Skype Journal

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2010-04-29T05:09:00.001-07:00

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People talk 45% longer with Skype high audio quality

2010-04-19T17:28:00.001-07:00

Here's a slide from Skype's Jonathan Rosenberg eComm presentation. Skype tested a large pool of users from all over the world for customer satisfaction based on the audio codec they used in a Skype-to-Skype call.

In the chart to the left the Mean Opinion Score rose from 3.4 using mobile phone audio quality to about 3.85 with Skype's highest quality, a thirteen percent jump.

On the right Skype shows the effect of call quality on average call duration. With the lowest quality, the average call lasted about 21.5 minutes. At the highest quality it went about 31 minutes, 45% longer.

One of my fellow eComm'rs noted both scores rose from wideband to superwideband. Notable because you may not be able to tell the difference if asked.

Fidelity clearly counts.

Imagine a meeting between Skype and Verizon.

Hey, Vee.

Hi, Spyke. Our customers are speaking for only three minutes fifteen seconds on each call. And that number's falling. What can you do for us?

Our callers speak for twenty minutes when they experience audio comparable to your crappy standard audio. Maybe if we get our users Skyping on your phones, they'll start talking longer?

Cool. And for when we roll out our 4G network?

Oh, then Skypers talk even longer: for more than half an hour. You just need to be running our superwideband SILK codec on your handsets.

Audio fidelity changes consumer behavior.

tags: skype, silk, quality, stats

Navoto fights roaming with Skype

2010-04-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Verizon's Skype mobile apps for Android and Blackberry, tied to Verizon's Wi-Fi, won't roam internationally. The new Navoto GSM Gateway for Skype offers a way around this. The gateway connects your hometown wireless carrier to your on-the-road mobile phone.

Omri Navot was one of the first to pioneer hardware that added value for Skype users. Skype Journal introduced his SkyQube from Singapore's Qool Labs in April 2006. Now his own company, UGI Telecom, an original design manufacturer in Rehovot, Israel, is releasing the gateway today.

Getting set up takes about ten minutes. Plug in the cables and install the software. Before your trip, take the SIM card from your mobile and put it into the gateway. When you arrive at your destination, get a local prepaid SIM and put it in your mobile phone. Then "pair" your new SIM by texting the gateway.

Once Navoto knows your new SIM, it starts to work. Calls to your mobile number at home are forwarded to you through a SkypeOut call.

You can make calls through Navoto's ringback feature. Ping the gateway, it calls you using SkypeOut, you hear dialtone and make your call. You can also setup speed dial contacts to make it easy to reach phone numbers or a few of your Skype contacts.

Let's look at the gear, in this case a prototype from a few months' ago.

The front of the box has a slot for your local SIM card. By putting your mobile phone's SIM card in the box, Navoto looks like your mobile phone to your wireless carrier.

You eject your SIM card poking a paper clip into a small hole.

The back of the box has (from left to right) a power jack, two RJ11 phone line jacks so you can keep your home phone connected, a USB port to connect to your home-town PC, and a connector for the GSM antenna.

The GSM antenna lets the box talk with your home-town wireless carrier.

The software running on your PC is a Skype plug-in, talking to your Skype desktop client. None of this works unless Skype for Windows is running.

The Navoto desktop software has many features.

Voice mail, call recording, voice messages, simple configurable IVR (phone menus), voicemails sent to your email account, SMS texting, and scheduled mode changes (home, work, offline, etc.).

Navoto Gateways are entering the distribution channel this week.

In my experience, the prototype gateway works as advertised.

However it is still very early for this product and I haven't worked with final production versions of the software or the gear. Both the hardware and software are improving quickly in response to known bugs and feature requests. I experienced installation bugs with the email feature, for example. My version of the box, one of a handful of production tests, didn't have final CE FCC certification, packaging, finish, labels, or documentation. I look forward to giving the finished product another look.

International calling is the largest (only?) growing telecom sector. Skypers called for more than twelve percent of all international minutes in 2009. Demand for cross-border calling is proven. How much is due to travel? How many billions of dollars does the international roaming market collect? Omri Navot aims to find out.

tags: navoto, hardware, software, gsm, mobile, gateway, skype, skypeout, israel, is, emea

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Photo on wood table: Navoto. Other photos and chart: Phil Wolff.

Will Skype open to web developers?

2010-04-17T17:30:00.001-07:00

Skype's Jonathan Rosenberg is speaking at eComm on Monday (11:15am). He's one of Skype's thought leaders, the company's Chief Technology Strategist. I was really hoping he'd announce how Skype will play in ViPRland. His talk blurb goes in another direction:

Social Sharing 2.0: The Rise of Real-Time.

Social sharing through sites like Facebook and Twitter has seen meteoric rise in the last year. Exciting as that may be, it only scratches the surface of what social sharing can mean on the Web. In this talk, Jonathan Rosenberg will explore the next phase of social sharing - real-time communications using voice and video. Through it, a whole new set of online interaction models open up for Web publishers, going well beyond the mere posting of links on walls and in tweets. Jonathan will detail several potential use cases to see how they can drive increased value for users and content providers alike. [emphasis mine.]

