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Microsoft and Skype atrocity

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Deozaan:
I actually use Skype for calling landlines. There is a very cheap subscription (cca 10 EUR per month) with which you can call most of the landlines in the world for free.-Attronarch (July 13, 2017, 07:15 AM)
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You can call landlines for free using Google Voice + Hangouts, but that may be limited to USA (and surrounding countries?), so your experience may vary. That is, I know you can also call other countries with Google Voice, but it costs money to do so. And I'm not sure how much of that is because that's how the service is for everyone, everywhere, or that's just the rates/services for me as a US resident.



Kind of off-topic, but since we're discussing all sorts of messaging apps:

I use Signal on my phones, (also via a Chrome app from the computer)
-4wd (July 13, 2017, 04:17 AM)
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I found Telegram after searching for a Signal alternative. I really wanted to use Signal because it seemed to be the most recommended for security/privacy but the Android app doesn't work on any of my aging Android devices and I hate having to use the ugly Chrome app. It basically meant I'd never get a message from anyone if I wasn't at my PC with the Chrome app running. One of the things I really like about Telegram is that it runs pretty much everywhere (with native OS applications, too!) so I can always stay in contact when I need to.

4wd:
I actually use Skype for calling landlines. There is a very cheap subscription (cca 10 EUR per month) with which you can call most of the landlines in the world for free.-Attronarch (July 13, 2017, 07:15 AM)
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You can call landlines for free using Google Voice + Hangouts, but that may be limited to USA (and surrounding countries?), so your experience may vary. That is, I know you can also call other countries with Google Voice, but it costs money to do so. And I'm not sure how much of that is because that's how the service is for everyone, everywhere, or that's just the rates/services for me as a US resident.-Deozaan (July 13, 2017, 07:41 PM)
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Mentioned in their Product Forums.

There are some countries where Hangouts isn't available.

I looked at it a while ago, basically it's a US/Canada only product atm, (or its usefulness is limited to US/Canada).

app103:
I have found that Hangouts is good for international group video chat and we use it where I work, just for that purpose, so that we can all attend company meetings, remotely, regardless of where in the world we happen to live. (company located in AU, with remote workers located throughout the world)

It's not a good international alternative for just calling someone and connecting with their phone number, but for things you can schedule, it's great.

wraith808:
I have found that Hangouts is good for international group video chat and we use it where I work, just for that purpose, so that we can all attend company meetings, remotely, regardless of where in the world we happen to live. (company located in AU, with remote workers located throughout the world)

It's not a good international alternative for just calling someone and connecting with their phone number, but for things you can schedule, it's great.
-app103 (July 14, 2017, 08:07 AM)
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We used to use it at work, and it was great.  Now we've switched to skype which I hate, though it does have better meeting capabilities.  Having international meetings has quite a few options, but all of them seem to have some measure of problems.

dr_andus:
Apparently MS is looking for feedback on the Skype changes:

Building the next generation of Skype together | Skype Blogs

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