(Originally published in TOURISM)
We recently asked TOURISM Daily News readers what they thought of the increasing number of competitively priced VoIP (Voice over Internet protocol) or internet telephony services that abound right now. Responses came quickly and many shared with us their secrets about how they use Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Voipstunt and others.
Robin Banerjee is president of Call of the Wild and Algonquin Eco‑Lodge in Markham, Ontario, and he is a Skype user. Skype is a free program that uses cutting edge p2p (peer‑to‑peer) technology to bring affordable, high‑quality voice communications to people all over the world.
“We offer wilderness canoe trips in Algonquin Park and dog sledding trips in winter time. Forty to fifty percent of our clients originate from Europe; a service like Skype gives them a free way to phone us. The "Skype Me" button is always there on our web site for them to click on,” Banerjee notes.
The Skype Me mode allows everyone else on Skype to know that you are available. This includes people who you do not know you but who can find you by searching the Skype directory, or by coming across your Skype address in advertisements or through other means. Skype is very popular in Europe.
Banerjee says he has ambitious plans that will involve programs like Skype in the near future: “Our wilderness lodge is on the southern tip of Algonquin Park, where there is no electricity or cell phones. We have a waterfall and we are in the process of putting in a micro hydro‑generator where we will generate our own electricity from the waterfall. Once that is in place, I will be able to use satellite Internet, MSN and Skype, although I have been told the satellite delay will be an issue with Skype.”
Trent Schumann of Mountain Quest/Experienca in Calgary, a stager of corporate retreats, executive getaways and leadership training programs explains that this type of technology makes sense especially if your activities bring you into contact with persons in overseas locations. “We deliver programs in other countries and I have partners I work with there with whom I use Skype and MSN to talk all the time because it is cheaper," says Schumann. "I don’t use Skype to talk to clients overseas because it can be unreliable. But sometimes Skype is so clear; it is like talking to the person next door.”
Dirk Terpstra is director of marketing and sales at Canadian Travel Design, a receptive tour operator in Salmon Arm, BC. “We use Skype in order to enhance our services and to cut costs. We purely focus on the trade sector within the industry which means that our customers are travel agents and tour operators across the world. We have a directory with most of our customers and we use Skype with about 15% of them with whom we have daily contacts," he says. “What they usually do is they email their bookings to us us. If there are questions or if they would like to explain something, we use Skype a lot. Because of my sales and marketing function, I use Skype to discuss new features, brochures, new developments and to maintain relationships. Where my clients are not Skype users, I use Skype Out to call them.” (Skype Out allows the user to place calls to regular telephones (landlines or mobiles) all over the world for a much smaller fee than you would find in more conventional phone services.)
“Recently," says Terpstra, "we had an issue with an operator in the Netherlands and we wanted to discuss a couple of subjects. We spoke with two people in the Netherlands at two different locations, setting up a conference call with four people. I used Skype Out for the two in the Netherlands and one regular free Skype call for my colleague.
“We have our reservation office in Salmon Arm where we work with four people and I do most of my marketing/sales stuff from home. I visit the office once a week and when I am working from home, my Skype is on with the office at least two hours a day, giving me very regular contact with the office; I simply leave the line open, and it is like I’m always there.”
Judy Karwacki of Small Planet Consulting Inc. in North Vancouver says she uses a whole range of programs depending on the country she works with or from. “Skype also works well as a chat program, but I use Voipstunt, a system similar to Skype that allows you free calls to over 30 countries, says Karwacki. "If I am calling the UK, Australia or one of those countries, I use it because it absolutely free – you can actually call phones with Voipstunt for free.
“I have also started to use Yahoo over the internet for calling. Right now, if I look at my desktop I have Skype, MSN, Yahoo and Voipstunt open, and I am working with people in Australia, Fiji, the UK, Guyana.”
Director of sales Alain Carbonneau is in the convention management business at JPdL in Montréal. He believes these systems are a great way to save on costs. “We are sometimes on Skype conference calls involving up to 6 people located elsewhere in the world. A nice feature is that you can make transfers of large files – documents as large as 20 or 30 Megabytes – without difficulties. All the person at the other end has to do is to accept the transfer. It is works flawlessly. Meanwhile you can still be on the phone with the person.”
With Skype, when the phone rings, you have to take the call, unless you subscribe to Skype Voicemail. “Or you just write a short email to the caller to say you are tied up on another line,” adds Carbonneau, who has heard that European companies are working on a concept inspired by Skype for cell phones. “This would totally open up the current fee schedule. If this happens, it will totally change the world of phones.”
On the downside, use of Skype and all those programs, of course, can have an impact on your company’s network performance, if many are on Skype simultaneously. How much Internet telephony do you want in your business? The decision is yours to make, and there is certainly no shortage of product out there.