Speculating madly, dear reader, what will Rosenberg announce?

Skype voice and video conferencing you can embed in web sites (like bloggers embed YouTube videos).
A Skype platform you can build into mobile, desktop and web apps.
Live voice/video conversations you can attach to threads of textual conversation in mailing lists and blogs.
Skype conversations you can trigger through links in social media, a la bit.ly.
Syndicating your Skype conversations and activities through RSS, Atom, and ActivityStream feeds that can be consumed by sites and news readers.
Hosting recordings of your Skype conversations for discussion and sharing a la Facebook and YouTube.

Anything less will disappoint.

Frankly, I'd love for Skype to publish user behavior as an activity stream that can be consumed by other systems. Beyond online/offline/availability presence, let me show friend/follow/block, chat room join/leave, conference call join/leave, mood changes, profile updates, contact group updates, and my other in-Skype activity. If you're in San Francisco this weekend, join MySpace, Google, Ericsson, Facebook, Microsoft and me at StreamCamp.

See you at camp and at eComm. @evanwolf, @skypejournal, skype:evanwolf.

tags: skype, facebook, twitter, jonathanrosenberg, ecomm, activitystreams, streamcamp

Ten Percent Off eComm ticket with "skypejournal" Discount Code.

Skype on Verizon Android requires you to turn off WiFi

2010-04-12T18:07:00.001-07:00

I'm testing Skype mobile on a Motorola Droid with Verizon. I tried to launch Skype while other apps were busy with my WiFi downloading email, news, feeds, activity streams, apps, maps, music, podcasts, and television shows.

I get an error. Its text reads:

"Skype mobile does not currently work on WiFi and requires switching to a Verizon Wireless data network connection. This may affect other apps using a WiFi connection."

You have two options: "Turn off WiFi" or "Exit".

Doesn't the Droid let me have both Wi-Fi and the Verizon data connection running simultaneously? Apparently not.

Skype forces an either/or choice.

So it's not nearly as attractive to keep Skype running in the background. You must squeeze all of your other activity through Verizon's tiny wireless broadband channel, even if you have lots of available Wi-Fi connectivity at hand.

There's no engineering reason why you couldn't be connected to both networks at once (beyond battery consumption).

Where is this limit imposed? The Verizon Droid? Motorola Droids in general? All Android phones?

tags: skype, mobile, android, motorola, droid

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Skype for Apple iPhone OS4

2010-04-12T16:37:00.001-07:00

David Ponsford demonstrated Skype as a background app at last week's Apple briefing on the iPhone OS 4, coming mid-2010. John Chang, Skype's lead iPhone developer, helped with the demo. David came to Skype from SpinVox Skype's voicemail-to-text partner.

Several features announced at the OS4 preview event affect Skype. Multitasking, location services, data encryption service, and a user alerting service. David answered a few questions by email.

Skype Journal: Now that two apps can be running at the same time, will OS4 let Skype expose its own APIs to third party Apple developers to build iPhone or iPad plug-ins? Are apps now allowed to talk with each other?

David Ponsford: Co-operation between 3rd party apps was not something that was discussed at the iPhone OS 4.0 preview by Apple.

Skype in the iPhone's background, shown on a second status bar, at the top.

SJ: What does Apple's encryption service add beyond what Skype for iPhone does now? Could there be efficiencies? Will OS4's encryption protocols be compatible with Skype's? Aside from encrypting Skype-to-Skype and Skype-to-Server communication, might they be used to increase the privacy of Skype data stored locally on an Apple mobile device?

DP: We are still evaluating Apple’s new enterprise features. All Skype-to-Skype communications are encrypted, as a matter of course. Our users’ privacy is of paramount importance to us.

SJ: Which of Skype's features will be turned off when running in the background? Will Skype's SILK codec be available during background calls?

DP: We are still evaluating all the new features available to us as part of the iPhone OS 4.0 developer preview that was released on Thursday. Early indications are that that Skype-to-Skype calls will still use the full capabilities of the SILK codec, even when they are in the background.

SJ: I haven't seen any Skype alerts on the iPhone so far. Does Skype use the existing alert service? For which notifications? Will you change the types of alerts Skype uses to communicate with a user? The frequency?

DP: Thursday’s technology demo of iPhone OS 4.0, in which Skype participated, used the new local notification system to show that an incoming Skype call was happening.

SJ: Apple is creating stronger technical and experience design differences between the 3GS and earlier iPhones, the iPod Touch family, and the iPad. Will Skype need to offer different software for the platforms or will you be able to offer one OS4 app that adjusts to each device?

DP: It is too early for Skype to give a definitive answer on this specific point; however, it will be our goal to make a single download available to all iPhone users that want Skype, making it super simple to get Skype for your iPhone, with all the features available for it.

SJ: Now that location services are available to Skype through APIs, what will you consider before making it easy or automatic for users to pipe their location into their Skype's presence?

