computer science

List of Skype features

List of Skype features is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of Skype features rather than just read about it. In short: Skype offered a number of features based around calling (both free and paid), messaging (including instant, voice and text messaging (SMS)), video chat, and file and screen sharing. The following is a partial list of Skype's features: Instant messaging and chat history Skype allowed users to send instant messages to other users in their contact list.

Key takeaways

List of Skype features belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of Skype features to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of Skype features from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Skype offered a number of features based around calling (both free and paid), messaging (including instant, voice and text messaging (SMS)), video chat, and file and screen sharing. The following is a partial list of Skype's features:

Instant messaging and chat history

Skype allowed users to send instant messages to other users in their contact list. Messages sent to offline users were stored on Skype servers and would be delivered to their recipients as soon as they came online on Skype. Chat history along with the message status was synchronized across all user devices supported by Skype whenever the user signs in with the same Skype account. Skype allowed sending SMS messages, it was not possible to receive SMS messages on Skype so users needed a different way to receive responses to the messages they send using Skype.

Chat history Skype keeps user instant messaging history on user's local computer, and on Skype's cloud for 30 days. Users cannot control how long their chat histories are stored on Skype's servers but can configure that option individually for every their device. Once user signs into Skype on a new device the conversation history is synced with Skype's cloud and stored locally. Skype allows users to remove or edit individual messages during one hour after sending; this affects messages already received by chat interlocutors as well as not delivered to them yet. Skype allows users to delete all saved conversation histories for the device.

Emoticons and formatting Users can send about 254 emoticons that are displayed either statically or animated, depending on user's settings. There are also hidden emoticons, 241 flags and 63 other. On special occasions, Skype introduces featured emoticons that are later either left as standard (anger), left as hidden (mooning) or removed (captain). Sending an empty message is not possible. Automatic conversion of text into emoticons cannot be disabled. Formatting text is possible: *text* creates bold text, _text_ creates italic text, {code} text {code} applies monospace font and ~text~ creates strikethrough text. Writing @@ at the beginning of a message will disable any formatting in the message. Placing two exclamation points and a space (!! ) at the beginning of a message will send the entire message in monospace font. A more convenient way to disable formatting for small pieces of text, is to use ```text``` instead of {code}text{code}. Turning off formatting permanently can be achieved with the command /wikimarkup off.

Quoting Users are able to quote other messages by copying them and pasting them into a new message. A quote shows the message, the original sender, and the timestamp of the original message. The feature is seen as controversial and often useless because people have found ways to create custom quotes.

Calls between Skype and landline / mobile phone numbers Skype users can call landline and mobile phone numbers (previously known as SkypeOut) using Skype Credit or a calling subscription. Additionally, users can purchase a Skype Number (previously called SkypeIn and Online Number) that lets contacts call their Skype client from a landline or mobile phone.

Outgoing calls The ability to call landline or mobile phones from Skype was originally branded as SkypeOut, but this term has been dropped in favor of Calls to mobiles and landlines. Skype users can call phone numbers, including landline and mobile phones, for a fee using prepaid Skype Credit or a subscription (see below). This fee can be as low as US$0.02 per minute for most developed countries, and as high as US$6.80 per minute for calls to the Inmarsat numbers. In January 2007, Skype introduced a €0.03 connection fee for each call that connected to a landline or mobile number. After 180 days of inactivity, a user's Skype Credit balance is deactivated; however, it can be reactivated.

Subscription calling plans On 19 December 2006, Skype announced that there would be a new pricing structure in 2007. Details of a new scheme were released 18 January 2007. The initial press release was vague about the new scheme, but it did reveal that there may be a new connection fee. In January 2007, Skype launched Skype Pro, a prepaid unlimited call subscription for calls that were made inside North America. Skype's unlimited calling offers unlimited calls to anyone, on any phone, within the U.S. and Canada, for a one-time (e.g. annual) fee. As of April 21, 2008, Skype Pro was replaced by new calling subscription plans, which don't require the calls to start from a certain country. Skype offers several monthly plans that it calls unlimited. However, Skype limits these subscriptions to 10,000 minutes per month, 6 hours per day, and 50 telephone numbers per day. If one of these limits is exceeded, any additional calls are billed at regular rates and connection fees if the user has Skype Credit.

Skype To Go numbers Users can set up a Skype To Go number which allows them to reach international phones numbers dialled from any landline or mobile. Skype provides a local number (the user chooses the area code) that then connects using Skype Credit to the number in another country. The service also provides the opportunity to dial any number abroad as well.

Toll-free numbers Calls to most toll-free numbers in Australia (+61 1800), Austria (+43 800), Estonia (+372 800) France (+33 800, +33 801, +33 803, +33 805, +33 806, +33 808, +33 809), Germany (+49 800), the Netherlands (+31 800), Poland (+48 800), Spain (+34 900), Taiwan (+886 801, +886 811), the UK (+44 500, +44 800, +44 808), United Nations (+888) and the United States (+1 800, +1 822, +1 833, +1 844, +1 855, +1 866, +1 877, +1 888) are free for all Skype users. Support for toll-free numbers in Canada was effectively removed in January 2012.

Emergency numbers Skype also does not support calling emergency numbers such as 1-1-2 in Europe or 911 in the United States, however they do support this service in Australia, Denmark, Finland, and the United Kingdom.

Caller ID for outgoing calls Skype offers a feature allowing users to set the caller ID for outgoing calls to telephone numbers. Set-up verification involves sending an SMS text message to a selected mobile phone number, then typing that verification code into a web form. Since most regular home and business telephones cannot receive text messages, this feature is only available to owners of mobile phones.

Incoming calls

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of Skype features

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of Skype features claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of Skype features before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of Skype features ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of Skype features

In research: List of Skype features appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of Skype features in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of Skype features is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Skype, Software features, Teleconferencing, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of Skype features outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of Skype features in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of Skype features means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of Skype features out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of Skype features in simple terms?

Why does List of Skype features matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of Skype features?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of Skype features.