For many of us that are technically savvy, this is a bit of an obvious thing.  Skype Video Calls are awesome for grandparents!

I’ve got three kids and we live about 750 miles from my parents.  They do not get to see my kids (their grandkids) nearly as often as any of us would like. 

For over a year now, I’ve been using Skype a great deal and in many ways, next to my cell phone, it has turned into one of my primary business phone lines.

For personal reasons, I’m now trying to get my parents and my brother set up with skype.  My brother, who previously lived near my parents, is now relocating from IL to TX and it is going to be even harder for my parents to stay in touch with all of us.

So I’m hoping technology can help.  It won’t fill the void, but can help keep the conversations from getting stretched, help keep the little kids familiar with grandma and grandpa’s faces, and help everyone stay better adjusted while apart so that family holidays aren’t so awkward.

So the cool thing is that Skype is of course FREE for all skype users.  They don’t start charging until you want to call out from skype to non-skype phone numbers.

So if I have a skype account (free) and my mother sets up a skype account (free). 

We can talk in video phone calls on Skype for Free.

Plus, if my brother sets up a skype account (free), then all three of us can have a skype video conference call together at the same time for (free). 

Guess you see where this is going.

Skype comes with other benefits that I use sometimes, like chat and voice mail on the skype account.  Plus, if you start using it like a regular phone, it is cheap, cheap, cheap.  About $15-$30 per year, depending on the deal or package they are offering, but that only breaks down to $1 - $4 per month.  That is so cheap, that you pay it once in full and forget it until next year.

The video quality is definitely good enough to be able to see people, facial expressions, even the rooms they are in.  Its not that choppy video that web cams were famous for in the past, but its not theater quality hd either so this isn’t going to be an over the top install requiring home theater carpet, seating, and a new flat panel.

That said, I do advise a relatively new web cam (they sell for $10 - $40).  Not a big investment for the service it provides.

Cost Summary for Skype video calls for grandma

Service is FREE (skype to skype calls)

Webcam $10 - $40 per month

Alternatively - if you want an extra business line for the house or something $15 - $30 gets you unlimited long distance and voice mail.

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This is a little silly but might actually be somewhat practical.  I work on a dock on a lake in North Carolina.  Out here with the bugs and the frogs and it is generally very peaceful.

The thing is that I do a lot of work with technology, including video conferences.  Now, at night if I run my normal web cam, it doesn’t pick up my image too well, because it is dark in the office.  If I turn on too many lights, it will be a bug magnet.

So a year or two back we had some break ins around the neighborhood in our old house.  I happened through Sam’s Club one day and bought a security camera with night vision capability for $40.  Its been sitting in a closet ever since.

But this evening, I am going to try and connect it up through my web cam connections and see if I can use it for a night vision web cam.

I’m sure there will probably not be too many people in need of this type of setup, but if it works, I’ll let you know!

Its this type of weird stuff that makes my job fun anyway and it sure beats the conversations I used to have about budget software, ERP systems, etc. when I worked as a finance manager. ….

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Over the last few months, I have fully embraced Skype.  I have been using it for years, but largely just for chat and the occasional phone call.  But a couple months back when my primary phone (cell phone- a treo 700 with Verizon) became completely unreliable, I started using Skype heavily until I could switch back to T-Mobile.

During that time I came to like Skype a great deal more, especially the video call capability.

However, it has also been a little problematic.  I sometimes lose sound or video for no reason and feel like I have to live in the Skype Options box, to keep the thing running properly.

The point that I am trying to make is that Skype is fantastic (and cheap) but it is only as good as your computer acts on your computer’s worst day.  That means that if you want to live by Skype, you have to be prepared to die by skype whenever and where every your computer might take a dump on you.

Rant Follows

I do not know why but for some insane reason, my computer likes to automatically change my microphone to mute from time to time without telling me.  It also likes to lose track of my video camera input as well.  Its one of those asinine problems that is about as fun to deal with as going to your doctors office and reading an obscure medical journal on lipovox reviews or something else almost useless for your day to day life.

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I have a confession to make. There are two things that make my eyes glaze over. If I have something equivalent to Superman’s kryptonite (just watched Superman Returns on cable), its the phone menu. When I dial a company and get a phone menu with more than 2 options, I’m just toast.

Now, I may not be the smartest person in the world, but I have a few degrees, I’ve been published, I’ve worked in intelligence and not to toot my own horn, I’ve done some fairly complicated stuff. But I hear a phone menu option and its like I have developed a case of telephony claustrophobia. The thing is I’m not really fearful of phone menus, just instantly lost, like fish hit with sonic waves by a dolphin or a whale.

As a small business owner, establishing my own pbx system however has been something I have been holding off on for quite a while. Its something that I have probably needed for about a year now, but I just can’t quite see putting other people through a phone menu sonic attack.

The time is coming though. I will be walking through my VOIP decisions and we’ll see where things shake out. I’m going to put together a phone system, a pbx system, a virtual assistant, the whole nine yards.

Now, I have looked at the consumer related services like Skype and Vonage, but I think I’m going to need something a little more than that. So tonight I was looking at Packet8’s small business phone systems. I like the pricing plans for their virtual assistant services and their conference bridge service as well.

I’m not looking for a large system or package, just some of the basics that enable me to organize things at a simple level and enable group work over long distances. I’ll keep you posted on how things develop. If you have VOIP or PBX system stories or recommendations, I’d like to here them and would be happy to reference your thoughts from our site.

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I came across a very interesting VOIP Software system today through a sponsor.  It does several things, but you can think of it as

1. Small Business PBX System
2. or VOIP Answering System
3. or Skype Add in Answering System
4. or Much Much More

CallButler (http://www.callbutler.com) has three offerings, one is a stand alone VOIP Software and Telephone Answering System.  The other offers a Skype based telephone system that configures in a Free or a Pro Version.

They both integrate with Outlook so that you can receive your voice mail and listen to it through Outlook through a very useful interface.

But the system also let you add in options that are typically only available in very expensive PBX systems.  You can setup a call flow system and phone menu option.  You can even let the system customize the responses so that your customers get personalize messages on the menu when they call your system.

With the system, you can create extensions for all of your employees.  You can sign up for an 800 number and get a number of very useful features for a fixed and relatively low price.

They do offer a very complete Skype plug in as a free version, but the Skype Pro version provides even more services. 

If your company is not looking for a skype solution, the software comes in a stand alone configuration also that gives you the full power of a PBX system in a software package that can be configured and run in under 10 minutes!

Technorati tags: skype, voip, pbx, call management system, CallButler, Skype add in, voice mail in outlook, set up phone extensions softwar, Auto-Attendant, IVR, Skype, Small Business, Voicemail, Music on Hold, Answering System, Telephone System, Windows, Text To Speech

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