After installation, you select a user name and password.
#Is skype free ichat for mac os#
Ready to start dialing? Begin by downloading the Skype client software for Mac OS X. If that’s the case, you should subscribe to a for-pay service such as Vonage or SIPphone, both of which charge about $25 per month for unlimited calls to the United States and Canada. More Features for More Money Skype won’t do if you’re looking for features such as a number where you can receive traditional phone calls, a Web-based dashboard that lists your recent calls and gives you access to call-forwarding and voice-mail settings, or the ability to receive voice-mail messages via e-mail attachments. And Skype uses the almost unbreakable 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) to keep your calls private. As with a cell phone, dropouts happen and you can lose a call entirely during peak traffic hours. My testing produced acceptable results, with voice quality on par with what you’d expect from a digital mobile phone (and without the delay you often encounter when using iChat). Skype relies on the public Internet to transmit voice data, so it’s susceptible to quality degradation during peak traffic periods. You can make free computer-to-computer calls only with others who sign up. So why did I pick Skype for this article? Chiefly because it’s free, it’s easy to try out, and it already has many subscribers (Skype says that it has distributed more than 28 million copies of its software).
Both require a monthly account, and both license Why Skype? Several companies make Mac-compatible softphone software, including It uses a Mac’s built-in microphone and speaker, and relies upon today’s processing power to convert analog audio to digital.
A softphone essentially lets you replace the hardware box with your computer.
You could then connect any standard telephone to that device and receive a dial tone. Until recently, VoIP required a small hardware device that you plugged directly into a cable or DSL modem (no computer required).