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What is Skype and why is it needed? What is Skype? How many Skype users are there in the world?

Skype is a popular application used to communicate via the Internet. A very important point is the presence of video communication, thanks to which you can see the face of the interlocutor. It is also possible to conduct video conferences with up to 10 participants. To do this, your device must be equipped with a video camera and microphone. To start using the program, you need to download it, install it and go through the registration process. We'll tell you how this is done now.

The first step is to install Skype on your computer or phone

The first thing you need to do to successfully use the program is install it on your device. There is nothing complicated about this, the main thing is to follow the instructions correctly and carry out all actions accurately, and also avoid suspicious resources. Skype is downloaded from official websites for free.

Installing Skype on your computer

  • Go to the official website of the application and download Skype from it. After a successful procedure, a blue shortcut with the English letter “S” will appear on the PC desktop.
  • To begin the installation process, double-click the right mouse button on the installation file.
  • A window will open on the screen where you can select a language convenient for you. The default is Russian.
  • In additional settings, you can specify the path where you want to save the program; if you do not do this, it will automatically be installed on the “C:” drive.
  • Next, the system will offer to launch the messenger when you boot your computer. If you plan to use it often, check the appropriate box.
  • Read the license agreement and click “I agree.”
  • If you need a plugin, check this box.
  • Click the Continue button.
  • Wait for the installation to complete.
  • Now you need to enter your username and password to enter the program; if you don’t have them, you should register.
  • After the procedure has been completed, check the sound and video, and also add an avatar.

Installing Skype on your phone

  • Go to the Play Market application store from your device.
  • Enter the name of the program in the search bar.
  • From the list of proposed options, select the required one.
  • Click "Download".
  • Wait for the application to download and install on your desktop.
  • Launch the messenger and enter your profile information.

The next step is registration in the application

To become a full-fledged Skype user, you must register with it. If the client is installed on a computer, this is done as follows:

  • Launch the program.
  • Click the “Register” button, after which you will find yourself on the official website of the application.
  • Fill out the form with your personal information. Fields with an asterisk are considered required (first name, last name, email, language, login, password). You can skip your date of birth, place of residence and purpose of using the messenger.

Registration on Skype via phone is as follows:

  • Log in to the downloaded client.
  • Click the "Create Account" button.
  • Read the user terms and click “Continue”.
  • If you would like to receive news from the application, check the box at the bottom.
  • Enter your name, login, password, e-mail. Repeat the password again.
  • You will receive a confirmation to the specified email.

How to set up sound and camera in Skype

After successfully registering an account, you should make audio and video settings. To do this you need to follow this path:

  • Go to "Tools".
  • Select the "Settings" section.
  • The “Sound Settings” window will open in front of you, where you need to set your audio device, indicating what will be responsible for audio input, audio output and calls.
  • To test your microphone, make a test call on Skype.
  • Next, click “Save.”
  • Go back to Settings and select Video Settings.
  • In the window that opens, in the “Select camera” field, indicate the video device you will use.
  • Then test the webcam and adjust the image quality by changing brightness, color gamma, saturation, etc.
  • Save your settings.

Finding and adding friends

Everything was set up, everything was checked. Now is the time to find friends to chat with.

  • Go to the "Contacts" section.
  • Select Search Skype Callers.
  • You can search by name, email address or nickname.
  • Having found the necessary person, add him to your list by clicking on the “Add to contact list” button.
  • The subscriber will receive a notification that you want to add him as a friend and after confirming the request, you will be able to communicate without obstacles.

We hope that after reading the above material, you figured out how to work with Skype and saw that it is not at all difficult. Enjoy using it.

There are a huge number of ways to communicate online. There are a lot of software products that allow Internet users to communicate with each other. One of the most convenient is voice or video communication. And in conditions of excess supply, you need to somehow stand out from your competitors. Released in September 2003, the Skype program, created by a team of Estonian developers, has now become one of the main channels for exchanging information along with Internet messengers. Two years after the program was released, Skype was sold to eBay for $2.5 billion. And this despite the fact that the annual turnover was less than 100 million.

