
Don’t worry if your name isn’t available – you can easily modify it until you come up with a unique moniker. The system will automatically check to see if your name has been claimed by anyone else and, if it has, will suggest alternatives. None of the 650 million users of Skype can have the same Skype name, so if your own name is a common one, you might want to change it a little – for instance, by adding your year of birth. Whether you use your real name is up to you.


Step 4: You can choose to tell Skype how you intend to use its service by clicking one of the options in the drop-down menu. However, you do not have to fill in all the boxes with personal information, only those with a star next to them. All this will be available for anyone to see on Skype, except for your mobile number, which will be restricted to your own contacts. No one will be able to see your email address.

A webcam isn’t compulsory, but video calls are a key function of Skype, and you can’t make them without one. This is a small camera that connects to your computer through a USB port, if it isn’t already built into your screen. You can also use a headphones-and-microphone headset that can be bought quite cheaply. Many computers will have these built in (especially laptops), and many webcams (see below) also have microphones built in. a computer with a broadband internet connection (a dial-up connection is too slow for Skype).Skype is the biggest VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service in the world, and it’s probably the easiest way to talk to your friends for free over the internet – through text, voice (just like a phone call) or even video.ĭownloading and installing Skype on to your computer can be a little complicated, but luckily we’re here to take you through it step by step.
