I remember using Skype when it was still in beta in 2003. It was simple, uncluttered, and it was only for audio. My friends and I were blown away by how clear someone sounded. It was better than a telephone and it felt like the caller was in the same room with you.
Skype has changed quite a lot since those days. It’s owned by Microsoft now and it’s not as simple or as elegant as it used to be. My biggest problem with Skype is that it is no longer as secure or private as it once was. In the beginning, Skype’s calls were encrypted and no one could decrypt them, allowing users to have privacy.
Microsoft has changed Skype by taking away encryption, which means Microsoft and other organizations can potentially see your messages or listen to/watch your conversations. See for yourself: Microsoft handing NSA Encrypted Messages
This is not something I want to support.
Now that Skype is no longer private, what next?
VSee is a great application that is similar to Skype, but even better. It doesn’t have the fanciest design, but it’s more simple than Skype. It’s also PRIVATE (encrypted). This is because VSee is used by healthcare professionals to talk with their patients. VSee also uses up to 50% less bandwidth than Skype according to the VSee website. This means if your Internet is slow or unreliable, VSee is better than Skype at handling these situations.
Skype has a premium feature that lets multiple people video/audio chat together. This feature is free in VSee.
I’ve already switched to VSee for contacting my relatives and friends. Once again, I’ll sum up the benefits of VSee:
-Simple design
-Efficiently uses bandwidth
-Encrypted!
-Video/Audio conferencing is free
VSee is available for Windows, Mac, and iPhone/iPad