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We use Skype extensively within MCC Manchester as physical visits for meetings and events can be a problem when so many of our people travel significant distances to be with us. Having a conference call via Skype means that our far-flung members in North Wales to the west and Derbyshire to the east, or Stoke to the south and Preston to the north, can be just as involved in discussions as those who live in the Manchester area.
If you haven't got Skype installed on your computer you can download it here (don't worry it's free for all basic uses).
When conference calls are being set up for church activities, Andy will normally act as the conference manager. For this purpose, you need to make sure Andy is in your contacts list in Skype. You can find his Skype identity by entering his email address - revandy@mccmanchester.co.uk - and sending a contact request from within Skype. You may also find Skype is a free and effective way to have
conversations with other friends - either singly or in groups. In
one-to-one calls, each participant can use their webcam to create a video
call. There is also an in-built chat facility which enables text
messages to be exchanged via a shared conversation space.
Additionally, the newer generation of smartphones are offering Skype apps
to enable their subscribers to connect to their Skype contacts via their
mobiles.
The following resources offer guidance on setting up a Skype account and getting the most from the Skype facility generally. We hope you will find Skype a useful and effective way of maintaining existing links with church as well as being a creative way to explore new opportunities to communicate and participate.
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Skype is an online communications system - very
similar to a telephone service - which can be used to make free one-to-one
calls as well as free conference calls.
In
order to use Skype you need only to have a good internet connection and,
we suggest, a headset with a microphone and earphones. (The headset is
not essential, but the call quality is much better - especially in
conference calls - if people aren't using the inbuilt speakers and
microphone on their computer which can pick up a lot of background noise
and distractions.)
If
you have already got the software, please make sure you regularly check
for updates so you always have the latest version. You do this by
clicking on the 'Help' link in the top menu, then 'Check for Updates' and
follow the on-screen guidance.
You
may well find that Skype opens up all kinds of new communication
possibilities for you in different areas of your life. We encourage
you to explore these possibilities.