2008-09-10T09:22:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/skype-main.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Wilson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@markwilsonit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@markwilsonit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Wilson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Wilson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/98f61365e7c39d6be942174b8c4de468\"},\"headline\":\"After more than four years of avoiding Skype, I discovered it&#8217;s not bad at all&#8230;\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-09-05T18:24:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-09-10T09:22:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm\"},\"wordCount\":465,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/98f61365e7c39d6be942174b8c4de468\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/images\\\/skype-main.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Skype\",\"Telephony\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.markwilson.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/after-more-than-four-years-of-avoiding-skype-i-discovered-its-not-bad-at-all.htm\",\"name\":\"After more than four years of avoiding Skype, I discovered it's not bad at all... - 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During a career spanning more than two decades, Mark has gained widespread recognition as an expert in his field including both industry and national press exposure. In addition to certifications from Microsoft, VMware, Red Hat, The Open Group and Axelos, Mark held a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for three years and is now part of the MVP Reconnect programme. 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I'd been meaning to write that post for a while... and I'm glad I finally got around to it because John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/topic\/technology"},"img":{"alt_text":"Registration timestamp inside the Skype client database (main.db)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/sqlite-skype-registration-timestamp.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/sqlite-skype-registration-timestamp.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/sqlite-skype-registration-timestamp.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5774,"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/08\/one-mans-battle-with-unlocking-his-skype-account.htm","url_meta":{"origin":1180,"position":1},"title":"One man&#8217;s battle with unlocking his Skype account&#8230;","author":"Mark Wilson","date":"Friday 7 August 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I've blogged and tweeted many times about identity in\u00a0the Microsoft cloud\u00a0(\"Microsoft accounts\" vs.\u00a0\"work or school accounts\", formerly known as \"organizational accounts\") but I completely forgot another set of credentials - Skype accounts, an anomaly from before Skype was bought\u00a0by Microsoft but which should have been killed off by now... Then,\u00a0a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/topic\/technology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6675,"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2016\/11\/follow-me-calls-with-skype-for-business.htm","url_meta":{"origin":1180,"position":2},"title":"Follow-me calls with Skype for Business","author":"Mark Wilson","date":"Monday 21 November 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"18 months ago, I joined the team at risual - and I've been meaning to write this blog post since, well, since just about the time I joined the team at risual! In previous roles, I've used a mish-mash of communications systems that, despite the claims of Cisco et al\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/topic\/technology"},"img":{"alt_text":"Example call path using Skype for Business","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/skype-diverts.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/skype-diverts.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/skype-diverts.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/skype-diverts.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5771,"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/08\/short-takes-windows-10-download-location-btvstack-exe-and-skype.htm","url_meta":{"origin":1180,"position":3},"title":"Short takes: Windows 10 download location; btvstack.exe and Skype","author":"Mark Wilson","date":"Monday 3 August 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Some more mini-posts glued together as a \"short take\"... Windows 10 download location - no need to wait for a notification As a \"Windows Insider\" (yeah, right, me and several million others...) I've been patiently waiting for the notification icon on my Family PC to tell me that Windows 10\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/topic\/technology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5793,"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/08\/purple-spot-next-skype-business-presence-information.htm","url_meta":{"origin":1180,"position":4},"title":"Purple spot next to Skype for Business presence information","author":"Mark Wilson","date":"Thursday 6 August 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I noticed a couple of days ago that my Skype for Business presence information was accompanied by a purple dot\/spot. I hadn't seen this before and I wondered what it meant. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything on the 'net. My colleague Brian Cain (@BrianCainUC) clearly has better googling (ahem, Binging)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Exercise&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Exercise","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/topic\/exercise"},"img":{"alt_text":"Purple spot next to Skype for Business presence information","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/s4b-purplespot.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5973,"url":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/06\/office-365-and-the-hybrid-cloud.htm","url_meta":{"origin":1180,"position":5},"title":"Office 365 and the hybrid cloud","author":"Mark Wilson","date":"Thursday 4 June 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Cloud, cloud, cloud. The buzzword of a few years ago is becoming reality for many organisations today but there are still some industries and use cases that have significant obstacles to overcome. Recent research from one hosting company suggests that this is changing though \u2013 with public cloud usage set\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/topic\/technology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/images\/o365-hybrid-cloud.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}