VoIP is Voice over Internet Protocol. It’s a general term used to describe voice communications over a packet-switched network (such as the internet). In this article I’m going to touch on the several different ways you can use PC-to-PC VoIP.

Important note: Yes, VoIP obviously includes the ability to communicate via PC-to-phone and vice versa. But that costs money to do that in most instances. PC-to-PC calling is completely free and that’s what I’ll be talking about.

Also note: There are more than 5 ways to VoIP. This is just a quick list.

Skype

Web site: www.skype.com

This is by far the most used PC-to-PC VoIP software that people use. In fact it’s used so much that the name is used as a verb that means "to call" (ex: "We need to talk, I’ll Skype you") much the same way Google means "to search the internet".

Skype also makes for a darn fine text instant messenger as well.

The only bad part about Skype is that it uses a proprietary protocol, meaning you must use Skype software in order to use the service. This is a turn-off for some.

Is there a way to call a Skype user without Skype software on a PC? Yes. There’s Gizmo5’s OpenSky. I haven’t tested this so I don’t even know if it works, so if anybody wants to give that a go, please feel free to do so and comment below if it worked or not (and if it did work, how well did it work?)

Windows Live Messenger

Web site: download.live.com/?sku=messenger

WL Messenger has had the ability to do VoIP for some time now, although most people aren’t aware of it. This is mainly because for whatever weird reason it’s hidden.

I’ve found the easiest way to access the feature is to open the messenger, press ALT on your keyboard to bring up the top menu, then click Actions, Call, Call a contact’s computer, like this:

From there you can place a call to another WL messenger contact on your list.

Yahoo! Messenger

Web site: messenger.yahoo.com

Calling another contact on your list is easy in Y! Messenger. Just right-click an online contact and choose to "call" the user’s computer. No fuss, no muss.

Google Talk

Web site: www.google.com/talk

Out of all the software on this list, Google Talk’s is the easiest concerning PC-to-PC calling. It’s as easy as Yahoo’s way of doing it but has the advantage of being very light on system resources. As a VoIP client, it’s tough to beat how straightforward and simple Google Talk is.

Ekiga

Web site: ekiga.org

Linux users are familiar with this one, but bear in mind there is a Windows version also.

Be sure to read Ekiga Interoperability as it explains what will and won’t work with Ekiga on phones, Mac and Windows.

What’s the best of the lot?

Skype, no question.

Why is it the best?

1. It will work easily on Windows, Mac or Linux.
2. It has the most recognition as a solid PC-to-PC software voice client.
3. It’s the easiest to do small voice conferencing with (meaning 6 participants or lower before the connection chokes).
4. The software runs well even on lower-end PCs and Macs.
5. For what it offers for free, it’s extensive and moreover useful.

Do you use VoIP at all? If so, what’s your favorite VoIP software client?

Write a comment or two and let us know.

Chances are your phone is set up to not accept calls that do not have caller ID. But every so often you get a call from a number from an area code you’ve never seen before. Of course, you don’t answer it, but you’re left wondering, "Who was that?"

Most of the time it’s a marketing call, but it is important to find out who called so you can contact the appropriate people to opt out of the marketing.

There are two sites you can use to get this information, 800Notes and whocalled.us.

I find 800Notes to be the better of the two.

To note, if you want to submit a report of your own for one of these odd calls, type in the number at the top and fill out the comment form at the bottom. No registration is required.

There will be times when you have to call customer service, a.k.a. customer support a.k.a. the help desk.

If you are educated on how call center environments operate you will get better results.

Let’s start off with this:

The Big Question: Does asking for the manager really help?

NO. Speaking to a "higher level" will rarely get your issue resolved any faster or get any better results. For some strange reason people think that speaking to someone with a higher "rank" in the support environment actually works. It doesn’t. When you do this you’re doing nothing but circumventing the method put in place for the fastest most accurate resolutions.

Does the call agent have any contact with technicians?

The call agent is the person who takes your call and assigns a support ticket. The technician is someone who physically comes to your location to address the issue you called about (if required). In most situations the agent and the technician never speak to each other. The agent will escalate/assign your ticket and then the manager who oversees the technicians will assign a tech via a work order.

The reason this is important information to know is that the technician is only aware of what is written in the work order. If the call agent wrote a poorly written ticket that leads to a poorly written work order, this will inevitably lead to poor service.

Tip: When calling on an issue that requires a technician to be assigned to fix the problem, ask the agent to read back what is in the ticket BEFORE escalating it. This will give at least some assurance that your problem is explained properly before it goes anywhere.

Good managers will "bounce back" tickets that are poorly written tickets back to the call agent for a rewrite. Bad ones will desperately attempt to make sense out of the gibberish sent to them and assign a tech anyway hoping the tech will be able to figure out what’s going on.

If you want to see an example of poorly written call agent tickets, refer to the Chronicles of George. After reading that you will understand why you should always ask the call agent to read back the tickets s/he writes before sending them anywhere.

Why is it required to go thru "the process" every time you call?

Whether you’re calling about a computer issue, a cable television issue or what-have-you, you’ve noticed that every time you call you must go thru a "process" each time and it’s very annoying.

The reason you are required to do this is because that’s what the agent has been trained to do. They do this because typically most problems are resolved by performing a few simple steps, so the agents are told to always perform those steps whether you want to or not.

The only time you can get around this is if you’re calling to update a previous call. Otherwise it’s treated as a new issue and yes, you’ll have to go thru the process again.

What can you do if you’ve received unsatisfactory service and your issues are not resolved?

Yell and scream at the call agent. However this rarely works so it’s not recommended (and yes I know I’ve guilty of this myself but at least I admit it).

Request a printed account of all call tickets pertaining to your issue. When you request this the agent will immediately escalate you to the Team Lead or Supervisor without giving it a second thought because he has no authority to send you records – but the managerial staff does. When management is alerted you want this information, the tickets will be read personally by management staff and they will probably quickly discover poorly written tickets, "talk to" the call agents who screwed them up, get them fixed and attend to your issue properly. A call agent who writes proper tickets has nothing to worry about. But the one who writes poor ones will put his or her job in jeopardy. This is irrelevant to you as long as your issue gets attended to but at least you know something is getting done.

If the call agent states "we can’t do that" in reference to providing a written account of the tickets involved with your account, that’s a lie. They can. If the tickets are directly related to you and your account – yes you can request the information and the company is obligated to release it to you.

Request a printed account of all work orders. A work order is different from a ticket. The ticket is assigned by the call agent. The work order is assigned by the supervisor/manager who dispatches technicians. Tickets and work orders rarely "relate" to each other because once a work order has been assigned, the ticket is deemed "closed" or "resolved".

Every company has a physical printed record of all work orders – signed by the technician himself or herself once work is completed.

Why is it necessary to go thru all this b.s. just to get something fixed when things go wrong?

It is the unfortunate tendency that corporations lose their humanity once they become corporations. When you call to report a problem/issue, you’re not a person but just another number. Once you come to accept this reality you’ll at least know how to work with the system, figuratively speaking.