VoIP Soft

I just tested Skype for Pocket PC again, and got my best results ever: call quality that's only slightly worse than talking into a tin can at the bottom of a well, relayed via satellite from Iraq.

I've used the Pocket PC version of Skype on three or four devices now, and I'm always amazed at what a foul dog this program is. Echoes? Check. Static? You bet. Device slowdowns? De rigeur. Clear conversations? Not on your life. Never mind that the thing only works through wired headsets, killing off twenty-five years of the trend of holding up phones to your ear, but neglecting to anticipate Bluetooth.

Go onto the Skype support forums and you'll find a bunch of Skype fans desperately trying to sew a silk purse out of this thing: "It works using Build 42, but not Build 41, as long as you open Internet Explorer first, propitiate the rain gods, and hold your phone upside down." Forget beta - is there a letter before alpha?

Skype's attraction is low cost international calling. But there are other solutions which leverage the ease of use and quality of service of the actual voice cellular networks, yet lower your per-minute international charges, such as drugstore calling cards and Rebtel. I imagine there are also a few desperate cheapskates out there who want to make ordinary domestic calls without signing up for as many cellular minutes as they need to use. But the cost is just too high in terms of installation headaches, battery burn and awful, awful, miserable quality.

I'm not against all VOIP. Vonage gets the formula right: make it look and work just like the good ol' phone network. I've never cottoned on to those PC softphones like regular Skype -- do you really want to rely on the legendary stability of Microsoft Windows for your phone service? But I see analyst Davis Janowski chatting on his PC all the time, so I assume it works OK in terms of voice quality.

But not the Pocket PC version. It may be free, but it's not worth the price.


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