LEPDU
Learning Enhancement & Professional
Development Unit
Workshop Handbook
Jo Edwards
Wednesday 8 June 2011
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Learning Enhancement & Professional
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Skype Training
To open Skype
If you've opened Skype before:
Open Skype from your desktop or Windows > Start menu.
In the start-up screen, click in the box under Skype Name and type it in. Then do the same for your
password.
(If you forget your password, click the Forgot your password? link and follow the directions from
there.)
This will sign you in to Skype, ready for you to use.
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How do I add contacts?
Adding a single contact
To add a contact:
1. Sign in to Skype.
2. In the menu bar, click Contacts > Add a Contact.
3. Enter the Email, Phone number, Full name or Skype Name of the person you want to
add.
4. If the Skype account of the person you wish to add is displayed, click Add below the
contact.
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5. If more than one Skype account matches your search:
1. Click View for a list of matching Skype accounts.
2. From the list of matching accounts, click Add contact next to the one you
wish to add.
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6. More information on the Skype account you have selected is displayed. Confirm that this is
the account of the person you wish to add by clicking Add.
7.
8. Before the contact can be added, you must send a contact request to that person. Enter
some text to introduce yourself and click Send request.
9. The contact will be added to your contact list, but will appear offline until they accept your
request. Once the person agrees to your request, they will be added to your Contact list.
You can then make free calls and video calls to that person, and send instant messages and
files to each other.
Importing multiple contacts
To import contacts from the address book of your email account:
1. Sign in to Skype.
2. In the menu bar, click Contacts > Import Contact.
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3. Select the type of email account you have. If you can’t see your email account, click the
dropdown arrow for more options.
4. Enter your username and password and click Import.
5. Step 1: Add people from your address book who already have Skype accounts or phone
numbers associated with their email accounts.
o If any of the people you have selected already have Skype accounts or phone
numbers associated with their email accounts, these will be listed in the Connect via
column.
o Select the contacts you wish to add and click Add contacts.
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If you don’t want to add any contacts from the list, click Skip.
6. Step 2: Send a message to people who don’t have Skype.
1. Select the people you wish to send a message to.
2. Enter a message or use the message provided.
3. Click Send email. Sending an email will invite the selected friends to download and
install Skype so you can call, video call and instant message each other.
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If you don’t want to send any messages, click Skip.
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Preparation before the call
Testing your settings
Click on Check Settings. This will tell you if everything is working ok.
Do a soundcheck before you call
The best way to check if your sound quality will be low, medium or high is to run a call
quality soundcheck before you make a call. It runs a quick diagnostic on the following things:





