From Skype to Viber?

I have been looking for an alternative to Skype for some time. Being a Linux user I do not trust that Microsoft will keep up the development pace on the platform, Well, they haven’t done so and the Linux Skype client lags behind other platforms. Not that Skype doesn’t work, but I would like to find a solid independent solution. Could Viber be it? On paper it has what I need: Voice and video calling capabilities, solid IM features and is available both for my phone and (Linux) desktop.

We are now at Viber v 4 and I found that it’s not an untested novel solution at all. If you decide to hook up with Viber you will share the network with more than 300 million registered users. I was surprised by the sheer amount of people using Viber but wondered if it would work for me.

The first thing I found out is that If you don’t have Viber’s smartphone app, then you can’t use its desktop app. Not a problem for me who wants them both. Signing up was a breeze but requires a phone number to tie your account to. Installing on Linux was not easy since the installer for my distribution is rough around the edges and installs the application in an odd location on your system which causes some issues. I will not get into detail here since the Viber devs have promised improvements in this regard. But I got it installed and it works and is well integrated into my desktop environment.

Once installed on your PC, you can use Viber for to make voice calls to other Viber users, send a text message, share pictures, or make a video call. You can also transfer calls between mobile devices and the desktop. If you start chatting with a friend using your laptop, you can quickly switch to Viber on your smartphone or vice versa. The problem is both users need to have a newer version of Viber for call transfers to work, so you may have to wait for your friends to update their apps before you can use this feature. I’ve had the same issue with Skype where certain features hasn’t worked for me being on the lagging Linux release.

Now to the important part. Call quality, and it is incredibly good with Viber on my phone, and the desktop app brings that same experience. Video calling was fine too offering about the same image quality as Skype.

The desktop app is pretty barebones and relies heavily on the mobile side of the service which is fine with me. I need to be able to place calls, do IM and transfer files. It all works very well. I have also signed up for the Viber Out service which lets me place calls to mobile and landline phone subscribers. The prices are a little bit lower than the comparable SkypeOut service and has been working very reliably although I haven’t used it that much.

One limitation as far as the desktop client goes is that I can’t add new contacts. That I have to do from the phone. It doesn’t bother me since I always have my phone with me when I work on my PC so I haven’t missed this feature and wasn’t aware of it until a friend pointed it out to me. I’m sure this functionality will be added at some point for the desktop client.

At the end of the day the reason I use, and in this case write about Viber is the call quality. It’s better than anything else I’ve tried. I can be on my phone and speak to people in another country and it sounds like a local call. In fact, I have been able to use Viber for calls I only could do by expensive long distance using my carrier network. On wi-fi, the call quality is phenomenal. There’s also very few dropped calls and less of the digital distortion and echo often found when using Skype and even Google Talk.

I really like Viber and hope it will continue to grow. Who doesn’t like to see a successful mobile service from Belarus? 🙂

I like that they are not tied to a tech behemoth like Skype is to Microsoft who will use the platform to push their own services and keep development on competing platforms lagging. 

If you’re interested go to: www.viber.com