The main difference between Skype and its competitors is its technology. The program is built on the p2p principle, that is, data is distributed among subscribers around the world. This allows you to maintain a huge database without spending too much money on maintaining servers. In addition, this allows people who have relatively weak computers to use the program. For more or less high-quality sound, comparable to regular telephone communication, a speed of 30-60 Kbps is sufficient.

For stable video communication - 200 Kbps and a processor frequency of at least 1 GHz.

Skype features

The developers tried to take into account all the wishes of users, so Skype is fully equipped - calls, correspondence, sending files, etc.

Skype allows you to make conference calls (up to 25 voice subscribers, including the initiator), video calls (including video conferences for up to 10 subscribers), and also provides text messaging (chat) and file transfer.

The product has constant problems with the law due to the fact that it provides services at low prices compared to mobile operators. Many intelligence agencies are unhappy that they cannot listen to subscribers’ conversations and were even preparing a ban on the use of the program. However, the Minister of Communications of the Russian Federation Igor Shchegolev completely denied the possibility of such a ban.

So, what is one of the most popular services for communication via the Internet?

In fact, Skype is much more than calls. This is an international project that unites more than 100 million users around the world. The program has a huge number of opportunities for convenient communication between people.

Firstly, it is ease of use. The program's interface is clear and simple, and to use the main free functions, you only need to briefly study the main window.

Two main buttons - “Call” and “Video call” - catch your eye immediately as soon as you select a contact from the list.

Secondly, wide functionality united by a single interface. Contacts, call history and correspondence - everything is reflected in one window.

Thirdly, the service capabilities themselves are varied. Let's look at them in more detail.

Regular calls. They can be either free or paid. It depends on who you want to call. If a Skype user is online, they will not charge money for such a call. You can chat with friends living abroad all day long and not spend a penny. If you need to call a landline or mobile phone, you can contact the person you need for 1 cent per minute.

The price for using the Skype service does not depend on which country in the world the recipient is located.

Video calls. If you have a webcam, you can make video calls and chat with family, friends or colleagues as if you were nearby. After all, it is often important to see the face of the interlocutor.

Chat. You can simply chat, which is sometimes faster and more convenient. Moreover, it has the ability to transfer files, for example, photos or documents, which allows you to immediately share impressions or work together.

SMS. Through Skype you can send text messages to any mobile phone for a relatively small fee.

Facebook News Feed. You can follow the news of your friends on Facebook. And this is not a complete list of functions. There are also options for call forwarding and transfer. If you are offline or simply don't want to answer a call in the program, you can set it up so that all calls are transferred to another number. Or, for example, when a friend calls you, you can connect him to someone else, acting as an intermediary. Convenient because you don’t need to add contacts and call again. There is a voice mail (in other words, an answering machine).

In Russia, MegaFon is actively fighting against Skype, trying to limit access to Skype services in its networks and at the legislative level. MegaFon also charges a fee for using the service.

You are offline - your calls will be accepted and can be listened to at any convenient time. There is also a wonderful opportunity to show an image on your screen via video link, for example, during various kinds of presentations and conferences. By the way, about conferences. They can be carried out in both audio and video format, depending on your preferences and the quality of the communication channel. You can also assign a number to yourself so that subscribers of regular telephone networks can call it. As you can see, at first glance, a small program, upon closer examination, turns out to be a powerful complex with a variety of tools.

Of course, there cannot be only positive aspects to the service. There are several disadvantages. Firstly, many useful features are paid. Of course, their price is rather symbolic, but still. Secondly, the program can increase CPU and memory usage even when you are not using it. This happens because if you have a wide enough channel and you are online for a long time, your computer may be designated as a server. Thirdly, Skype is a rather complex and closed system that can become a carrier of malware. And fourthly, you cannot call emergency help via Skype, so the service cannot completely replace your phone. They constantly warn about this on the program’s official website. In Russia, of course, it is popular, but in America, for example, there are many people who do not mind changing their regular phone to Skype.

Skype can be the solution to many tasks that you have always dreamed of doing but never thought were possible. For example, the opportunity to talk free of charge, in real time, with your family members in different parts of the country. And the opportunity to be at important events in your life, even if you cannot attend them in person.