Speakers
Microphone
Webcam
Computer speed (CPU)
Internet connection
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... then gives you an overall rating for how good your call quality’s going to be. It also tells
you easy ways to fix the issues it picks up.
In Skype, simply choose a contact and click the check settings button to the far right of the
Call button.
In term s of using the webcam, in F2-022 they use the Logitech software.
This is separate software to Skype that can adjust your webcam.
Accessing the Logitech Webcam software
Open Logitech from the desktop. This would load up the following:
Webcam settings (See below)
Microphone Mute
Video mute
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This will adjust the webcam position, brightness and contrast.
How do I call someone who's on Skype?
If you have contacts in your contact list, you can call them really easily. To call someone in
your contact list:
1. Sign in to Skype.
2. On the Contacts tab, find the person you want to call. If you have lots of contacts, you can
use the search box to find the person you’re looking for.
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3. Click the contact. You will see their details in the main window. (Remember - anyone with
one of these beside them
is on Skype so it's free to call. Anyone with one of
these
means it's a phone or mobile number and you will need a little Skype Credit or
a subscription to make a call.)
4. Click the green Call button
. You should hear ringing. If you don't hear the other
person or they can't hear you, click the call quality icon in the call bar
5. To hang up, click the End call button
.
.
Useful things you can do on a call
Mute your microphone so the other person can't hear you.
Adjust your volume.
Show the IM window so you can instant message the person you are talking to.
Show the dial pad, so you can dial extensions or make DTMF tones.
Share your screen. Find out all you need to know about screen sharing.
Add people to the call to create a conference call.
If you've got a webcam plugged in, turn on video so the other person can see
you.
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Making a video call
Before making a video call, we recommend that you check your webcam is working
correctly. If you still have a problem with video calling, these tips can help.
To make a video call:
1. Sign in to Skype.
2. In your contact list, select the person you want to call.
3. Check that the person you want to call is online. If they are,
name. Learn more about status settings.
4.
5. In the calling area, click
calling answers.
will be displayed next to their
. Your video call will begin when the person you are
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Changing the way your video call is displayed
It’s easy to display your video call in the best way for you. The following table shows you
how.
To...
Click...
Notes
View the video call in full screen mode
Click again to exit full screen mode.
View the video call in a separate window
You can drag the new window to any location
on your screen, and it will appear on top of
other windows. Close the window to return to
Skype.
Zoom in on the video
Click again to zoom out. This option is only
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available if the video you are receiving is highquality or HD.
Hide the Contact list
Click again to show the Contact list.
Turning your video off
You can turn your video off at any time during a video call. If you do, the person you are
calling will not be able to see your video, although you will still be able to see theirs.
To turn off your video, click
, and click it again to turn your video back on.
When the button is blue, your video is on, and when it is white it is off.
Viewing the video from your own webcam
When your video is on, you can view the video from your own webcam by rolling your
mouse over
.
Click
in the video to keep the view from your webcam displayed, and click and hold
in the top right corner of the video to resize the view from your webcam.
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To reposition the video, click and hold your image, then drag it to where you want it to be
displayed. You can place it in any of the four corners, or underneath the video of the person
you are calling.
Click
to stop viewing the video from your webcam.
Using other Skype features while on a video call
While on a video call, you can send instant messages, share your screen, and take video
snapshots of the person you are calling. The following table shows you how.
To...
Click...
Notes
From the list of contacts
that is displayed, select a
person to add to the video
Add more people to your video call
call and click
Learn more about group
video calling.
.
Send an instant message to the person you are calling
Type your message and
press Enter. Click the
button again to hide your
instant messages. Learn
more about sending instant
messages.
Share your screen
Click Show entire screen to
share your entire screen, or
Select window to choose
which window to share.
Learn more about screen
sharing.
Take a video snapshot of the person you are calling
To send the video snapshot
to the person you are
calling or anyone else, click
Share and select the
person. To view your video
snapshot files in Windows
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Explorer, click Locate. Learn
more about video
snapshots.
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Troubleshooting
The other person can’t hear my voice
If other people can’t hear your voice the problem is most likely with your microphone or the
other person’s speakers.
1. In Skype, open Tools > Options > Audio settings. If the microphone volume meter
responds to your voice, then the problem is most likely with your contact’s speakers. Ask
them to go to Tools > Options > Sounds and “press play this sound”. If they hear a sound
then there speakers are working correctly.
Problem with your microphone
1. If you have an external microphone, make sure it’s plugged into the correct socket on your
computer. With most two-plug speakers or headsets, that means the pink or red plug goes into
the pink/red socket. Still not sure? Check your microphone is plugged in correctly.
2. Check your microphone is not on mute. Some microphones have buttons to mute/un-mute.
If you are using a headset it may have a mute switch either on the side of the headset or on
the cable that connects to your computer.
3. Check that Skype is using the right microphone. In Skype, open Tools › Options › Audio
settings and check that the correct microphone is selected from the dropdown menu. The
microphone volume meter should respond to your voice. On the same screen you can also try
un-checking the box "Automatically adjust microphone settings" and manually setting the
volume to High.
4. Check that your microphone is correctly set up for your operating system
I think there is a problem with my speakers microphone
1. Check that your speakers are on and plugged into the correct socket on your computer.
With most two-plug speakers or headsets, that means the green plug goes into the green
socket.
2. Also check you're not on mute, and turn up any volume control knobs on your speakers.
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3. Now try playing a sound again from Tools > Options > Sounds.
4. Hasn't fixed it? Check that Skype is using the right speakers. In Skype, open Tools >
Options > Audio settings and check that the correct speakers are selected from the
dropdown menu.
I can’t hear the other person’s voice
If you can’t hear the caller’s voice then the problem is most likely with their microphone or
your speakers.
1. Check whether you are able to hear sounds from Skype. Click Tools › Options › Sounds
and press the “ Play this sound” button. If you hear Skype playing a sound, then your
speakers are working correctly, and the issue is most likely with the other person’s
microphone
I think there is a problem with my speakers
1. Check that your speakers are on and plugged into the correct socket on your computer.
With most two-plug speakers or headsets, that means the green plug goes into the green
socket. Still not sure? Check your speakers are plugged in correctly.
2. Also check you're not on mute, and turn up any volume control knobs on your speakers.
3. Now try playing a sound again from Tools > Options > Sounds.
4. Hasn't fixed it? Check that Skype is using the right speakers. In Skype, open Tools >
Options > Audio settings and check that the correct speakers are selected from the
dropdown menu.
We can hear each other but the quality is poor
Each version of Skype has better sound quality than the one before it. Ask the person you’re
speaking with to visit skype.com and download the latest version of Skype.
Are you having any of these issues?

Call echo
If you hear your own voice as an echo, the problem is on the other person’s side
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If the other person can hear their voice echoing, the problem is on your side
1. If the person uses speakers, he/she can lower the speaker volume.
2. If the person uses speakers, he/she can move the microphone as far away as
possible from the speakers. If the distance between your microphone and speakers is
20 cm or less, there will be a bad echo.
3. They should update to the latest version of Skype.
4. If nothing else works, using a headset or headphones instead of speakers is an easy
way to get rid of echo

Background noise
Use a quiet area
Put a sign on the door that says “Interview in Progress”

Robotic sound / words cut off / delay
This is an internet connection issue.
Make sure all programmes are closed
Has the call quality button turned red? This will tell you what the problem may be.
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I can’t get my webcam to work
1. Check that your webcam is switched on and plugged into your computer
2. A webcam can only be used by one application at a time, so make sure you don’t have any
other applications open that are accessing the webcam, e.g. other instant messaging
applications or even some websites.
3. Problems with video are often caused by driver issues. A driver is the program you install
with the webcam which makes the webcam work with your PC (some webcams use
preinstalled drivers so you may not have had to install one). Make sure you have the latest
driver installed. You can download and install the most recent drivers from the webcam
manufacturer’s website.
To test your webcam go to Tools › Options › Calls › Video settings. When Skype is able to
use your webcam, you will see a video preview of yourself.
My video quality isn’t great
Poor video performance can be influenced by a number of factors.
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The most common ones are listed below:
Webcams
A slow or busy internet connection
Your computer is running slowly
Bad lighting
Too many USB devices plugged in
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