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Do you use Skype?
Thread poster: Tom in London
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 11:14
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Yes and no Dec 7, 2016

Tom in London wrote:
I don't. Doesn't it waste a lot of time?


I have Skype installed for when I need to video chat with faraway family. But I also have Skype so that I can communicate with clients. Only... my Skype is almost never on. If clients want to Skype with me, they have to tell me beforehand, so that I can start Skype. Skype makes a computer slower (it was true for Windows XP and it's still true), so I only run it when I'm actually going to use it.

There is a program called MultiSkype Launcher from the G-Recorder company that allows you to keep one Skype account for personal calls and one for business calls. MultiSkype Launcher is abandonware, so you may have to google a bit.


 
Paulette Romero
Paulette Romero  Identity Verified
Colombia
Local time: 05:14
English to Spanish
+ ...
Yes, everyday Dec 7, 2016

I have an agency client that contacts their translators via Skype messaging. So basically when there's a project they think would be good for me they message me on Skype and ask if I'm available. In the past I happened to be away from my computer and they ended up contacting a different translator because I didn't respond right away so sometimes I feel like I have to be stuck to my computer, but I also have it installed on my cell phone so if they message me it'll come up on my phone.
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I have an agency client that contacts their translators via Skype messaging. So basically when there's a project they think would be good for me they message me on Skype and ask if I'm available. In the past I happened to be away from my computer and they ended up contacting a different translator because I didn't respond right away so sometimes I feel like I have to be stuck to my computer, but I also have it installed on my cell phone so if they message me it'll come up on my phone.

In addition, I also teach a couple of ESL classes via Skype during the week so I use it for that as well.
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Annamaria Amik
Annamaria Amik  Identity Verified
Local time: 12:14
Romanian to English
+ ...
I do, but not for business and not for voice Dec 8, 2016

Erik Freitag wrote:
No, I don't. I even actively discourage clients to call me by regular phone. It disturbs my concentration, and it's usually unproductive.


I fully agree. I receive about 20 business-related e-mails per day, or even more on very busy days. Even those are distracting, albeit necessary. But it's still the same medium I am working in, i.e. typing, no sound involved, so mentally it is not that difficult to shift from one window to another.
It takes a few seconds to type "No, I can't handle that, perhaps later?" or "Yes, it's feasible, I'll send it to you by this or that date". If all that communication were delivered by phone, with sound involved, I would go mad. I find that sort of interruption unacceptable in an intellectual job that requires full concentration.

So skype is an absolute no-no for me in business. I instantly turn down jobs that ask for my skype ID.


 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:14
German to English
no Skype, but telephone Dec 8, 2016

When I think of Skype, I think of video calls and generally poor connections and fairly frequent technical difficulties. Or are people here talking about voice-only calls?

I have a contract with my telephone company with a flatrate for landline-to-landline calls within Germany, and calls to Western Europe and the US are maybe several cents a minute. I can't imagine I have ever spent €50 on these calls over the course of a year, and a conventional telephone seems to make my life e
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When I think of Skype, I think of video calls and generally poor connections and fairly frequent technical difficulties. Or are people here talking about voice-only calls?

I have a contract with my telephone company with a flatrate for landline-to-landline calls within Germany, and calls to Western Europe and the US are maybe several cents a minute. I can't imagine I have ever spent €50 on these calls over the course of a year, and a conventional telephone seems to make my life easier.

I don't get or make a lot of calls, but I do not see them as a nuisance. With the exception of people who genuinely work with clients all over the globe, I can't see why I would want to use Skype instead of a normal telephone connection.
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CafeTran Training (X)
CafeTran Training (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 11:14
I use it Dec 8, 2016

Tom in London wrote:

I don't. Doesn't it waste a lot of time?


I use it. To chat with a friend in Finland, but especially to help CafeTran users via Skype's screen sharing. It's less intruding than TeamViewer: it's easier to share your screen than to give someone access to your computer. And I use it to ping some relations (via the chat window).


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:14
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Phone a synonym of nuisance Dec 8, 2016

All my customers use email to communicate and only call in extreme cases, i.e. once or twice per month. I like it that way, as I feel that having to use the phone stops other work and ruins concentration.

I might be exaggerating here, but after 20 years with as good as no use of the phone, it is a nuisance to me.


 
Susana E. Cano Méndez
Susana E. Cano Méndez  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:14
French to Spanish
+ ...
No Dec 8, 2016

I don't. I do have an account and if a customer asks for it (they usually don't) I can connect. But I'm usually offline. Skype, Whatsapp and other messaging systems, as well as voice calls and more than 5 e-mails on a row from the same customer tend to be a nuisance and stop me from working as I should.

