Skype is an application which can do :
- voice calls
- video calls
- text chat messaging
with one or multiple persons.
For a full feature list, see http://www.skype.com/en/features/
It is available on multiple platforms (Windows, MacOS X, Linux) and on mobile phones and tablets running iOS (Apple), Android, Windows Phone OS. System Requirements : https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10328/what-are-the-system-requirements-for-skype
You can download Skype at https://www.skype.com/ ; You can also use Skype in modern web browsers at https://web.skype.com/
(Screenshot of the Skype for Windows client - Image credit : Microsoft)
Skype is used by ICANN At-Large for its instant messaging features for At-Large (the Community and At-Large Staff) to send and receive chat messages in real-time.
There are group chats in Skype where many At-Large members can chat about At-Large activities and related news.
In late 2014 and through 2015, Skype launched Skype Translator which allows machine translation of text chats and real-time voice interpretation and transcription of several languages. These features are being integrated into the regular Skype desktop clients.
1 Comment
Gordon Chillcott
For "Platform Availability", I would suggest something like "Skype Can Be Used On", followed by a list. That list would include the platforms where it is known to work and currently includes (you can add to this list):
Windows up to Windows 7
Mac X
Ubuntu Linux 10.04
Fedora Linux to version 17 (32-bit version of Skype is recommended)
Android Honeycome and ICS
Clownfish Translator is known to be available for all of the above, except Android. For Linux (both Fedora and Ubuntu), the 32-bit version of Skype has been tested.
Some care must be taken when using Clownfish Translator for Linux. For example, Skype should be launched before Clownfish. Skype will inform the user that Clownfish has been connected.
Installation of Skype, Clownfish on 64-bit Fedora 17 is not, at present, trivial. An outline of the procedure follows:
- Download the fedora 32 bit rpm that is available at the skype website.
- login as root
- make sure the computer is on the network, and that the yum repositories are reachable. (Note the rpmfusion, and rpmforge repositories may be required.)
- use yum to install the rpm:
yum install skype-*.rpm
- yum will resolve all the dependencies. The dependencies are all the 32 bit compatibility libraries.
- Once installed, one starts skype via the drop down menu, and logs into the service.