In a nutshell, what is Skype? Skype is a service that allows you to call other Skype users anywhere in the world and talk to them for free. If you have webcams, you can talk to each other in “live video” mode.

How it works?

This is all possible thanks to a technology called voiceover IP, or VoIP (pronounced voyp). VoIP is a method of transmitting human voice over Internet Protocol (IP). This technology allows you to make phone calls, video calls, group calls and more over the Internet, instead of using traditional phone lines.

Skype is not the only software product that can be used to make video and phone calls over the Internet. Below is a list of other free and quite accessible applications:

Features and Services

Now that you know how Skype works, it's worth checking out the list of features that break down the different services. Many of them free, and some cost from a couple of cents per minute to several dollars per month.

Most of Skype's popular features are free: calling, video calling, and messaging.

Pay for additional features separately and only when you need them.

Get the most features (and the best rate) with a monthly subscription.

Enjoy group video calls by signing up for a daily package or subscribing to Skype Premium.

Calls

  • Free calls and group calls for all Skype users;
  • Low rates for calls to landlines and mobile phones;
  • Low rates for international calls from your landline or mobile phone;
  • Your own phone number so anyone can contact you on Skype.

Which service is right for you?

Most Skype features are free. If you need more features than the basic account (for example, calling a friend on a mobile phone), then you can top up your Skype account and pay for them separately.

Calls to landlines and mobile phones from Skype are not free. If you want to use Skype instead of a regular phone and have your own Skype number, it pays to pay a monthly subscription.

One-on-one video calling is free for all Skype users. If you want to use group video calling, connect to a Premium account. Then you will be able to communicate with 10 people at once.

Skype is not a replacement for a regular telephone, as you will not be able to make emergency calls!

Skype payment methods

Most of the popular features on Skype are free, such as calling, video calling, and sending messages to other Skype users. If you want to use one of the paid services, the payment methods will differ depending on the selected function.

To pay for additional features, you will need to purchase a Skype Credit for your account. It's like buying subway tokens (or topping up your subway card) to ride it. Learn more about Skype Credit on the Skype Credit page.

You can purchase a recurring subscription that lasts 1 month, 3 months or 1 year. When your subscription expires, Skype will automatically renew it using the payment method saved to your account. (You can unsubscribe at any time.) Find out more about subscribing to Skype at

Call via the Internet to a regular cell phone or landline phone? Easily. Contact another user on the network by establishing direct audiovisual contact? Even easier! VoIP and softphones are rapidly conquering markets around the world, and at the forefront of this “attack” is a program whose name is familiar to everyone - Skype. That's what we'll talk about today.

Before Skype, or an excursion into history

Many science fiction writers of the 19th and 20th centuries predicted that sooner or later humanity would invent a kind of videophone, thanks to which the interlocutor could not only be heard, but also seen. Some especially gifted individuals (Tesla, for example) started talking about this back at a time when even an ordinary telephone was a novelty.

In fact, humanity managed to invent such a thing sooner rather than later. Judge for yourself: just 15 years ago it was difficult to imagine that very soon we would have at our disposal compact and powerful cell phones, from which we can easily make a video call anywhere in the world (that we can also simply go online, listen to music, read, watch movies, and so on, and there’s nothing to say).

It is worth noting that attempts to invent a videophone as an independent device is a topic worthy of a separate story. For example, back in 1964, AT&T managed to install the first public video telephone booths in New York, Washington and Chicago. Devices bearing the name Picturephone Mod I were also installed with fanfare at the headquarters of large companies. It was planned that the innovation would be a resounding success, and then general recognition would follow. By the way, the devices used 3 pairs of telephone wires: one for audio transmission and two (with a bandwidth of 1 MHz) for video transmission in each direction. The image was updated every 2 seconds. An additional PBX was used for video switching. But the public did not appreciate all these efforts - a call from New York to Washington cost $16 for 3 minutes, and to Chicago - $27, which scared off even the most notorious geeks of that time. As a result, the booths were dismantled in 1968.

