The best software for talking?

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Carmody
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The best software for talking?

Postby Carmody » Fri Jan 19, 2018 1:30 am

People do a lot of italki here, but I never hear what software they use to do it.

I have used Skype once but one of my pen pals can't use it and I am not able to use WhatsApp that she suggests. More recently I did use Zoom.Us to talk with someone and that went well.

Three questions:
1-Should I download the new version of Skype or continue with the old one?
2-Has anyone ever used the Zoom.Us s/w and what did you think of it?
3-Is there other s/w that you would suggest?

Many thanks for your guidance.
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Re: The best software for talking?

Postby Stelle » Fri Jan 19, 2018 1:56 am

I use Skype for language exchanges and Zoom to work with a behaviourist for my dog's separation anxiety. I've had good experiences with both.
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Re: The best software for talking?

Postby tarvos » Fri Jan 19, 2018 7:03 am

I've used Skype, Zoom and appear.in - all fine, although Skype to China is a nightmare. I've also used Google Hangouts but I find it a bit iffy.
Italki has its own software nowadays that you can use for class purposes.
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Re: The best software for talking?

Postby rdearman » Fri Jan 19, 2018 10:06 am

This really depends on the device you're using. I've had a lot of success with Google Hangouts on my Android phone, and on my Windows Desktop using Chrome browser (which I detest). I've used skype for a long time and on my Linux desktop this is really my preferred method.

WhatsApp on my mobile phone is a good choice when I have a good wireless connection. My children prefer WhatsApp. I've used "Skype for business" which is just Microsoft Link rebadged with the SKype brand after MS bought it. It is still just as crap with the new name as it was with the old name.

I've heard a lot of good things about Discord (https://discordapp.com/) which a lot of gamers use when playing games online. I haven't personally used it, but rave reviews.
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Re: The best software for talking?

Postby zenmonkey » Fri Jan 19, 2018 11:12 am

I use a bunch of different tools professionally because my host companies are anything but efficient.

My suggestion is -

1) upgrade Skype regularly it actually works very well when their service isn't saturated - so watch your hours of planning. Noon CST and the hour before, hour after are the peak hours. Obviously there are countries where Skype isn't an option.

2) keep a secondary like Zoom or Hangout available (Hangout can have issues if you haven't connected with the person before). Zoom is pretty good.

3) WhatsApp is ok for voice but not really for sharing docs/desktop. You can use the desktop app but that only mirrors the phone. You can share files but it just isn't as synced as Zoom or Skype.

Personally what I've seen as the most effective with my teachers is Skype/zoom for video/voice and, when your teacher can type fast, a shared Google doc where the teacher (or student) types the dialogues or keywords & points.

My Tibetan teacher and I use Skype with Zoom as fallback - These are evening classes European time so we sometimes have to use Zoom. Our classes are only video and a desktop share on learning material on her PC. (I have a copy I print out and write on.)

My Hebrew teacher and I use Skype with Google Docs for sharing text (we also work out of a textbook we both have) and no fallback - Morning only (6-7 ECT) when we've had issues we've downgraded to voice only or switched to Skype on phone or tablet.

And if it matters, I'm on a Mac and my teachers are on PCs, I think.
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Re: The best software for talking?

Postby tiia » Fri Jan 19, 2018 5:37 pm

Never used italki, but I tried a few programmes to talk to friends and family.

I don't know, whom of you has used Skype on a Linux system recently, but the newest version (released around October 2017?) needs certain adjustments to make it working properly, as it otherwise just has a completely crappy sound. I still don't know how to get it accepting my webcam.
Everything worked find with the Skype for Linux beta version, but then they forced you to upgrade to the real version.
I got the new version running quite okay (still with occasional bad audio quality) starting it via terminal with: env PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=90 skypeforlinux
There should be also a browser based Skype version now.

Otherwise I've tried out Google hangouts, but since nearly none of my friends has it's useless for me.
For someone running a server Mumble might be also an option.
I also once tried Ekiga or whatever it was called (around 2009), but it didn't really work out back then. We then switched to Skype.
Last edited by tiia on Fri Jan 19, 2018 7:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The best software for talking?

Postby Carmody » Fri Jan 19, 2018 7:47 pm

Most grateful to everyone for sharing of their experience with the different s/w configurations.
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Re: The best software for talking?

Postby garyb » Mon Jan 22, 2018 11:24 am

One of my old teachers preferred Zoom over Skype as she found it more reliable and thought it had better features for teaching. I agreed about the reliability and found call quality to generally be better; I almost always have problems with Skype calls freezing or being dropped. I've also tried Google and Facebook's browser-based offerings and didn't think they were up to much, especially Facebook's which didn't allow sending text messages during a video call, although that may have changed since I tried it.
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Re: The best software for talking?

Postby Carmody » Mon Jan 22, 2018 3:09 pm

Many thanks for the comprehensive answer.
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