When using Skype, it prevents the computer from idling, going into sleep mode and turning the monitor off.
I notice on my laptop if I use a tool like Monitor Off to manually turn my monitor off, after about a minute, the monitor will come back on as if Skype has pressed a key or moved my mouse to exit out of that idle state. This also prevents other programs (such as Pidgin) from going idle as well, so it looks like I'm online 24/7… even though it should be changing after 5 minutes of inactivity.
Is there a way to circumvent this behavior in Skype?
I think I've forgotten to mention a very important aspect: I'm using the video call feature pretty much 24/7.
It may be built into Skype this way, because on a video call, the participants are likely to be both voice chatting and watching each other, thus not doing any keyboard/mouse movement. That would make perfect sense. However, I would at least like some documentation stating this behavior and if there's any way to prevent it from happening.
Best Answer
You could work around this issue by quitting Skype when you are away. You should also shut your computer down every now and then to prevent it from over-heating (newsflash, sorry).
This seems like a silly solution, but I always try to re-install software that isn't behaving as expected.
EDIT: Skype won't go idle if you are on a video call 24/7, like you said. I found a link to their Issue Tracking and Reporting System, but it seems to be down atm.. Maybe you will have better luck with it later: link (note the https)