Real Estate Blog - I've been Skyped!

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I've been Skyped!

I have a seller client who is currently in Madagascar. In fact, she will be there for a few years, serving in the Peace Corp. 11 hour time difference. She's a morning person, I'm not. She's away from the outside world for weeks at a time. No electricity, running water, or Internet. Phone bills have been very, very expensive. Being the frugal individual she is, she found Skype.

At first I was very hesitant. Is this secure? Do I need to buy something new? I've already spent my budget this year for new equipment. My car only has 6,840 miles on it. My new computer is 100x faster than the old.

So, I didn't really want to do it. I felt vulnerable. But, Sharon persisted. She is persistant!

I downloaded the file. Took about 2 minutes.

Filled out the information. Did the "test".

Entered the profile she sent. Clicked dial. No answer.

Decided to get a glass of water. My computer made a funny noise. It was Sharon!

Turns out she was in the shower during one of her rare visits to the hotel. She called me back. Wow, I thought she was in the same room with me! My new computer has a speaker, and a microphone. It was kinda weird, to be honest.

But it worked. Call quality from Alaska to Madagascar was unbelievably clear. And it sure beat $3 per minute. I know those in the "Lower 48" can get International calls MUCH cheaper, but Alaska is the stepchild of technology.

I'm sold. And I was SO unsure. I believe! Now, if the buyer will just accept that counter-offer.

Posted by Debbie White on 07/08/2007 12:38 AM

Comments (13)

skype, long distance, phone, alaska, juneau, madagascar, cheap phone

13 Comments on I've been Skyped!

JUL

2007

Everyone we know who uses it likes it. We haven't had reason to use it ourselves yet.

I am glad I read your post I have heard about it but never considered trying it. I will keep this in the back of my mind. I have this crazy thing for Alaska always have, I love snow. I hope you sell your listing soon!

Thanks for sharing this great info. I am going to make a "note to self" and look into it. My wife is from Greece and the international calls kill us.

I've heard of Skype but never checked it out. Might have come in handy when we were in England and I was calling clients.

Bob & Carolin - I'd suggest setting it up and trying it on friends or family first. It was quite unsettlling to have it first used with someone more familiar with it than myself.

Lorinda - You would have loved this last winter. We broke all standing records for snow. I don't care if I ever see it again. I would also try it with friends or family first if I were you. Thank you for the good wishes on this listing. It is my oldest "local" listing. I sell remote property too and expect long marketing times. This one is breaking my record, and breaking the bank on the ads!

Joe - You won't regret it. It was unbelievable how clear the connection was. I was really amazed.

Carol - Get your username set up now. Like me, your first and last name is common so I had to settle for a nickname. If nothing else, save your seat.

Thanks for the post. This is the first time I heard of Skyped, but I believe it will come in handy. My husband and I will be hosting a student from Germany for several months while she attends school in California, so I will be sure that she know about this as i am sure it will save her a ton of money when she want to talk to her friends at home!

Most of my family is on Skype...I've been the holdout. Just because I don't want to mess with it. But I suppose it's worth a try. My sister lives in Spain and she talks with my parents every day on skype.

Hi Debbie. I'm surprised more people don't know about or aren't using Skype yet. Aside from calls over the net, they also have extra feautres you can pay for(very inexpensive) that allows you to make calls to traditional phones as well.

What I found even better than the cost savings was the clarity of the calls. If you're both on a DSL or hi-speed net connection, the calls are more crisp and clear than on a on regular phone.

I've been using Skype for about 3 years now to talk with friends in far away places like Dubai, Istanbul, etc... and I have nothing but good things to say about it.

Skype is great. When the Mrs. was doing some international travel, it let us stay closer in contact, a few times a day at no cost!

I haven't used it yet for business.

Very interesting. I need to check into this.

I've never heard of this before! I don't have a need for it but you never know when the time will come! I've learned about so many NEW (new to me, anyway!) things here on AR. I love when people share things like this!

Thanks for posting!

Thanks for sharing that info , Iwill keep it in mind.

Donna - I think we will set up our son with it as well when he leaves for college in a few months!

Marty - I've had overnight to think about the possibilities. Now I wonder why I didn't do it sooner!

Marti - The clarity of the call was amazing! It was very frustrating trying to talk on a "real" phone.

Mike - I think I'd get headphones if I started using it at the office but so far I've found no reason not to use it for business. Of course, everything eventually gets in writiing, but sometimes we do have to talk.

David - Yes, you should!

Abby - Thank you. I saw several other articles about this when I did a search, but I hadn't stumbled across any before. I almost didn't post, but I'm glad I did.

Vicki - If nothing else I'd recommend setting up a profile just in case you wanted to try it. Everyone has nicknames for their login and finding others... If you wanted to use your name, you might not be able to.

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