However, we digress. Our story today is not about video payphones at all, but about the idea of ​​transmitting voice and image over the Internet, which appeared almost before the invention of computer networks themselves.

As paradoxical as it may sound, until a certain period of time, telephone networks and data networks existed independently of each other. The fact is that the technology and channels of those years simply could not cope with both at the same time. Scientists have been struggling to solve this problem since the 60s, but the first noticeable progress was made only in the 80s, when the ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) was created - a network that supported services for transmitting voice, data, video and text. But these were only the first steps, and the real results and the actual “birthday” of Voice over IP (VoIP) and video conferencing came already in the 90s.
The first sign to break the dam of “network silence” was the Internet Phone program, created by the Israelis from the VocalTec company. Internet Phone was released in early 1995 and, in fact, was a banal IM + softphone with which you could make voice calls to other PCs. But what seems banal now, then evoked emotions like “omigod, it's magic!!11”. And this is despite the fact that this miracle worked in half-duplex mode, that is, unilaterally, as when talking on a walkie-talkie ( which is not surprising - the founders of VocalTec got the idea for the program while serving in the army, looking at packet voice radio).

Neither the above, nor the fact that the quality of communication usually left much to be desired, could stand in the way of progress - in a few weeks, thousands of people downloaded Internet Phone and immediately began to actively use it. This was the go-ahead - it became obvious that the public’s interest was great, and the prospects for Internet telephony were enormous. The market was immediately flooded with all sorts of clones of the Israeli program, and by the end of 1995, DigiPhone software appeared on sale, which allowed you to listen and talk at the same time.

Meanwhile, in the area of ​​software for transmitting video over the Internet, things were also going well. In the early 90s, craftsmen from Cornell University wrote the CU-SeeMe program, originally intended for Macs, and then released for Windows. By the way, it was with the help of CU-SeeMe in 1994 during the flight of NASA's Endeavor shuttle transmitted his image to Earth.

Interest in VoIP technology, that is, in the transmission of a speech signal over the Internet or other IP networks, grew rapidly, and already in 1996, issues of standardization and the adoption of standards became ripe. The International Telecommunication Union, an international organization that sets recommendations in the field of telecommunications and radio, as well as regulating the international use of radio frequencies, adopted recommendations for the H.323 standard, which was based on almost 50 other standards. Thus, the first standard was adopted for multimedia communication using packet-based networks that do not guarantee quality of service. At the same time, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), an open international community of designers, scientists, network operators and providers, which develops Internet protocols and architecture, developed the Realtime Transport Protocol (RTP), which is used in H.323.

Further development of VoIP proceeded as follows:

  • 1996 was also marked by the conclusion of an agreement between VocalTec and the giant Dialogic. The goal of their joint project was to create the first specialized telephone gateway for IP telephony, called VocalTec Telephone Gateway (VTG).
  • 1997 gave the world the opportunity to make calls not only from PC to PC, but also from PC to phone and vice versa, as well as from phone to phone.
  • 1999 was marked by the first specification of the open standard SIP (Session Initiation Protocols), which was developed by the guys from the IETF since 1996, and which will be discussed below. H.323 has a competitor, which, as time will tell, will very quickly deal with its predecessor.

This is how things quietly approached the new millennium, and therefore the creation of Skype.

Skype

Skype is written by European progers, namely Estonians Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn. These names may surprise some, because in recent years completely different people have been often called the creators of Skype - Dane Janus Friis and Swede Niklas Zennstrom. The thing is that both the first and second are true.
It is possible that the names of the three Estonian developers not only caused surprise, but also seemed vaguely familiar to some readers. If you showed up, we hasten to please you - you have an excellent memory. The fact is that in the early 2000s, these guys were developing the unforgettable P2P file-sharing network KaZaA, thanks to which they gained fame. The work on Skype, which gentlemen IT journalists unfairly credit to Friis and Zennström, respectively, happened later.

“Who are Zennström and Friis?” - you ask. Of course, it was no coincidence that they also appeared in this story - this couple was directly related to the development and development of both projects (both KaZaA and Skype), and some of their “exploits” literally overshadowed the rest of the team. However, calling them “the creators of Skype” is a gross exaggeration, since these two are primarily businessmen and investors, but not developers. We will tell you more about Friis, Zennström and their role in Skype separately below, but for now let’s return to the program itself.

