Three, in collaboration with
Skype, created a revolutionary mobile phone
which has Skype built directly into the phone itself, thus allowing the user to
make free Skype to Skype calls (whether it be to or from another SkypePhone or
Skype running on a PC).
At just £50 PAYG or minimum £12 / month contract, the phone is an absolute
bargain. It's truly awesome. Unfortunately, Three removed two important bits of
functionality from the version of Skype on the phone, SkypeIn and SkypeOut.
For people that don't know, SkypeOut is an addon to Skype whereby you
purchase credit and use it to phone landline numbers from your PC for a very low
rate. It's pretty obvious why this functionality was left out of the SkypePhone,
as it would have meant a big loss in revenue for Three. SkypeIn is another Skype
addon which allows you to purchase a landline number which, when called from any
phone, will redirect into your Skype account. It's less obvious why this
functionality was left out of the SkypePhone, but irritating nonetheless.
I have written a small, basic .NET Windows application which will emulate
both SkypeIn and SkypeOut to and from your SkypeMobile. It can be downloaded for
free from the
SkypePhoneManager Google code project
Note: You will need version 2.0 of the .NET framework installed to run this
application.
In order to set up the application, you will need a PC running constantly (or
for the duration of your usage) with Skype installed on it.
Create two Skype accounts, one for your PC and one for your phone (we
will refer to these accounts as pcuser and mobileuser respectively)
Log into Skype on the PC as pcuser, and add the mobile account to the
contact list
Buy a SkypeIn number and some SkypeOut credit for pcuser
Set up forwarding for pcuser to a landline number you think you might
call a lot (like your home phone), using Tools / Call Forwarding
Log into your Skypephone as mobileuser and make sure you can make Skype
calls back and forth between the PC and the phone
Unzip the file you downloaded above to somewhere on your PC, like
C:\SkypePhoneManager
In the folder you unzipped to, edit the SkypePhoneManager.exe.config
file and enter your mobile phone username in the appropriate space (e.g.
mobileuser)
Run SkypePhoneManager.exe, and select the option to always allow the
application to use Skype. Leave the application running.
You can now perform three actions:
To make a SkypeOut call, phone pcuser from your SkypePhone. This will
ring the number you set up in the forwarding section
To change the SkypeOut number from your mobile, send a chat message to
pcuser from your phone containing the FULL phone number you want to ring
(e.g. +44020123456). The application should change the setting and message
you back when ready
To receive a SkypeIn call, someone will ring your SkypeIn number and the
application will answer the call, play a scary robot voice down the phone
asking the user to wait, put them on hold and then ring your mobile. When
you answer, the calls will be merged and taken off hold, and you can speak
to the caller.
New features in v1.3:
Quick change numbers: In the config file, you can now define three
SkypeOut numbers you use most often, and when you want to change your
forwarding number to one of these, simply send a chat message saying 1, 2 or
3 instead of the full number
Turn off forwarding: If you're worried that your management machine may
go down and all calls to your PC account will go to the last SkypeOut number
you defined, you can turn call forwarding off for the PC account by simply
sending 'off' (without the quotes) as chat message
Running SkypePhone Manager now starts Skype and waits until you have
logged in before attaching
Ability to minimise the application has been added
Changing the voice message:
Update: I've uploaded a more user
friendly message, using a human voice which also asks the user to hold, so they
are less likely to hang up while Skype rings your mobile.
Download here
A few people have asked how to replace the scary robot voice included
with the app with their own message asking the caller to wait. If you do make
your own file to replace it then make sure you take the following into
consideration:
The file MUST be in the following format:
Format: PCM WAV
Sample Size: 16 bit
Sample Rate: 16 bit
Channels: 1 (mono)
The Skype API will not play anything other than the above into a call.
Leave a few seconds gap at the beginning of the file, otherwise the
start of the file won't be played.
Make sure the message isn't too long. Try and keep it about the same
length as mine otherwise the end might get chopped off.
Make sure your file has the same name as the existing file!
That's it! Let me know of any problems you get with the application. Happy
Skyping!