DP: If Skype believes there is a significant benefit to our customers to offer location-based services, we will look at how these can be offered, while making sure that privacy and other customer experience issues are taken into account at the same time.

SJ: Skype on Verizon Android and Blackberry phones is promising betting integration with native address books. Do the OS4 APIs make it easier to offer similar sync, data population, and dialing features in Skype?

DP: Skype will be evaluating the new APIs available to all developers in order to understand what new features they offer us in order to create the best user experience possible for our users.

SJ: How did you wind up on stage in Cupertino?

DP: My dashing good looks, confusing accent and need to get Gold status on Virgin Atlantic...

SJ: What's Steve Jobs' Skype name?

DP: I don’t know this one. J

tags: skype, apple, iphone, mobile, ipod, os4

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

April Fools ideas for next year

2010-04-02T09:33:00.001-07:00

Skype announces the return of the 1MB windows client. An end to bloat.

Skype HQ phone number auctioned on eBay.

Tencent Buys Skype, Moves HQ to Shenzhen. Now with free spyware.

AT&T and Comcast start bidding war for Skype.

Skype now translated into Na'vi, Klingon, Elvish, Ancient Greek, Latin, Babylonian Cuneiform, Esperanto.

Meg Whitman crashes Skype when friending 20 million California voters.

Skype for Cars: Speech UI. Video calls projected on windshield. Dashboard sharing. p2p augmented by car-to-car networks.

Chinese government improves filtering technology; dubs out forbidden phrases from Skype voice calls in real time. Instead of Tiananmen Square you're heard to say Toffee Square.

Iron Man 2 suit to feature Skype mobile. Problems with vertical roaming outside of Verizon 3G zones.

Skype for Musicians. Now embedded in keyboards, guitars, wind instruments. tricky dialing. MusicXML, midi. emoticon generator from music. licensing deals with record labels.

Skype mobile for futbols. In time for FIFA world cup.

Skype for IMAX. The audience speaks. (Take that, THX)

l'shanah haba'ah b'AprilFools

eBay buys back Skype; UPDATE: Skype to lead eBay

2010-04-01T03:01:00.000-07:00

"We missed them. We haven't been as cool, or as profitable, since they left" said an eBay spokesman of Skype Ltd. "Since we own a swap meet, a mall, an ad network, a ticket agency, a car dealership, and a bank, a phone company should fit right in. It's about harmony, not about synergy."

UPDATE: 0630 Pacific, 1 April 2010. Conf call.

Skype management taking over eBay, and their plans for the first 30 days.

Business integration

eBay stock listed on London stock exchange, denominated in euros
Engineering moves to Estonia, headquarters moves to London

Harmony strategy

eBay.com features auctions with emoticons
Skype sports new emoticons: (sold), (sniped), (Elvis bobblehead), (powerseller)
All eBay users can use eBay ID to automatically log into Skype
eBay now available in 50 languages and 104 countries
Every eBay seller and category now has own infomercial channel
Skype acquires OnState and furnishes free Skype call center to every eBay and Half seller
Skype acquires Pamela so buyers can fax bids and get fax auction results
Webcams and headphones category now at top of all search results
All phone numbers to have Skype links
eBay apps now preinstalled on Samsung, Panasonic and LG smart TVs, Verizon smartphones
PayPal opens in Russia, India, China
eBay Motors installs Skype with every car
Skype for Windows 5 adds tab showing contacts sorted by eBay activity and trust rank; search window lets you find things to buy

tags: skype, #aprilfools, ebay

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Skype is in Verizon Company Stores

2010-03-29T03:17:00.001-07:00

Verizon's go-to-market teams had Skype in place last week.

Employees were oriented. Six months' ago these same employees had never tried Skype. Now they know a few talking points.
Demo Blackberry and Android phones had Skype installed and easy to find
Local test accounts with contacts were created for each demo phone
Information cards for the phones were updated with Skype listed as a feature of each phone (right above Bluetooth!)
A small Skype sign was with the phones
The in-store phone selector software now lists Skype as one feature among many.
Inventory comes with a shortcut to install the latest version of Skype mobile for Verizon, a thin client.

Seven things to improve:

Preload the whole Skype client, not just a download link. Conversion rates are much higher with a full preload.
International positioning. "Call your family" in Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Korean, Ethiopian and Portuguese (my neighborhood) on store-front posters.
Unbury Skype. Show Skype on the first page in the phone selector.
Enroll. "What Skype name would you like to use with your new phone?" in the check-out procedure.
Top up. Accept payments for Skype credits in the store.
Educate. Data sheets and flyers for customers to take, explaining Skype, Skype mobile, Skype To Go, Calling Plans, and how Skype mobile is different from Skype on PCs or iSkype.
Front of store posters showing video calling (whoops, not this year)

Great rollout to the company-owned stores. Now to check the reseller channel.

tags: skype, verizon, mobile, usa, smartphones, android, droid, blackberry, retail, news

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Video: Skype+Verizon at CTIA: We're living together

2010-03-24T06:03:00.001-07:00

In which John Harrobin and Russ Shaw announce Verizon Wireless (the largest 3G company in the US) and Skype (the largest over-the-top Internet calling company) are moving in after announcing they were dating in February at the Mobile World Congress. Reactions to Skypizon (Veriskype?) are enthusiastic here at the mobile industry's association and lobbying arm love fest.