Active work on Skype began in 2002 after solid investments from the Draper Investment Company, and the software was released quite quickly: the domain names Skype.com and Skype.net were registered in April, and the public saw the first beta release of the program already in August 2003. By the way, a random interesting fact - during development the program was called Skyper (short for “Sky peer-to-peer”), and only closer to the completion of work it was renamed to Skype, because the Skyper domain name was already taken.

So, what distinguished Skype from many other similar programs, of which there were a little more released at that time? Unlike other software designed for IP telephony, Skype used and still uses a P2P architecture to operate, which is not at all surprising if you remember the track record of its creators. In fact, this is one of its main advantages: all voice traffic goes through network nodes, which are the users themselves (and the more users use the system, the better it works). Skype can also route calls through the computers of other users, which allows users behind a NAT or firewall to connect to each other (creating an increased load on the channels of other users).

By the time Skype entered the IP telephony market, almost the entire market was occupied by software and hardware operating on the basis of the SIP standard, which it’s time to talk about in more detail.

Unlike Skype's secretive protocol, SIP is completely open to developers, well designed, and easy to implement in hardware. The HTTP message protocol was taken as a model for SIP. SIP messages, like HTTP requests, are transmitted over the Internet in text form, and their formats partially coincide. This significantly simplifies the development and debugging of programs that support SIP, and quite likely contributed to the growth of its popularity. Just like Skype, SIP does not have a centralized server - there are many servers; in fact, anyone can acquire one, and they all interact with each other. The tasks of the protocol include only establishing and coordinating communication, and it is not at all necessary that this communication be voice - it can be any other data stream (video, multimedia, interactive service).

SIP is designed to work in local networks and on good Internet channels.

Skype is the exact opposite of SIP, although some evidence indicates that the Skype protocol is based on a modified SIP. Be that as it may, there are more than enough differences: Skype is a closed protocol, and due to its P2P structure, it uses forced encryption (data is encrypted using AES-256, for the transfer of the key of which, in turn, a 1024-bit RSA key is used . Users' public keys are certified by the central Skype server upon login using 1536- or 2048-bit RSA certificates), and it is much better suited to extreme conditions than SIP. The phrase “I’m at the door, and he’s at the window” most accurately reflects Skype’s behavior pattern - close the usual range of UDP protocol ports for it, and it will switch to free TCP ports, and if it’s really pressed, Skype is always ready to use an HTTP proxy. Some experts argue that the only way to completely block Skype is to analyze the contents of all packets that Skype, do not forget, encrypts. The program bypasses simpler methods.

All of the above has been seriously straining the intelligence services of almost all countries of the world for many years - how can it be that something cannot be intercepted and deciphered, this is definitely a mess! However, Switzerland, Australia, Austria, Germany and Russia have already hinted that they still have solutions for listening to Skype in their arsenal.

Skype is also criticized by many security experts, and even hackers. Back in 2007, in the 100th issue of ][ Chris Kaspersky devoted an extensive article to this issue entitled “Skype: The Hidden Threat.” In the article, Chris writes the following: “Skype is a black box with a multi-level encryption system, stuffed with anti-debugging techniques for the executable file, reading confidential information from the computer and transmitting it to the Network via a closed protocol. The latter bypasses firewalls and severely masks its traffic, preventing it from being blocked. All this turns Skype into an ideal carrier of viruses, worms and drones that create their own distributed networks within the Skype network.”

But Skype managed to conquer a wide audience not due to encryption and resourcefulness, but due to two very important things: simplicity and excellent sound quality.

Starting from the very first version, released in the fall of 2003, Skype supported 10 languages ​​and had the simplest possible interface, unlike other IM, which was initially designed specifically for voice communication. It also played a role that the entire procedure for installing the program and registering a new user was many times simpler than that of competitors. As for codecs, Skype uses SVOPC (16 kHz), AMR-WB (16 kHz), G.729 (8 kHz) and G.711 (ILBC and ISAC were also used previously), which provides a sufficient connection speed (30-60 Kbps) /с) allows you to get sound comparable in quality to regular telephone communication.

