<div>
It's on the server end, not yours. Nothing you can do but wait. If you check the various tech news sites and blogs, you'll see that this outage is widespread.
</div>


It's on the server end, not yours. Nothing you can do but wait. If you check the various tech news sites and blogs, you'll see that this outage is widespread.

Skype-cannot-get-online.jpg

<div>
You're welcome, Martin. At least we know the problem is not on our end — and that we're not being singled out. I certainly hope they fix it soon.
</div>


You're welcome, Martin. At least we know the problem is not on our end — and that we're not being singled out. I certainly hope they fix it soon.

<div>
We certainly don't want to have to pay for international calls like we did in the stone age :-)
</div>


We certainly don't want to have to pay for international calls like we did in the stone age :-)

<div>
Good point! :) &nbsp;And in Skype's defense, this doesn't happen often — it's been a solid service for a long time.
</div>


Good point! :)  And in Skype's defense, this doesn't happen often — it's been a solid service for a long time.

<div>
Hi Martin,<br />
<br />
Update at 22:33 GMT: Back online!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2015/09_w39/937761/Skype-Online.jpg" target="_blank" title="Skype Online (7 KB)"><img alt="Skype Online" class="file-block lazyload" style="max-width: 174px;" data-src="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2015/09_w39/937761/Skype-Online.jpg" /></a><br />
Regards, Joe
</div>


Hi Martin,

Update at 22:33 GMT: Back online!

Skype Onlinehttps://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2015/09_w39/937761/Skype-Online.jpg
Regards, Joe

Skype-Online.jpg

<div>
Hi Martin,<br />
Is everything OK now with your Skype? Regards, Joe
</div>


Hi Martin,
Is everything OK now with your Skype? Regards, Joe

<div>
Yes, it all seems ok. But I have doubts about one contact. He keeps showing as away, yet video calls me a couple of times a day. I've told him 3 times. He's a customer so I can't really do much more. It wasn't like this before Skype went down.<br />
By the way I would like to delete/prevent/eliminate all the unsolicited &quot;please add me to your contacts list&quot; requests. I can block them or hide them but can't delete them. Should I ask this as a new question?
</div>


Yes, it all seems ok. But I have doubts about one contact. He keeps showing as away, yet video calls me a couple of times a day. I've told him 3 times. He's a customer so I can't really do much more. It wasn't like this before Skype went down.
By the way I would like to delete/prevent/eliminate all the unsolicited "please add me to your contacts list" requests. I can block them or hide them but can't delete them. Should I ask this as a new question?

<div>
I'm glad to hear all seems OK now.<br />
<br />
&gt;&nbsp;Should I ask this as a new question?<br />
<br />
Yes, that's a good idea. Close this one out and open a new one.
</div>


I'm glad to hear all seems OK now.

> Should I ask this as a new question?

Yes, that's a good idea. Close this one out and open a new one.

<div>
It turns out that customer didn't know how to change his status on Skype. I had to tell him how to do it!
</div>


It turns out that customer didn't know how to change his status on Skype. I had to tell him how to do it!

<div>
Great news! Thanks for the update.
</div>


<div>
<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
In at least 8 years of using Skype I've never seen this syncing icon before <a href="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2015/09_w39/937382/Skype-syncing-screenshot-1.JPG" target="_blank" title="Screenshot of Skype syncing (15 KB)"><img alt="Screenshot of Skype syncing" class="file-block lazyload" style="max-width: 179px;" data-src="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2015/09_w39/937382/Skype-syncing-screenshot-1.JPG" /></a> It's been going all day long. I can't make or receive any calls. I'm told I'm showing as offline. And all my contacts show as offline. It won't even work on my phone, a Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8.1. Any suggestions please?
</div>
</div>


Skype-syncing-screenshot-1.JPG

In at least 8 years of using Skype I've never seen this syncing icon before  It's been going all day long. I can't make or receive any calls. I'm told I'm showing as offline. And all my contacts show as offline. It won't even work on my phone, a Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8.1. Any suggestions please?

Skype constantly syncing and not useable

Web conferencing describes various types of online collaborative services including web seminars ("webinars"), webcasts, and peer-level web meetings. In general, web conferencing is made possible by Internet technologies, particularly on TCP/IP connections. Services may allow real-time point-to-point communications as well as multicast communications from one sender to many receivers. It offers data streams of text-based messages, voice and video chat to be shared simultaneously, across geographically dispersed locations. Applications for web conferencing include meetings, training events, lectures, or presentations from a web-connected computer to other web-connected computers. Popular titles include GoToMeeting, Cisco WebEx, Microsoft Lync, TeamViewer and Skype.

Conferencing Software

Telecommunication occurs when the exchange of information between two or more entities (communication) includes the use of technology. Communication technology uses channels to transmit information (as electrical signals), either over a physical medium (such as signal cables), or in the form of electromagnetic waves. The word is often used in its plural form, telecommunications, because it involves many different technologies.

Telecommunications

Voice over IP (VoIP) is a methodology and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. Other terms commonly associated with VoIP are IP telephony, Internet telephony, broadband telephony, and broadband phone service. The term specifically refers to the provisioning of communications services (voice, fax, SMS, voice-messaging) over the public Internet, rather than via the public switched telephone network (PSTN).  Examples of the VoIP protocols are H.323, Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), H.248 (also known as Media Gateway Control (Megaco)), Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP), Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP), Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP), Session Description Protocol (SDP), and Inter-Asterisk eXchange (IAX).

Voice Over IP

IP telephony (Internet Protocol telephony) is a general term for the technologies that use the Internet Protocol's packet-switched connections to exchange voice, fax, and other forms of information that have traditionally been carried over the dedicated circuit-switched connections of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Using the Internet, calls travel as packets of data on shared lines, avoiding the tolls of the PSTN. The challenge in IP telephony is to deliver the voice, fax, or video packets in a dependable flow to the user.