Skype with conference services redux

I mentioned a few weeks ago about my troubles using conference services with Skype. I was contacted by the Skype team and provided with some useful info (which I pass on below). Interestingly, I used a conference service today through Skype and had trouble with the Mac OS X client, but not with my DUALphone. With the OS X client, it would keep dropping numbers by the time the conf service received them.

Listening to Skype dialling the numbers, I think I can determine why - the Skype client sends a tone for a short (set) period, even if I keep the button or key held down, so any minor blips in the audio transfer and the other end doesn't receive it. With the DUALphone, I can send a long tone just by holding the key down for longer.

Here's the advice the Skype team passed on:

The feature you are referring to is also known as DTMF or 'Touch Tone'. Usually this feature works well with Skype, but we are aware that this is not always the case. There are a few possibilities why a DTMF tone was not recognized:

1. The DTMF tones were sent too fast after each other. Try leaving a bit of a pause between the individual key presses.
2. The line quality is not sufficient. This is often caused by a busy internet connection, in which case it could help to stop other downloads. Another possibility is that the router is affecting the call quality, because it does not handle peer 2 peer networks very good. It can't hurt to check if you are using the latest firmware.
3. When using Skype on a computer, it could also be that there is a glitch in the software. You should always use the latest Skype version, which could solve such a problem.
4. The number you are having problems with is using a Touch Tone recognition system, which does not recognize the tones we are sending. In this case you can tell us the full phone number and we will check if we can improve the interoperability between their system and ours.

Regardless of my issues, using the DUALphone was great - I muted my end and just listened for most of the call, and the speakerphone functionality was superb.