Having taken off right off the bat in 2003, Skype has not stopped developing for a minute. With each new version, more and more new functions and “conveniences” appeared. It makes no sense to list all these answering machines, online numbers, conferences, services for sending SMS, and so on, since the article is still not called “Skype services for dummies” :). Instead, I would like to note something else - the company was developing confidently, despite the fact that in 2005 Friis and Zennström sold their brainchild, which had already gained enormous popularity (74.7 million accounts and an average of 10.8 million users on the network), eBay for the tidy sum of several billion dead presidents. The fact that this had a negative impact on the development of Skype is clearly demonstrated by numbers and facts:

  • Today there are already more than 560 million accounts on Skype;
  • There are versions of Skype for almost every platform known to mankind, including mobile;
  • The company provides a full range of VoIP services;
  • Skype produces and sells various gadgets from headsets and webcams to full-fledged Skype backgrounds - phones that can work with both the regular telephone network and Skype.

We shared an orange, or patent trolling

Now, after covering all sorts of technological aspects of Skype, we can talk about more fun things - for dessert we have the real “scandals, intrigues, investigations”.

As promised, let's return to the personalities of Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis and take a closer look at them. Zennström is a graduate of Uppsala University with a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in physics. Friis, on the contrary, cannot boast of a “tower”, since at one time he dropped out of school and went to work in technical support of a local provider.
It so happened that at the very beginning of their life and career path, these two got a job at the Swedish telecommunications company Tele2, where fate brought them together in 1996.

After working side by side for several years, Zennström and Friis got along so well that already in 2000 they decided to quit and start their own business, which became the file-sharing network KaZaA. In fact, to develop it, Friis and Zennström moved to Amsterdam, hired a team of programmers, and chose to remain in management positions.

However, an incident arose with “Kaza” - before the brainchild of Friis and Zennström had time to gain momentum, active persecution began against peer-to-peer networks. Just then the legendary Napster closed, and a holy place, as you know, is never empty - all illegal content flowed to other networks, one of which was KaZaA. Copywriters immediately began to besiege our unfortunate businessmen, wanting to drown them in lawsuits, and the newly minted startups did not like this state of affairs at all. Zennström and Friis were forced to classify the location of the company's offices and literally go on the run, hiding from the subpoenas that poured in as if from a cornucopia.

When it became completely clear that the saying “time heals” does not apply to this situation, and it is only getting worse, it was decided to get rid of KaZaA. A strange deal was carried out, during which KaZaA was transferred to the Australian company Sharman Networks, registered on the Pacific island of Vanuatu. However, something was not included in this deal then, something very important - the rights and patents for the peer-to-peer technology that was used in KaZaA. These rights remained in the hands of Zennström and Friis, or rather their new company Joltid, generally registered in the British Virgin Islands.

You probably already understand that all these details are given here for a reason. The fact is that later it was this technology that was used to create Skype.

By the way, if we talk about the role of Friis and Zennsterm in the creation of Skype, then everything here was already familiar to us - hired programmers (the same Estonians who worked on KaZaA) and two inseparable startupers as the founders of the project. Although, in fairness, it should be noted here that Zennström was loyal to Skype and remained as CEO until 2007, that is, for another two years after the company was sold to eBay.

So, eBay. As mentioned above, in 2005, just two years after its creation, Skype was sold to eBay for a fabulous sum - $ 2.6 billion, plus another 1.5 billion in a few years if Skype's financial performance was good (this was the largest eBay acquisition in the entire history of the auction). Both Friis and Zennström then became billionaires overnight and, it would seem, could calmly enjoy life, start and promote other projects, invest and simply spend those same billions. But it was not there.