The news release:

SKYPE MOBILE FOR VERIZON WIRELESS AVAILABLE THURSDAY
Companies Deliver Expansive Global Calling Community and Free Skype-to-Skype Calls on the Most Reliable Wireless Network in the United States

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg; LAS VEGAS and BASKING RIDGE, N.J., United States – (Virtual Press Office) - From CTIA WIRELESS 2010® in Las Vegas, Verizon Wireless and Skype today announced Skype mobile™ will be available this Thursday, March 25, starting with nine Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones. Skype mobile uses the Verizon Wireless voice network for the wireless connection of the Skype-to-Skype calls, providing Verizon Wireless customers with a superior experience and top-notch call quality.

Beginning Thursday, new and existing Verizon Wireless customers with Android 3G smartphones and BlackBerry 3G smartphones can get Skype mobile in a number of ways. Visit www.verizonwireless.com/skypemobile or www.skype.com/go/mobile from a PC to enter the mobile phone number to receive a text message with a link to the application. Verizon Wireless customers can also text “SKYPE” to 2255 to receive the link. In addition, Android customers will be able to download the app from Android Market™. New BlackBerry customers will find the application on their 3G smartphones’ home screens in the Downloads folder when activated.

Skype mobile gives Verizon Wireless 3G smartphone users with data plans a simple new way to stay in touch with friends, family and business colleagues around the corner and around the world while on Verizon Wireless’ network. Skype mobile users can:

make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype contact around the globe;

send and receive unlimited instant messages with other Skype users;

manage the Skype contact list directly from the mobile application; and

call international phone numbers at competitive Skype calling rates.

John Harrobin, senior vice president of digital media and marketing, noted, “Skype mobile will change the way mobile consumers in the United States make and receive calls. With an ‘always on’ capability, Skype mobile on your 3G smartphone means you never have to miss a call or make an appointment to connect with Skype users around the world. With Skype mobile, we’re untethering Skype users from their PCs and enabling them to stay connected – on the best wireless network in the country.”

Russ Shaw, general manager of Mobile for Skype, noted, “Skype mobile will deliver an unparalleled experience for Verizon Wireless customers. It will be the best way to enjoy unlimited conversations with Skype contacts all over the world at no extra cost. In addition, Skype mobile will allow people to easily and inexpensively make calls to landlines and mobiles abroad at Skype rates.”

Customers need a Verizon Wireless smartphone and data plan to use Skype mobile. Skype-to-Skype calls will not be charged against their monthly minute allowances or data plans. Verizon Wireless customers can visit www.skype.com to purchase Skype Credit to make Skype Out calls and make calls to international landline or mobile numbers.

Skype and Verizon Wireless have been working together to create this application specifically for Verizon Wireless customers and to take advantage of the most reliable wireless network in the United States.

Skype mobile will be available initially on millions of best-selling Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones, including the BlackBerry® Storm™ 9530, Storm2™ 9550, Curve™ 8330, Curve™ 8530, 8830 World Edition, and Tour™ 9630 smartphones, as well as DROID by Motorola, DROID ERIS™ by HTC and Motorola DEVOUR™.

For more information about Verizon Wireless, visit www.verizonwireless.com or follow the company on Twitter at http://twitter.com/verizonwireless. Learn more about Skype at www.skype.com or follow the company at http://twitter.com/skypemobile.

# # #

tags: skype, verizon, blackberry, android, storm, storm2, curve, tour, droid, motorola, devour, htc, eris, rim

Using Skype mobile for Verizon Wireless

2010-03-23T22:04:00.000-07:00

Here's the Say It Visually! whiteboard guide to Skype mobile on Verizon Wireless phones. Positioned as freeing you from your PC (the way, um, mobile phones do). Bonus points for unlimited Skype-to-Skype calling from your phone with your flat rate Verizon data plan. On YouTube.

tags: explanation, communications, verizon, wireless, mobile, sayitvisually

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Listen to Skype+Verizon Press Conference at Noon Pacific

2010-03-23T08:49:00.001-07:00

Skype into the event: 877-883-4690 (United States and Canada) or +1 706-758-5386 (international). Conference ID: 64218465

