Food Fun Family

A family lifestyle blog about food, family, entertainment, travel and family-friendly products.

  • Home
  • Food
    • All Recipes
    • Main Dishes
    • Desserts
    • Side Dishes
    • Vegetarian dishes
    • Delicious Dishes Recipe Party
    • Recipe Round Ups
    • 15 Minute Suppers
    • Recipe Box
  • Family
    • Tips for Moms
    • Family life
    • Holidays & Celebrations
    • Savvy Living
  • Creative Life
    • Crafts + projects
    • DIY Bath & Body Products
    • Printables and Activity Sheets
    • Photography Tutorials
    • Give Me Your Best Shot – Photostory Friday
  • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Giveaways
    • Book Club
    • Movies
    • Printables and Activity Sheets
    • Blog prompts
  • About
    • Contact Me
    • Privacy Policy
    • Advertise
    • Site Map – Find Your Way Around
  • Lollidale Goats
    • Our Does
You are here: Home / Reviews / Skype Makes it Easier to Stay Connected

Skype Makes it Easier to Stay Connected

Wednesday, June 13, 2012 by Lolli 7 Comments

Let’s face it. We’re a connected world. Not only is it easier than ever to stay connected, but we’ve become accustomed to being able to connect to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Skype has become one of my favorite ways to stay connected with my family, friends, and the people I work with. In fact, I often suggest that clients or friends schedule a Skype meeting time versus a phone call to save on cell phone minutes. And now that I am traveling more, I am relying on Skype to give me my daily face time with my kids.

Here’s a little Infographic to show how Moms today are using technology to stay connected:

I used to think that Skype was just a messaging service on my computer. Here’s a run-down of all Skype has to offer:

Skype’s Basic Services

Instant Messaging: Skype’s Instant Messaging allows you to chat with family and friends through one-on-one IM conversations or group chats.

Video Chat: Skype video allows users over multiple platforms (mobile, desktop, etc) to chat face-to-face. Both users need a webcam, a microphone, and an Internet connection.

Voice Calling (Skype to Skype): Similar to video chat, voice calling allows Skype users to chat with each other through Skype just like they would on a phone call…except that this call only requires a microphone and an Internet connection.

Skype Premium Services:

Group Video Chat: Enjoy video chatting between 3-10 people. It’s prefect for family members (all the grandkids can chat with Grandma and Grandpa at once) or for work (conference with clients and colleagues from all over the world).

Group screen sharing: Screen share during a call so you don’t have to send large files or presentations through email.

SMS: Use Skype to send SMS text messages to mobile phones (rates start at 4.7 cents per message).

Check out Skype Premium options here.

Skype Credit:

Use Skype credit to connect to WiFi hotspots (like airports that don’t have free WiFi).

Skype credit can be used to pay for Skype features that are not free (making and forwarding voice calls to phones, sending SMS messages, and call forwarding).

My favorite new-to-me features:

I love using the Skype app on my cell phone to send messages to friends and family. I love it because when I use the Skype app for Skype-to-Skype messaging, I don’t have to pay for each text AND I can get ahold of people whether they are on the go on their phone or sitting at home on their computer.

Because I have been traveling more and more lately, I am so excited about the Skype WiFi which I can use to connect to the internet when I’m waiting in airports. Have you ever noticed that airport WiFi is either not free ($9.99 a day stinks!) or the connection is not good at all? I love that I can just pay for what I use and not for a full day pass.

I love the screen sharing feature! I don’t do many presentations, but I have LOVED to use screen sharing to share photos and photo editing techniques (it is SO much easier to show someone how I’ve edited in Lightroom versus trying to explain it in multiple steps).

Video chat is not a NEW feature, but it’s something I’ve promised myself that I will use with my kids when I travel now. And I’ll be using Skype video chat to stay connected with my daughter, Necco, who will be spending the summer in another state. Maybe she won’t get so homesick if we can video chat every day.

I’m a long-time Skype voice and video chat user for meeting with clients – how cool is it to connect face to face with someone in another country? For free?!

What is your favorite way to use Skype?

Disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Skype. I received Skype credits to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for participating

© 2012, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.

About Lolli

Lolli has written 3740 post in this blog.

I became a mom in 1996, and in 2005 I had my fifth. Yes, 5 kids. In 2007, this blog was born (my 6th baby that will never grow up) and I've been sharing recipes, photography tricks, parenting tips, and everything in between. (Formerly Better in Bulk)

  • View all posts by Lolli →
  • Blog
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Reviews, Technology Tagged With: Reviews, smart phones, Technology

« Fifth Grade Graduate – Wordless Wednesday #Linky
Naming Baby – How Did You Decide? »

Comments

  1. Jen-Eighty MPH Mom says

    Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 10:52 pm

    I am in love with Skype! I can stay in touch with my friends daily via messaging or video chat. My daughter is leaving for Germany next week (for 3 weeks), and we will be video chatting with her!

  2. Lynn Daws says

    Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 3:31 pm

    My husband and I are currently living in separate states. I am in SC and he is in our home state of MI. We use video chat almost daily. We moved here to SC in Nov and due to his job he had to move back to MI in Dec. but before we moved to SC we got all of our families set up on Skype so that we wouldn’t get homesick as much. My Granddaughters aged 2 and 3 thought it was so neat to see Nonnie and Poppie in their Mommy’s computer. One night while I was skyping with my Hubby my stepdaughter sent me a request to facetime with the grandbabies. They thought it was so cool that they could see me and that their Poppie was in Nonnie’s computer, lol.

  3. Stefani says

    Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 8:38 am

    I love Skype but haven’t used it quite some time. After hearing about all the new features, I need to download it on my computer.

  4. Tesa @ 2 Wired 2 Tired says

    Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 8:24 pm

    We love Skype and have just started taking advantage of the premium services. They are great!

  5. Brett says

    Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 3:22 pm

    i love the chat room features!

  6. Beeb Ashcroft says

    Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 12:58 pm

    Skype’s video calls and chat features are the ones I use the most!

  7. Jen says

    Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 12:58 pm

    Skype is really cool! We used it to introduce my hub’s grandmother to her great-grandbaby when she was just days old.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Necessary Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.