Having waited four long years after the deal was completed and managed to launch the startup Joost during this time, the prudent couple decided that they would stop watching the development of Skype from the sidelines. And the development, by the way, was obvious: the number of users grew from 53 to more than 400 million, Skype’s international traffic in 2008 amounted to a record 33 billion minutes, but all this did not bring the desired money to eBay. And since profits from Skype amounted to much more modest amounts than originally planned, in 2009 the largest auction on the planet decided to get rid of the acquisition, declaring that it intended to again spin off Skype into a separate company and put its shares on the stock exchange. This message caused Friis and Zennström to suddenly become active.

Few people initially understood why eBay bought Skype in the first place (the official statements sounded too unconvincing: “for the convenience of communication between auction users”), but only in 2009 did the full comedy of the situation reach the general public. It turned out that by acquiring Skype itself, eBay managed to leave the rights and patents for the ever-memorable key technology in the hands of its previous owners. Yes, yes, Friis and Zennström represented by Joltid. And the owners, having learned about the upcoming listing of Skype on the stock exchange, developed vigorous activity, beginning to return what they sold back. Thus, the New York Times, for example, leaked a rumor that the former owners of Skype had already squandered their billions and were now forced to communicate with private investors, trying to find the missing part of the amount to complete a “reverse” transaction.

Moreover, savvy businessmen immediately fired a “warning shot” - since eBay had been working with Joltid under a license all this time, Friis and Zennström filed a corresponding lawsuit, intending to revoke this license in the UK. To start.

Mutual blackmail and attacks on each other lasted for almost six months. During this time, eBay, as if in response to an offer from Zennström and Friis to buy out their brainchild, managed to sell 65% of Skype shares to a group of investors Andreessen Horowitz for $2 billion. Resourceful businessmen immediately sued again, this time against the new owners of Skype, accusing them of violating patents and demanding $75 million for each day of “illegal” operation of the service. The auction, which Friis and Zennström also did not leave alone (obviously, eBay still had a 35% stake!), filed a countersuit against Joltid in order to prohibit the company from using the technology underlying Skype. Realizing that they would probably not be able to win the case, eBay representatives, just in case, announced their readiness to rewrite Skype from scratch if necessary.

The end of this whole circus came quite recently, in November 2009. Surprisingly, the situation was resolved peacefully. eBay, which had previously categorically refused to pay anything to the ex-owners of Skype, eventually agreed to the deal. Zennström and Friis were not left out in the cold; they not only regained seats on the board of directors, but also snatched a 14% stake in Skype. The whole point of the situation is that they did not have to fork out money - eBay agreed to their terms in exchange for dropping claims and licensing their intellectual property.

We will, of course, never know what Zennström and Friis's original plan was, or whether it even existed. It is quite possible that they imagined “returning to Skype” a little differently, so to speak, in a more rosy light. Perhaps Joltid had the rights up his sleeve for a more opportune occasion, and eBay's decision to get rid of Skype forced things into gear. On the other hand, it may turn out that Friis and Zennström were not planning anything criminal at all, although it is very difficult to believe that the rights to the key technology remained with them “accidentally”, and the Joltid company was opened in an offshore zone by pure chance.

After the above, it would be reasonable to ask the question: “what will happen to Skype next?”, because although the division is over, it cannot be said that everything is going completely cloudless. No, no, they will try to ban the softphone in some country or sue the company (lately telecommunications and cellular operators in a number of countries, including Russia, have been very bad at Skype). However, this is connected not so much with Skype itself, but with VoIP telephony in general - in the latter, OPSoS and Co., due to paranoia, are often seen as a competitor, pest and enemy number one.

Perhaps, regarding the future of Skype, the following can be said for sure: one of the most popular and successful VoIP services, which is used by several hundred million people, cannot just disappear into oblivion, no matter what happens. And if the founding fathers of this software also include two such cunning and persistent types as Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, Skype not only will not disappear, but will most likely find better ways to monetize and increase profits.

Even a novice PC user has at least once heard about this confgender, since many are accustomed to taking advantage of modern technologies: communicating via video communication. What is Skype and how does it help organize this kind of communication?

General information about the program

This is the same utility as, for example, a browser. It is downloaded and installed on your PC. Skype now exists in different language variations.

The program allows you to send text messages to subscribers, as well as make voice and video calls. The basic features are free, but there are also service packages that users need to pay for. The latter includes calls to regular landlines and mobile phones. A call via the Internet to a person with a Skype account will be free.

