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Technology: Keeping In Touch With Friends And Family
Keeping in touch with friends and family after you have decided to move to France needn't be an expensive luxury that you only do every couple of months. In this article we will show you a way to stay in touch with your loved ones back home for free, well almost for free!
Most people these days have a computer and an internet connection. Voila. You have the beginnings of your communication hub to the rest of the world.
Instant Messaging
Most computers these days are capable of running something called Instant Messaging. Instant messaging allows you to 'chat' on line with someone else at another location. This 'chat' is real-time typing - you type a message, they can see the message. They type a response, you see the response. The software to do this costs nothing and as all the communication is taking place across the internet it's not costing you anything.
Some examples of instant messaging programs:
Microsoft Messenger
Yahoo Messenger
Video Calling
If you have a newer computer and something called a webcam and a microphone then you can make video phone calls to someone at another location. This means they can hear and see you! And if they have a webcam and microphone then you will be able to see and hear them too! And best of all, the software you use to do this is free! In fact it is the same software you use for instant messaging. Simply plug the microphone and webcam into your computer, fire up you instant messaging program and away you go.
And then there's something called Skype.
Skype
We use Skype and we find it incredible. Basically Skype is similar to the instant messaging programs above but it also allows you to make phone calls across the internet to ordinary household telephones i.e. telephones that aren't connected to the internet. Imagine. You can call any telephone number in the world from your computer! Even better than that, you can also buy a telephone number in the UK and then other people can ring that telephone number and the call gets routed to your computer in France for example. The caller then only gets charged for a local call!
Got that? No?
Okay, here's a diagram to illustrate it:
So the cost of all this I hear you ask sceptically?
Well you would be surprised at how cheap it is.
To call other users of Skype (i.e. other people who use the program) then it's free. If you call someone with an ordinary telephone in the UK for example, then it costs only £0.012 per minute! Less than 2p a minute!
To buy a Skype phone number in the UK which will route calls to your computer, it costs £30/year - probably the cost of an ordinary call from France to the UK. Then all your friends in the UK can call you all day long at the cost of a local call.
What about feeling incredibly stupid sat in front of your computer talking to the screen?
Hmmm, yes you're right. You do feel a bit of a fool sat in front of your computer talking to the screen. But there is an answer (isn't there always). You can buy a phone for your computer! Skype sell a number different phones you can plug into your computer (including wireless ones) that act in exactly the same way your ordinary phone does. They aren't just there to stop you feeling foolish, they do actually have a practical purpose. They stop the sound from the speakers interfering with the microphone.
What about call quality?
Okay. You got us. The call quality can sometimes be a bit suspect. But then the call quality on your mobile can be a bit dodgy at times. It is normally better quality than your mobile though.
For more information on Skype click HERE
Published 01/08/2006. All rights reserved. Copyright BourgogneHomes.com.