Skype, a powerful voice over IP (VOIP) program, allows you to make phone calls from your computer to any phone in the world. If you have never used Skype before, you may be confused or intimidated by the number of options and configuration settings that are available when you first install the software.
Instructions
1. Download and install Skype from Skype.com. Register a new user account, and log in to the software.
2. Click on the "Tools" button in the main menu, then select the "Options..." button. You will see several tabs on the left side of the screen that contain configurable options for different parts of the program.
3. Select the "General" tab, then select the "General Settings" sub-tab. Here you can configure the general options for Skype, such as what to do when you double-click on a contact, what automatic away message settings you want to have and what language to show the program in. The "Audio Settings," "Sounds" and "Video Settings" tabs each correspond to what they sound like: settings for your speakers or headphones, what types of sounds the program should play when certain events happen and what types of settings to use if you decide to employ a video camera. Click on each of these sub-tabs and configure them so the program behaves the way you prefer.
4. Select the "Privacy" tab. From this tab you can choose who you want to allow and disallow calls, instant messages and video conferencing with. Inside the "Blocked Contacts" sub-tab, you'll see a list of contacts that you have chosen to block at some point in the past. You can also unblock contacts on this sub-tab if you wish. Choose the options in both the "Privacy Settings" and "Blocked Contacts" tabs that you want the program to have.
5. Proceed through the rest of the tabs (Notifications, Calls, IMs & SMS and Advanced), and adjust the settings. Generally, these settings will not need to be adjusted, but if you want to change any minutiae about how the program operates, you can do so here.
Tags: Blocked Contacts, then select, what types