What else does Skype offer?

  1. . Number of participants – up to 25 people.
  2. . You can create conversations yourself and invite future participants there. This could be a telephone meeting with friends to organize a future party or a business meeting.
  3. Search for contacts in the Skype database. If a person has an account and you know his login, you can easily find the user through the search bar.
  4. on the other person's screen.
  5. Transfer files of various formats, including recorded videos, images, documents.

It is worth keeping in mind that the messenger does not fully replace a landline or mobile phone. For example, you cannot call an ambulance or other emergency services using Skype.

A little history

Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis are the people who created Skype. This happened in the fall of 2003. A couple of years later, the messenger was bought by eBay. So, until 2010, the company developed additional Skype functions and updated the product.

What devices are needed to communicate on Skype?

  • Computer, smartphone, tablet or TV. Skype is also downloadable on PlayStation Portable. Moreover, you can now buy Wi-Fi phones with built-in Skype. This way, you can communicate with people you care about no matter where you are now, even if you are on the road. The only thing you need is access to the Internet. The program operates on almost all operating systems.
  • Skype installed on the device.
  • Microphone and headphones for audio or video communication. Instead of headphones, you can use regular speakers.
  • . If you have a laptop, you do not need to purchase it, since portable devices already have it built-in. However, please note that its quality may not be the highest. With it, you can also record videos and take photos that you can set as your profile avatar.

Where can I download Skype?

It is better to download Skype from the official website. It is located at the link: https://www.skype.com/ru/. Versions for laptops and desktop computers with Windows OS can be downloaded at: https://www.skype.com/ru/download-skype/skype-for-computer/. This is the Desktop version.

When versions of Windows 10 and 8 appeared, people began to use a new version of the program - the tiled Metro interface. How was it different from the desktop version? He launched the messenger not in the classic windowed version, but in a tiled version, that is, for this he did not even need to load the Desktop.

Unfortunately, this version did not become popular, as it was inconvenient and constantly froze. People began to switch back to the desktop version.

Chatting on Skype without the program

Recently, users have been able to communicate using the Skype service, but without installing the program on the device, that is, through a browser.

1.Go to the website: https://www.skype.com/ru/. Click on the "Start a conversation" button.

2.Enter your name and click on the “Start Conversation” button. Wait while the browser loads the conversation.

3.To invite people to a conversation, copy the chat link and send it out.

Installing the program and creating an account

Installing the program will not be difficult for even the most inexperienced PC user. After installation, you will need to log in if you already have a username and password.

Click on the "Register" button. You will be redirected to the service website, where you will have to fill out a form. The most difficult thing is to come up with a password and login. Login is a unique user name. They don't repeat themselves. If you enter an option that is already used in the system, you will be offered similar nicknames.

The password should be as complex as possible: consist of Latin letters, numbers and various characters. Do not use a combination of, for example, name and date of birth.

Search contacts

Now you have created an account for yourself.

Your contact list is currently empty. How to top it up? Ask your friends and family for their usernames. Enter them one by one into the search bar located above the list and send a request to be added. As soon as the person adds you, you can already call him.

You can also import contacts from Facebook, Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express or Yahoo!.
You can also add contacts to your account who do not yet have Skype downloaded and installed. These will be landline and mobile numbers. You can call them only with a top-up balance or subscription. Calls can be made anywhere in the world.

Skype for companies

The messenger is useful for the efficient work of both large and small companies. Voice communication, text messages, video conferencing, SMS to mobile phones - you yourself make the choice in favor of one type of communication or another. It will be easy to convey information in any case.

A special business version of the utility allows you to save communication costs and increase enterprise profits.

Another opportunity to coordinate the process is a program from the Skype developers. With it, you can organize centralized control over the use of Skype throughout the company.

In this online service, you can connect colleagues to your network, open depending on their position, and at the same time minimize costs thanks to favorable rates.

Such a number of useful messenger options cannot but attract users. The program helps you always be in touch with the people you need. It is fully available in Russian. The main thing is to select a language at the beginning of installation.