Skype Alternatives?

[Lmarrie]

Anyone have any suggestions for something to use to take calls and add hosts other than Skype? Lately Skype has been HORRIBLE with robot voices and garbled speech I am too through (well, not really unless I find an alternative). Suggestions guys?

[Cyn1c]

You can try Dolby Axon. Much better than Skype. Also, Mumble is a great solution. They might lack the frills, bells and whistles of Skype but they just work.

[Lmarrie]

Going check them out now. I don't even use all the Skype extras all I need it to do is to make a clear call LOL. Thank you!

[stanleysradio]

I was thinking the same thing. I really need something else other than Skype for my podcast. Will this work as well Cyn1c ?

[dedideals]

Gtalk? Or maybe that is not what you are after

[GameTimeRadio]

We have a tutorial about using skype on our website. http://gametimeradio.net/downloads-2.html. Our sister company is a telecommunications provider. Being in the phone business for over 30 years has taught us one fast rule about any internet phone system. You have to have clean steady bandwidth to support SIP. None of the providers, Skype, Ring Central, etc. are any good if the bandwidth is not there to support it. Also the latency to their service should not be over 60ms if you want clear audio. If you are running Samcast and the phone line over the same computer then that doubles the bandwidth you need. Do the math. It may be better to use a patch cord with a cell phone or hard line to get your audio. If you have a lot of bandwidth and are still receiving poor audio then check the latency. It matters.

 

http://gametimeradio.net we do live broadcast with a laptop for games and we patch a cell phone into the computer and call a conference bridge offsite to feed phone line audio. You can get a free conference bridge from many sources. Googler is your friend. The stadiums we broadcast from have good internet but it is shared with other broadcasters and the school. I can help you setup a reliable system. Let me know

[djsoft]

Anyone have any suggestions for something to use to take calls and add hosts other than Skype? Lately Skype has been HORRIBLE with robot voices and garbled speech I am too through (well, not really unless I find an alternative). Suggestions guys?

Try Mumble, Ventrilo, RaidCall.

[Radiostreamingworld]

Try to use a SIP provider and softphone that has the G.722 codec. This provides a 64Kbps stream and if your internet connection is good enough for VoIP then you will get a really good quality with this. I have used a company called Turbobridge in the past with Blink free softphone. This allows you to dial in via SIP in HD audio from your computer and you can use the Turbobridge screen to dial out or guests dial in. For regular guests or remote co-hosting you can both use Blink (others available) to connect free to the bridge in HD audio. Also this is a great way to have a "switchboard" as you can tag callers, mute them and have as many as you like at once. I believe their platform is about $10 a month but works awesome. Also great if you are having 2 presenters in separate locations - both connected in HD audio so sound like they are in the same studio - I have my co host manning the phones on a separate SIP account or Skype and she can screen calls, transfer them into the bridge and then label them so I know who is on the line and what they are calling about... ads the functionality of a professional studio/switchboard and works like a treat! Always check your internet connection on pingtest.net or something similar... its one thing broadcasting out but when it is two way then any latency can cause issues regardless of what provider you are using!

[wutzthedeal]

I use Google Voice (and/or Google Talk... names get confusing). You can pick a new number (my show for example has a number of 910 NOLYING; it's a truth-based show) which you can then forward to your cell phone, or not. I just choose to forward it to my PC using Gtalk. I've had co-hosts do entire shows w/o issue. Only thing I haven't figured out, which I believe is possible, is how to take a caller and then conference in another caller. But one great thing about GV/GT is that it is free IN and OUT. So, using a basic software package and Virtual Audio Cables, you can put out a decent product off of a single laptop with a nice headset. Right now I'm using RadioBOSS on a trial that expires in January, but because of the cost, I need to try to figure out how to get others like RadioDJ to not echo my own voice back to me which, somehow, RadioBOSS and Sam Broadcaster do not have a problem with (I hate Sam and can't afford the full version anyway, I love RadioBoss but can't afford it; disabled vet on a very slim income :( ). Sorry TMI; lemme go do a talk show since I'm feeling talkative.

[Lmarrie]

Thank you for all the comments and options. Sorry for the late response I've been a bit tied up. I will investigate all of these options. I do admit, I am in need of a faster internet connection which I will be looking into for 2014.

 

Thanks again!