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Skype – a how to guide

Is it essential that you make that journey? Why not try Skype? Skype is a free and easy to use way to communicate with colleagues. Using Skype can help increase your productivity, reduce your carbon footprint and save money which protects jobs and services. Who can use Skype? Anyone! As long as you can show you can reduce your mileage/save time by using Skype and your manager is happy to approve your request. What can I use it for? Skype is great for one to ones and informal catch-ups. Skype can also be used for smaller meetings; we’d suggest four participants is probably the maximum that’s comfortable. Any more formal meetings or with a larger audience we’d suggest using video conferencing or teleconferencing. What do I need? A computer or laptop with an internet connection, microphone/speakers or a headset (preferred) and a webcam (most new laptops have these built in). If you need a headset or webcam these cost approximately £20 each and must be funded by your service (a cost centre will be required). How do I get Skype? It’s easy to apply through Service Desk Online. Click on ‘Request a Skype Account’ (Section 4 - Applications) and complete the online form. You will be asked to confirm that you agree to continue to abide by the Council’s policies on information and data security: dnet/policies and procedures. Once your line manager and departmental service relationship manager has approved the online request, the Transformation Service will set your user-name and access rights up. You can see the progress of your request on Service Desk Online by clicking on ‘My Requests’ and then the request itself. This will show if it has been approved and after approval and receipt of your Skype logon name, the software can be downloaded to your machine.

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Getting started. Once the work has been done ‘behind the scenes’, you’ll receive an activation email with your Skype ‘name’ and a hyper-link to activate your account and set-up a password. Before you do this there is one last step you need to do – download the Skype software to your machine. Full instructions on how to do this will be provided by email. Now you’ve got your user name and Skype is on your machine. Follow the instructions on the following pages to get your profile set-up: 1. Open the email and click on the first hyper-link asking you to activate and set a password

for your new account. You’ll then see this screen:

2. Complete all the fields as required and click on the ‘Activate’ button. 3. You’ll then see this screen:

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4. Don’t select either of these options – instead close Skype down. 5. From either the icon on your desktop or from the Start menu (little Windows

symbol usually in the bottom left corner of your screen) open Skype. 6. You should now see the Skype login screen – enter your user name and password.

7. There are now just a couple more set-up tasks to do – checking your sound and video and

setting your profile picture. This is the first screen that you’ll see:

8. Click on ‘Continue’. If you’ve got a headset, now is the time to plug it in and put it on! 9. On the next screen, click on the ‘Test sound’ button and you should be able to hear the

Skype dial tone. If you can’t hear anything, try one of the other options from the drop down above (if you have a mute button on your device, make sure it isn’t activated).

If the microphone is picking up your voice you should be able to see this registering on the

sound bar.

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Depending on whether or not you’re using a webcam or an integrated camera, you’ll need to select the appropriate option from the drop-down box in the ‘Video’ section. If you can see yourself on the screen, you’ve selected the right option.

11. Once you’ve got your speakers, microphone and video set-up, the next thing is to add a

profile picture. You don’t have to add a picture but if you do it makes it easier for colleagues to identify they have the right person.

If you don’t want to add a picture then click on ‘Add later’, if you do want to add a picture

then click on ‘Continue’. 12. Take a picture of yourself, if you’re not happy with the picture you can try again until you

are happy.

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13. Once you’re happy with your picture, click on ‘Use this picture’ and then on the next screen ‘Start using Skype’.

14. The next screen you’ll see is the Skype home screen. If you want to set yourself up with a

contact list the click on.

15. All Council employees Skype names have the same format - dcc_firstname_surname. So

if you want to add Amanda Nadin to your Skype contacts you’re best to search for dcc_amanda_nadin.

Once you’ve found the right contact, click on their name and then click on the blue ‘Add to

Contacts’ button. Skype will generate a message to send to your new contact telling them they’ve been added to your contact list. You should now be able to see them in your contact list.

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Making a call. Making a call is really simple. 1. From the home screen, double click on the contact you want to Skype (if you’ve added

them as a contact then their details should be on the left hand side of the screen).

2. Click on ‘Video call’ and Skype will try and connect the call. If the person you are trying to

Skype hasn’t got Skype open then the call won’t connect. 3. Once the call connects you should be able to see and hear the person you are Skyping.

You’ll be able to see your own image in the corner – don’t be alarmed, it’s odd seeing yourself on screen but it’s useful to understand what the person you’re Skyping is seeing.

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4. There’s a useful menu across the bottom which appears when you hover over that area of

your screen.

From the left, the icons are:

• Hide contacts.

• Hide IM (instant message which is at the bottom of the Skype screen).

• Turn off video.

• Mute your microphone.

• Add participants, send files (this function is disabled).

• End call.

• Call quality information.

• Full screen. The instant message function can be really useful if for some reason you can’t hear each

other (you might have inadvertently caught the mute button on your headset controls). You can use the on screen Skype IM to communicate while you resolve the problem.

5. If you want to hold a Skype call with more than one person then connect to your first

contact and then once the call is established, double click on the contact record of the next person you want to join the conversation.

6. To end a Skype call, simply click on the red handset icon.

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Important things to remember.

• Skype is over the internet and whilst it does have security, you should always be mindful of what you are discussing.

• There aren’t any mechanisms for validating users, therefore extreme care must be taken that you know who you are communicating with, if they aren’t already known to you.

• You may want to consider booking a small meeting room or office so your conversation won’t be overheard.

• If you’re at a site with a slower network speed this can affect how Skype works – the video may be poor or stop working completely and you may just be able to hear colleagues.

• You may see an option to share files – this has been disabled as information should only be shared using Council approved systems.

• Your work Skype address should never be used for personal calls. Need more help? The best way to get used to Skype is to try making a few practice calls to work colleagues, that way if you lose the connection or accidentally cut them off it doesn’t matter.

More advice on using Skype can be found by selecting ‘help’ on the Skype menu bar and there are some really useful ‘how to’ videos on the Skype home screen when you log on. There is also a wealth of detailed help topics and advice on the Microsoft website. If you get really stuck, contact your Service Relationship Manager who will be happy to help you.