Verizon Wireless And Skype To Unveil Skype mobile At CTIA WIRELESS 2010 In Las Vegas
03/22/2010
WHO:
Verizon Wireless, the leading wireless provider in the United States, and Skype, the company with the software that enables the world’s conversations
WHAT:
Verizon Wireless and Skype will hold a news conference during CTIA WIRELESS 2010® to unveil Skype mobile™. Speakers will include:
John Harrobin, senior vice president of digital media and marketing, Verizon Wireless
Russ Shaw, general manager of Mobile, Skype
WHERE:
CTIA Press Conference Room: Room N241 – North Hall
Las Vegas Convention Center
3150 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
WHEN:
12:00 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, March 23, 2010
To listen to a teleconference of the news conference, participants may call:
877-883-4690 (United States and Canada)
+1 706-758-5386 (international)
Conference ID: 64218465
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 91 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 83,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
About Skype
Skype is software that enables the world’s conversations. Millions of individuals and businesses use Skype to make free video and voice calls, send instant messages and share files with other Skype users. Every day, people everywhere also use Skype to make low-cost calls to landlines and mobiles. Download Skype to your computer or mobile phone at skype.com.
####

Ooma still in Fry's during CTIA

2010-03-23T08:42:00.001-07:00

Ooma is on display as an alternative to Skype, MagicJack, VoIP from your US cable company, and your local landline. One flat fee for hardware ($250), use your existing phones, your current phone number, and never pay for landline service again. Just in time for the CTIA Wireless trade show here in Las Vegas. In tough times it might be worth it to pay once and be free from your local phone company. I can't help thinking the price is steep even so, compared to MagicJack. [From my iPhone, so please pardon the few seconds of my cut-off head.]

tags: skype, ooma, ctia, voip.

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @evanwolf.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Happy 4th Birthday, Twitter!

2010-03-21T14:45:00.001-07:00

Congratulations, Twitter! To get the most out of both Skype and Twitter, try Twype. Julian Bond's Twype (Windows) pipes your latest tweet to your Skype mood message.

Four things Skype could learn from Twitter:

"Sign in with Twitter" makes having a Twitter identity more valuable to customers and web site owners. "Sign in with Skype" would be an easy hit.
Twitter Lists show how important and useful it is to organize your contacts and share them.
Twitter's API makes it easy to create Twitter clients, devices, and services. Twitter encourages the marketplace of ideas to experiment with user experience and add value. Server-based APIs get uptake; client-side ones like Skype's don't.
Following is not Friending. Twitter shows the value of supporting asymmetric relationships. You can fill your inbox with a stream of news, family, celebrity life, and colleague updates. You can share opinion and updates with the world, just to those your trust, or privately one-to-one. Although Skype is fantastic at symmetric, mutually close, relationships, it's a blunt tool for treating the many kinds of people in your world.

Three things Twitter could learn from Skype:

Community supported localization. More markets, every product, with the help of volunteers.
The Freemium business model can work. Cash fuels growth and keeps customers loyal.
Ladder of intimacy. Skype makes it easy to shift conversations from presence to IM to voice to video. Twitter doesn't let you dive deeper into a conversation without leaving.

Happy Birthday! And thanks for all the fun.

tags: twitter, skype, twype, #twitterday

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Egyptian government orders Skype mobile blocked

2010-03-17T10:03:00.001-07:00

From a Reuters report:

The NTRA had tolerated mobile internet telephony until a drop in international call volumes over recent months pushed them to tell Egypt's operators to enforce the ban, Badawy said.

"We monitor what is happening on international voice calling and it has had an adverse effect on it," he said by phone.

Tarek responds to a Global Voices post:

It’s official now, the NTRA – the government – is the one responsible for this and not the mobile operators. However I have strong feelings that the operators are the one who pushed the NTRA to take such decision in the first place as Skype harms their – as well as Telecom Egypt’s – revenues.

tags: skype, banned, egypt, ntra, badawy, mobile, skypemobile

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

The Skype Song

2010-03-16T15:46:00.001-07:00

The Skype Song by Eric Ng, Mhae Rempillo, Carlo Puche.

tags: skype, eric, ng, music, ericngmusic, ukulele, green, pineapple, song

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

16 Things I learned from GDC Wednesday

2010-03-11T13:53:00.001-08:00

I went to the Game Developers Conference yesterday.

Team voice chat is now a commodity, a feature you can buy/rent for your game from companies like GameSpy.
Players of team games don't like in-game voice chat.
- They want to talk with teammates outside of the game before team play (planning, coordination, training) and after (after-action reports, peer feedback).
- They want to keep their group together independent of a game service. They want the freedom to take their clan/tribe/friends to another world/network.
They like the ownership and control Ventrilo offers but don't want its inconvenience and cost.
Nobody in GDC's "audio track" is discussing voice chat. They care about designing a game's sounds and score and how to integrate them into the product and the gaming experience.
Facebook and asynchronous gameplay have everyone's attention. AAA games are too expensive and slow-to-market unless you are very well funded. "Social games" cost less and make it easier to diversify, experiment and learn from your customers.
Interoperability among games and player data portability are not interesting here. I wonder if activity streams might find some fans.
Open source? What's open source?
Creative commons? Oh, that could save on licensing art and music.
Scarce talent? Producers with game experience. Recruiters settle for product managers from non-game software companies and try to reshape them for the game culture. I can't believe CAA doesn't have a practice to represent senior and up-and-coming game talent. By the way, this is a relatively new problem; five years' ago the hunt was for technical and storytelling talent.
Auteurs seem to be the hub of studios and publishers collect them, steal them, and shore up their weaknesses.
Game studios assemble teams for each stage in a game's life cycle, staffing up and moving people out as needed. The kind of project culture you see in civil engineering and Hollywood.
Like film schools, schools for game makers teach teamwork and collaboration, including when to stab a fellow student in the back and kick the "dead weight" off the team.
All the bigger live game companies are building deep pools of knowledge about player behavior, psychology, and how designs affect both. Deep and secret pools of knowledge.
Hallway talk is nearly always better than the presentations. Companies compete with secret technologies, designs, and features. This means they only share widely known history and practices. Insights are sparse.
Apple's iPad is droolworthy for game developers. Designers are imagining much richer mobile experiences than can fit on a phone's screen.
Publishers confront a difficult and costly tradeoff. How do you make each game for every kind of device and user location (iPhone, iPad, PC, Wii, PSP, Xbox, SMS, television, etc.) with a consistent feel and identity while somehow adapting the experience to the strengths and limits of each platform and adding incentives to play across multiple modes? Resources are finite.

