Skype Vs Viber – Apps Features Comparison

Viber is a smartphone app enabling friends to contact one another and communicate with them, provided they also have the app on their smartphone. You can also make Viber Out calls at a small charge to phones that do not have the application. Viber app is also available to use from your PC or your Mac, but you need a phone account to set it up. The system uses a Wi-Fi connection or a 3G connection to communicate or you can make VoIP calls with others who have the app.

Entering Skype’s Domain

When Viber app was released for the desktop, it entered into a domain already ruled by another application, Skype. Skype is considered the ultimate and the best option for making VoIP calls from the desktop and also from smartphones. It has millions of users all over the world. Skype began as a desktop app and is now available for smartphones as well, whereas Viber first began as a mobile app and is now in the beta stage for the PC and the Mac. Skype is also a free-calling service, whereby you can make free calls to other Skype users. You can also call any landline or phone number at nominal charges and it works out much cheaper than carrier charges for long distance calls.

Video Calling Features

Video calling through Viber can only be done on a PC or a Mac and not on your smartphones. The video calling feature in smartphones has not yet been optimized. On the other hand, Skype can be used for video calling on a PC, Mac and even on smartphones. You can also communicate from a desktop to a smartphone. The user base is also much bigger in case of Skype and it offers better functionalities for video calling.

Quality of Calls

Call quality of Viber may not always be very good. Even if you have a high-speed data connection, there might still be problems. On the other hand, Skype offers good audio and video quality on PCs as well as on smartphones. Skype was released much before Viber and has had plenty of time to work on its service quality.

Price

Viber is a free application but this is only so when you make calls to other contacts who also have the application installed. If you call a contact that does not have Viber, your call goes through Viber Out and you have to pay the usual fee of your carrier. As for Skype, all calls made from one Skype account to another account are free, whether the call is made from a PC or a smartphone. Skype credit can be loaded into your account for making calls to landlines as well as other mobile numbers that do not have Skype on them. This is charged on a per minute basis and the cost is quite low.

Installation

Viber is available for installation on most smartphones and there is also a version that is available for the Bada and the Nokia Symbian operating systems. It also offers a new desktop application. Yet, Skype can easily defeat Viber in this aspect as well, as it offers support to all smartphones as well as PCs and Macs. It also includes televisions, PlayStation and tablet support. After Microsoft acquired Skype, they promoted it as the major messaging service in Windows and this resulted in a big increase to the already large user base. In fact, Skype will soon be incorporated into Outlook.com. This will provide users with an Internet-based option for contacting others.

Skype Dominates

Viber is slowly creeping into Skype’s territory. However, Viber does not possess the infrastructure that will enable it to compete with Skype. Microsoft is behind Skype and powering the service into several products, so Skype will continue to dominate the VoIP scene. As of now, if you use Skype, there is no reason for you to discontinue the service.

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