 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Adware Dec 8, 2016

Skype is just adware now. And with a Mac there is no way to block the ads. I don't even know why I have Skype on my computer. I could just trash it.

 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 07:14
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Adware in Skype? Dec 8, 2016

Tom in London wrote:

Skype is just adware now. And with a Mac there is no way to block the ads. I don't even know why I have Skype on my computer. I could just trash it.


Yes, some people complain about ads on Skype. I never saw any, though.

My take is that ads only come up on free users' computers. As I used SkypeOut for many years, mostly to chat with my late cousin in California, I still have some $10 in credit with them.

After all, someone must pay the bill, right? ... assuming that there's no free lunch.
In my case, I'm paying. Free users get it paid by advertisers


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 11:14
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Depends. Dec 8, 2016

I did have some webinars / brainstorming sessions with a team for marketing projects (nothing to do with translation, monolingual audience).

Otherwise, phone will just do. Agencies can afford to phone me if they need to speak with me, as I'm almost always offline on Skype, unless when I have a prearranged Skype meeting. Then I'm offline again after the meeting is over.


 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Why not? How is it any different from having a telephone? Dec 8, 2016

I don't, though, simply because I hardly ever get phone calls from customers either. Maybe once a month. And then we just agree that they'll email me the file to have a look at.

This is a shame, in my view. Email saves time, but makes everything so impersonal. You build a much better relationship when you speak, especially face to face.

And since when have emoticons been passé?


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 11:14
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Agree, but depends. Dec 8, 2016

Chris S wrote:


This is a shame, in my view. Email saves time, but makes everything so impersonal. You build a much better relationship when you speak, especially face to face.



This is generally true, but I have clients with whom I had to arrange exactly everything via Skype phone (50+ conversations) and still some of my "email" clients feel better in terms of the quality of the relationship.

It's about what's going on, not how it is being carried out (ie. the media). Just because someone is talking with you face to face, it doesn't mean they wish you all well (unfortunately).


 
Raffi Jamgocyan
Raffi Jamgocyan  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 13:14
Member (2012)
English to Turkish
+ ...
More than one instance of Skype Dec 8, 2016

Samuel Murray wrote:

Tom in London wrote:
I don't. Doesn't it waste a lot of time?


I have Skype installed for when I need to video chat with faraway family. But I also have Skype so that I can communicate with clients. Only... my Skype is almost never on. If clients want to Skype with me, they have to tell me beforehand, so that I can start Skype. Skype makes a computer slower (it was true for Windows XP and it's still true), so I only run it when I'm actually going to use it.

There is a program called MultiSkype Launcher from the G-Recorder company that allows you to keep one Skype account for personal calls and one for business calls. MultiSkype Launcher is abandonware, so you may have to google a bit.


You do not need MultiSkype Launcher to run more than one instance of Skype on any computer. It is possible to launch more than one instance by putting a shortcut to Skype.exe on your desktop and running the executable file. I do that all the time, I keep two accounts of Skype, one for business and the other personal. I launch the personal account on demand and keep the account for business running all the time.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 11:14
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
How to run Skype twice Dec 8, 2016

Raffi Jamgocyan wrote:
You do not need MultiSkype Launcher to run more than one instance of Skype on any computer. It is possible to launch more than one instance by putting a shortcut to Skype.exe on your desktop and running the executable file.


Hmm, I just tried this (Windows 7, created a link to Skype.exe), but it doesn't work for me.

However, GIYF, and I found that if I edit the shortcut's properties just a little bit (simply add "/secondary" to after Skype's path, see here), then it works.

The downside is that you have to type in your password every time.


[Edited at 2016-12-08 13:09 GMT]


 
Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 05:14
German to English
+ ...
Yes - with a music teacher - not for translation Dec 8, 2016

I work with a teacher in another country who has been kind enough to impart his knowledge. We use a number of media, among which are get togethers in real time. There are some problems with sound glitches recently. I work as a translator, not interpreter, and since my work is written, there is little need for a medium that centers on oral communication. Business arrangements are best summarized in written form, for the record.
However, I have discussed things with colleagues living in
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I work with a teacher in another country who has been kind enough to impart his knowledge. We use a number of media, among which are get togethers in real time. There are some problems with sound glitches recently. I work as a translator, not interpreter, and since my work is written, there is little need for a medium that centers on oral communication. Business arrangements are best summarized in written form, for the record.
However, I have discussed things with colleagues living in other countries on occasion using Skype. In fact, for the ones who phoned me long distance at great cost, I'm wondering in retrospect why they didn't use Skype.
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