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What do the changeable indicators in Skype mean? Away, Not Available, Do Not Disturb etc? If it says Not Available, can I still send a text message or is that rude? From observations. My buddies are using them. So what do other users think Skype changeable status indicator means?. I'd note there is some demand for providing proper advice. TDavid wrote a nice enhancement for possible later integration for bloggers running a callto tag. However this post is more to do with what do they mean and to illustrate how they may differ from the standard IM programs and behavior. They are my interpretation really from my experience. Not much of a sample. Let's hear other points of view!
The key learning is:
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IM Programs |
Skype Now |
Skype Wants |
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Offline |
Offline |
Offline |
Offline |
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Online |
Online: You will probably find me at my desk, I’m not idle |
Online: I’ll probably hear the ring, and may or may not be able to take the call. |
Voice Mail capability and to be able to sort access by categories; eg friends, businees, family etc. |
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Away |
I may not answer your message right away |
Best to send me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. If I’m on the phone I may answer the text chat straight away. |
Know when a person is in a “text” is better mode. |
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Not Available |
Not much point in sending me a chat message right now. Unlikely to get a quick response. |
Unlikely to get any quick response to either a call or chat message. If you ring and I see the log I will probably call you back. May be tomorrow. Can leave a text message. Probably sleeping. |
Automatically to Voicemail. Possibly with call back times capability. I’m probably away from the base station.. |
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Do Not Disturb |
Not sure why I’m logged on…. Don’t disturb. |
Prefer no interruptions, |
No chat or calls. Everything to my message / log center for later. |
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Invisible |
Available: On IM it means you can have secret long chats with someone without the whole world knowing. |
Available. Hiding? All calls are on my terms. If I learn that someone uses it and I need to call them will probably call them anyways. (Not sure what hiding on Skype accomplishes. If someone tries to call you and you are on the phone for an hour then you were on the phone for an hour.) |
Does this mean no calls in? Should I have a toggle so I don’t accept calls from “Invisible” Skypers? Of course I’m invisible to all of those I’ve not authorized. |
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My specification |
It can be anything. Some are quite creative, and share mood, desires, location etc. |
Not available and we will all want it. |
Will want to be able to turn these on by category. For example for family I may just want the announcement to say Happy Birthday X! Whereas to my blog list I may want my latest Blog title. |
Note potentially I want to turn these on by category. Some of these settings may be more generic. My Family may see me all the time. While business contacts may find a not available on weekends. Tie these to voice and chat mail instructions and they instantly become more relevant.
Comments (1)
Interesting thoughts Stuart !
More Skype wants vis-a-vis IM :
I also like the archive feature in yahoo - saves me the bother of saving an interesting conversation or link for later - more of a chat function really - but extend it to the voice chat recording function you had mentioned in an earlier post.
And when multiple users use one computer (as is the case very often here in India) - perhaps Skype wants in privacy - chat records cannot be erased like call logs - i think they automatically go off in 24 hours or so - wondering what would happen if an 18 year old forgets to log off skype and her father uses the PC a short while later :)
Posted by Dina Mehta | October 7, 2003 12:52 AM
Posted on October 7, 2003 00:52