tags: gdc, gdc10, gdc2010, games, skype, voip, chat

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

photo: cc-by Official GDC

Why did Skype publish SILK's source code?

2010-03-11T12:12:00.001-08:00

Voxeo's Dan York shows Skype released the source code to its SILK super wideband audio codec to the "CODEC Working Group" of the Internet Engineering Task Force, one the Internet's standards bodies. SILK is one of the things that make Skype calls sound so rich and vivid. And now SILK is available for everyone. Jim Courtney reviews SILK's history and lists its early adopters on the way to becoming a freely licensed Internet standard.

Why is Skype doing this?

I think this goes to two issues: adoption and competitive advantage.

Skype got all kinds of grief for keeping SILK proprietary and out of the public domain. That's a barrier to adoption when there are other wideband audio codecs with less encumbered licenses. So publishing the source should, in theory, make this easier for companies and governments, big and small, to choose SILK. SILK is not in the lead when I asked operators at a CES wideband audio session whether they were interested. So anything Skype can do to make it more attractive is a good thing.

As for competitive advantage, Skype's advantage in talk audio and video quality over other VoIM operators (Microsoft, Yahoo!, AOL) disappeared when GIPS licensed their wideband codecs. Skype's advantage is really in the network effects (that more people have Skype dialtone than other networks).

So how do you put SILK to use? First, you make it a benefit of partnering with Skype. Make your embedded and mobile hardware sound better or use less bandwidth. Offer wideband audio at narrowband prices. You're free to do this without Skype, but why not take advantage of Skype's global marketing power and be the device/operator that not only sounds good but sounds good with Skype? Imagine that you're a smart television maker; this would be one more reason to pre-install Skype codecs.

One last competitive advantage point: consumers don't care about which codec gives them HD audio/video. Skype doesn't much care either. What matters to Skype is that you define who they are competing against. Their grand enemy/obstacle/incumbent/dominator isn't Microsoft or Google or Logitech or Apple. It's the local and long distance carrier. So anything which helps Skype develop allies that make the PSTN look slow, decrepit, and obsolete positions Skype favorably by comparison.

tags: skype, silk, ietf, codecs, open source

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Download: Skype for Windows 4.2.0.155 Hotfix

2010-03-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

Skype announced a security hotfix today for Skype for Windows 4.2. Detailed release notes (pdf). Download the hotfix now.

Three fixes in this release:

Payments: "It was not possible to make payments with a credit card that had not been previously used for any Skype purchases."
Installation. "Skype crashed for some users after installation."
Security. "Fixed Skype URI handler security vulnerability."

CORRECTION: It's build 155, not 152.

Skype reported these "most common issues that users may experience while using this version."

