Hello! Today I would like to discuss with you voice calls through instant messengers. I will tell you what I use myself and why, and at the same time I will ask what applications you use.
At work, I periodically go on business trips to other countries, and there everything is very bad with ordinary voice calls. A minute of communication is catastrophically expensive, and sometimes it is necessary to call relatives and friends. And of course these are not five-minute conversations. For a long time I used Skype for these purposes, it was ideal for home Wi-Fi in hotels, you could always sit down at your laptop and chat calmly. At the same time, Skype had excellent video communication, it worked even with very poor reception. Another advantage of the service is the absence of a delay in the conversation. I had the feeling that I was talking on a regular home or mobile phone. The only negative Skype is that it worked terribly bad on smartphones. The quality of communication immediately deteriorated, and even with a mobile Internet it was completely impossible to use it (this is already in those situations when I was in Russia).
And about a year ago, voice calls went to Whatsapp. The charm of the service was the undemandingness of the network signal, you could reach the subscriber even if he was on a weak EDGE, plus, unlike Skype, in Whatsapp you could easily get through even if it was not running. At that time, everyone praised the crystal clear voice in the service, however, as soon as you or your interlocutor leave the zone of reliable Wi-Fi reception, delays in the transmission of sound became noticeable.
Later, calls were added to Telegram, promising the same clear voice, which in fact also had delays on the mobile Internet. I once called up with Roman Belykh via Telegram when he was walking around the house. Roma was in the 4G zone with good reception, but it was simply impossible to communicate.
I also love FaceTime for calling, especially when Apple regular audio calls were added. According to my feelings, the delay in his voice was minimal, against the background of the same Whatsapp or Telegram. Another thing is that this service is niche, you will not be able to call your friends with Android – smartphones. But within the ecosystem Apple I have no complaints about FaceTime. Anyway, until you leave the Wi-Fi hotspot.
In the end, I continue to use all four services. Skype – when video calls are needed, Whatsapp / Telegram – depending on what the interlocutor has and FaceTime if the person uses an iPhone.
Which of the services do you prefer, dear readers, and why?