"Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgroups@yahoo.com> wrote in
newswGvj.8679$ea6.6562@en-nntp-01.dc1.easynews.com:

> "Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns9A4BEFC7C1103noonehomecom@208.49.80.253...
>> Skype audio, even on EVDO, sounds just like you're on a landline, but
>> without the analog hissing and sputtering noises....to any place that
>> has broadband.
>
> That hasn't been my experience with VoIP. On international calls,
> VoIP is fine oh, say... 90% of the time. But the other 10% of the
> time I get random disconnects, horribly distorted speech, and other
> artifiacts. It may be the Internet in general, it may be my
> particular provider, who knows? But the point is that -- for the
> average user -- there IS no way of knowing, so it's a bit of a
> crapshoot. On the other hand, with *just* a cell phone, barring known
> areas where simply lack coverage, the call quality is more like 99.9%.
>
> So, again... fine for calling friends and family, not something I'd
> want to run a business over.
>
>
>

I wonder if Skype works better because of its careful 256-bit
encryption, which must also be transmitted in perfect code or it isn't
going to be accepted. I've never heard any distortion, etc., on Skype
because Skype's software has automatic gain control. Skype sets the
audio level, itself, instead of depending on the user. Even the
cheapest 99c microphone from the thrift shop, what I use at home, sounds
great.

Skype over wifi or sellphone data is, of course, subject to being
intermittent if, for instance, some idiot you're trying to talk to
doesn't have BROADBAND and is trying to use Skype on a dialup or low
bandwidth sellphone circuit that's fading in and out. That has nothing
to do with Skype, though. It DOES have to have its data in a timely
manner like any streaming audio. However, the 500ms awful latency of a
sellphone data circuit over bluetooth DUN doesn't seem to bother it at
all.

Running a business on Skype wouldn't be any worse, but possibly better,
than making business calls on your sellphone with it cutting in and out
from the crappy coverage of the average sellphone carrier's poorly laid
out system. Skype on your desktop or over your wifi doesn't have
sellphone dead zones or dropped calls. Skype at the office over
Ethernet to broadband sounds much better than the deskphone next to the
computer if you're calling Timbuctoo on POTS.