Video.
- Skype may experience problems when running Cyberlink YouCam video decoration software.
  Current solution: Upgrade Cyberlink YouCam to version 3 or close the software before making Skype video calls.
- In some rare cases when sending video from a Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 (68A-00001), the local preview may freeze. The other side will still receive video normally.
  Current solution: None available at this time
- When on a video call to Asus Videophone users the local video preview might freeze and the other side sees a green still image after some time into call.
  Current solution: Redial the video call.
- The Skype video snapshots feature is not working on Windows XP SP3.
  Current solution: None available at this time
- The High Quality Video logo sometimes flashes during a video call.
  Current solution: None available at this time
Calling.
- It rarely happens that calls are not successful when two users call each other at exactly the same time
  Current solution: None available at this time
- The microphone mute functionality is not restored after finishing a Skype call when using Windows Vista.
  Current solution: None available at this moment, this is Windows Vista behavior.
Call Quality Indicator.
- The Call Quality Indicator shows medium quality for web-cameras although it should show high quality.
  Current solution: None available at this time
- The Call Quality Indicator shows a false error message that your webcam is in use by other application, even if it is not in use anymore.
  Current solution: Ignore the message.
Skype Access.
- The Skype Access connection offering does not pop-up correctly when trying to connect to supported hotspot after starting Skype up.
  Current solution: Connect to supported Wi-Fi hotspot before running Skype.
Instant Messages.
- No warning message is being displayed when closing a conversation with the close button in compact mode.
  Current solution: None available at this time
Presence.
- The automatic 'Away' status setting doesn't work if it has been set a long time ago.
  Current solution: Change the auto away time in options to something else and then back.
Accessibility.
- Browsing history is slow while running Jaws.
  Current solution: None available at this time
- Skype fails to detect some screen readers when they are started after running Skype.
  Current solution: Workaround: restart Skype.
Authorization requests.
- Users with screen readers may have problems noticing the new authorization requests in the Notification tab.
  Current solution: None available at this time
Browser plugin.
- Skype browser plugins for Internet Explorer and Firefox ignore meta tag not to highlight phone numbers.
  Current solution: None available at this time
- When a user opens their web browser with no network connectivity, Skype displays an error message that SkypeNames.exe wants to use Skype. This happens when opening Firefox for the first time after installing Skype with the IE and Firefox add-ons.
  Current solution: None available at this time
- Skype's Firefox browser plugin can not be uninstalled from the Firefox Extensions panel on Windows Vista and 7.
  Current solution: Uninstall Skype web features from Add or Remove programs dialogue.
- The Skype browser plugin highlights phone numbers and names while creating content on various popular websites.
  Current solution: Disable Skype browser plugins on affected webpages.
Video in mood.
- DailyMotion videos which have been added to a mood message are not being displayed to other contacts.
  Current solution: None available at this time
Localization.
- The country drop down list in the call phones tab is not localized to Russian.
  Current solution: None available at this time
3rd party issue.
- Having "IM Magician" installed on your computer may cause Skype to crash.
  Current solution: If you are affected by this issue then please uninstall "IM Magician" until the vendor provides patch for this issue.
Miscellaneous.
- Netbooks can experience problems displaying some of the Skype windows.
  Current solution: None available at this time
- Certain graphical components may be misaligned when running Skype with a high graphics DPI setting.
  Current solution: None available at this time

Hat tip to Raul Liive and Jim Courtney.

tags: skype, downloads, windows, updates, hotfix

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
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Portability Pledge – A first draft for TheStartupBus

2010-03-09T09:30:00.001-08:00

The Startup Bus to SXSW Interactive 2010 is now rolling south by southeast. "12 strangers will board a bus in San Francisco. At 60 miles an hour and over 48 hours, they will conceive, build and launch 3 tech startups in time for a SXSW party in Austin." Can you bootstrap a company and squeeze in a decent portability policy? The Bus startups will try. The DataPortability Project wants to make your site's portability policy an impulse buy but your company lawyers and designers will want more time.

My proposal:

The Portability Pledge.

Four steps:

Take the Portability Policy Pledge
Draft your portability policy
Set up a customer conversation channel
Post your Portability Policy Pledge on your site

1. Write Your Portability Policy Pledge

This is your promise to have a signed-off portability policy posted by a deadline. Model language:

On behalf of THIS ORGANIZATION operating THIS SITE we promise to post a complete Portability Policy on this page by 1 July 2010. We will be terribly embarrassed if we don't.
Like a Privacy Policy, our Portability Policy will explain your rights, in this case your rights to access, share, synchronize, delete and backup your data with our services.
We'll also explain our responsibilities and how to work with us to improve your portability experience.
We're working with DataPortability.org to create a useful policy. Learn more HERE.
We believe we can do more for you by responsibly sharing your data with services you trust.
We support these Portability Principles:
- It should be easy to bring your identity, friends, files and history with you to our site.
- It should be just as easy to share them from our site with other sites.
- We should make it easy to keep your information fresh with updates.
- We will be considerate with your data when our relationship ends.
- We will be explicit and transparent about our portability practices.
If you'd like to discuss your portability rights with us, join us in this forum HERE.

2. Draft your portability policy.

Your policy will/should go through lawyers. It's part of you site's Terms of Service, End User License Agreement, or whatever contract connects you with your site's users.

This draft is what you'll give your lawyer.

The parts:

2.A. Welcome to our portability policy.
2.B. Our disclosures
2.C. How to talk with us about this
2.D. Cautions and other limits

2.A. Welcome to our portability policy.

This document is...

You'll explain what this document is, what it is called.

We're writing it so...

Say the purpose, what's inside, what's not inside.

We hope you get out of it...

Takeaways and benefits for users who read this and when to come back and read it in more depth.

2.B. Our disclosures

This is the body of your portability policy. You'll answer questions, grouped into five categories (Start, Sync, Access, Share, End). While the questions can be answered briefly with yes/no and multiple choice answers, it may take more time to provide the optional descriptions that explain your answers.

See the the full questionnaire and guide below.

2.C. How to talk with us about this

Learn more about data portability here...

Contact our ombudsman here...

Contact our portability alliance manager here...

Discuss with our other customers here...

2.D. Cautions and other limits

Subject to change...

Not my fault...

We only control ourselves...