We recently asked TOURISM Daily News readers what they thought of the increasing number of competitively priced VoIP (Voice over Internet protocol) or internet telephony services that abound right now. Responses came quickly and many shared with us their secrets about how they use Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Voipstunt and others.
Robin Banerjee is president of Call of the Wild and Algonquin Eco‑Lodge in Markham, Ontario, and he is a Skype user. Skype is a free program that uses cutting edge p2p (peer‑to‑peer) technology to bring affordable, high‑quality voice communications to people all over the world.
“We offer wilderness canoe trips in Algonquin Park and dog sledding trips in winter time. Forty to fifty percent of our clients originate from Europe; a service like Skype gives them a free way to phone us. The "Skype Me" button is always there on our web site for them to click on,” Banerjee notes.
The Skype Me mode allows everyone else on Skype to know that you are available. This includes people who you do not know you but who can find you by searching the Skype directory, or by coming across your Skype address in advertisements or through other means. Skype is very popular in Europe.
Banerjee says he has ambitious plans that will involve programs like Skype in the near future: “Our wilderness lodge is on the southern tip of Algonquin Park, where there is no electricity or cell phones. We have a waterfall and we are in the process of putting in a micro hydro‑generator where we will generate our own electricity from the waterfall. Once that is in place, I will be able to use satellite Internet, MSN and Skype, although I have been told the satellite delay will be an issue with Skype.”
Trent Schumann of Mountain Quest/Experienca in Calgary, a stager of corporate retreats, executive getaways and leadership training programs explains that this type of technology makes sense especially if your activities bring you into contact with persons in overseas locations. “We deliver programs in other countries and I have partners I work with there with whom I use Skype and MSN to talk all the time because it is cheaper," says Schumann. "I don’t use Skype to talk to clients overseas because it can be unreliable. But sometimes Skype is so clear; it is like talking to the person next door.”
Dirk Terpstra is director of marketing and sales at Canadian Travel Design, a receptive tour operator in Salmon Arm, BC. “We use Skype in order to enhance our services and to cut costs. We purely focus on the trade sector within the industry which means that our customers are travel agents and tour operators across the world. We have a directory with most of our customers and we use Skype with about 15% of them with whom we have daily contacts," he says. “What they usually do is they email their bookings to us us. If there are questions or if they would like to explain something, we use Skype a lot. Because of my sales and marketing function, I use Skype to discuss new features, brochures, new developments and to maintain relationships. Where my clients are not Skype users, I use Skype Out to call them.” (Skype Out allows the user to place calls to regular telephones (landlines or mobiles) all over the world for a much smaller fee than you would find in more conventional phone services.)
“Recently," says Terpstra, "we had an issue with an operator in the Netherlands and we wanted to discuss a couple of subjects. We spoke with two people in the Netherlands at two different locations, setting up a conference call with four people. I used Skype Out for the two in the Netherlands and one regular free Skype call for my colleague.
“We have our reservation office in Salmon Arm where we work with four people and I do most of my marketing/sales stuff from home. I visit the office once a week and when I am working from home, my Skype is on with the office at least two hours a day, giving me very regular contact with the office; I simply leave the line open, and it is like I’m always there.”
Judy Karwacki of Small Planet Consulting Inc. in North Vancouver says she uses a whole range of programs depending on the country she works with or from. “Skype also works well as a chat program, but I use Voipstunt, a system similar to Skype that allows you free calls to over 30 countries, says Karwacki. "If I am calling the UK, Australia or one of those countries, I use it because it absolutely free – you can actually call phones with Voipstunt for free.
“I have also started to use Yahoo over the internet for calling. Right now, if I look at my desktop I have Skype, MSN, Yahoo and Voipstunt open, and I am working with people in Australia, Fiji, the UK, Guyana.”
Director of sales Alain Carbonneau is in the convention management business at JPdL in Montréal. He believes these systems are a great way to save on costs. “We are sometimes on Skype conference calls involving up to 6 people located elsewhere in the world. A nice feature is that you can make transfers of large files – documents as large as 20 or 30 Megabytes – without difficulties. All the person at the other end has to do is to accept the transfer. It is works flawlessly. Meanwhile you can still be on the phone with the person.”
With Skype, when the phone rings, you have to take the call, unless you subscribe to Skype Voicemail. “Or you just write a short email to the caller to say you are tied up on another line,” adds Carbonneau, who has heard that European companies are working on a concept inspired by Skype for cell phones. “This would totally open up the current fee schedule. If this happens, it will totally change the world of phones.”
On the downside, use of Skype and all those programs, of course, can have an impact on your company’s network performance, if many are on Skype simultaneously. How much Internet telephony do you want in your business? The decision is yours to make, and there is certainly no shortage of product out there.
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