We're not perfect...

3. Start Your Customer Conversation

You'll want a place to let customers ask data portability policy questions, for you to make announcements, conduct surveys, etc. Something like GetSatisfaction or UserVoice. You'll link here from your portability policy page.

4. Post Your Pledge

The default file name: portabilitypolicy.html
Popular locations: Root. Acme.com/portabilitypolicy.html
Link to your portability policy on every page where you link to your privacy policy. "Portability" or "Portability Policy".
We'll have a form for you to list your policy on the dataportability.org site.

There you go: four simple steps to a Portability Pledge.

You'll deliver on your promise when you answer and post your the Portability Policy Questionnaire.

The Portability Policy Questionnaire:

Start.

How well do you welcome me, my history, my friends?

1. Are your import and export APIs and formats documented?

Yes
No
Suggested: If Yes,where are they documented?

2. Do people need to create a new identity for this site, or can they use an existing one?

New Identity - The person is expected to create a fresh identity that is used on this site. This site does not trust a third party to authenticate identity.
Existing Identity - The person can register an account that is accessed using an identity authenticated by some third party. This product assumes that, by selecting a third party to authenticate their identity, the person accepts that third party as trustworthy.
Suggested: If Existing Identity, what identity services will you support?

Sync.

How do you keep my data fresh?

3. Must people import things into this product, or can the product refer to things stored someplace else? Can this product work with objects and information whose "authoritative home" is another product, or can this product only work with things that it hosts directly?

Must Host - In order for this product to work with a thing, it must be hosted directly.
Can Refer - This product has the ability to access and work with things that are hosted by third parties, assuming that the third party allows this.
Suggested: If Can Refer, what items can be stored elsewhere and under what conditions?

4. Can this site accept updates that users make on other sites? In cases where the product tracks or manages things that the person has stored on some third party product, can this product watch the third party for updates?

One Time Import - This product only sees the remote thing at import time, and does not watch for changes.
Watch For Updates - This product watches the third party for changes, and updates its own view of the remote thing to match.
Suggested: If Yes, what types of items and under what conditions?

Access.

How well do you help me use and manage my information?

5. Can the person allow other sites to use the things they've created or updated here? Does this product provide a way for third parties to authenticate a person and read or write?

No Access - The person must use this product to read or access whatever it manages.
Third Parties Can Read - The person can provide the third party with authentication credentials, and can read data managed by this product.
Third Parties Can Write - The person can provide the third party with authentication credentials, and can write data managed by this product.
Suggested: If Yes, what technical protocols are supported and how can users manage the authority they give other sites?

6. Can the person download or remotely access a copy of everything they've provided to this service? As part of their standard use of most products, people import or create things. Does this product provide an open, DRM-free way for people to retrieve or access via third party all of the things they've created or provided?

No Access - This product does not offer the person the ability to download the things they've provided.
Remote Access - The product provides an open, DRM-free way for people to download all of the things they've provided to the product, or remotely access it using a third party product.
Suggested: If Yes, how and in what forms?

7. Do you disclose where my data is being kept in the real world?

Yes
No
Suggested: If Yes, where can I learn where my data is kept?

8. Can I control where my data is kept in the real world?

Yes
No
Suggested: If Yes, how can I exercise those controls?

Share.

How well do you help me share well with others?

9. If a person updates something here, is that change stored only by this product or can the person ask this product to store it elsewhere? Can this product accept some other site as being the authoritative home of a thing it knows about?

Must Be Authoritative - This product assumes that it is the authoritative home of all things it manages, and does not update third parties.
Can Update Remote - This product can work with a third party that is assumed to be authoritative. All updates made by the person using this product are also forwarded to the third party.
Suggested: If Yes, how does it work in practice?

10. Can the person download or remotely access information that others have provided to the product? In cases where the product allows download or remote access, can the person export or access all of the data to which they have access, or only data which they have directly created?

Provider Only - This person may only export or access data which they have directly provided.
Full Access - The person may export or download any data to which they have access on this product, subject to reasonable usage and abuse rules.
Suggested: If Yes, how and in what forms and with what other services or protocols?

End.

How well do you support a graceful exit from our relationship?

11. Will this site delete an account and all associated data upon a user's request? If the user creates a password or account for use with this product, does the product provide a way to cancel the account and erase all data associated with it?

Immortal Accounts - Accounts or passwords, once created, are assumed to live for as long as the product is available. Desktop applications and other stand-alone products that do not have host services may have no way to remotely revoke accounts or passwords.
Data Expires - If this product acts as a hub, the data it copies from other sites will expire in a set amount of time. This product must be linked to a place where it can refresh or synchronize data in order to stay current.
Accounts Deleted Upon Request - This product has the ability to remove a person's account and all relevant data, and will do so when requested by the person or third party with appropriate legal standing.
Suggested: If Yes, where can I find the procedure to request deletion.

12. Do you give notice before terminating the account?

Yes
No
Suggested: If Yes, how much notice do you give and in what forms?

13. Can you recover a terminated account?

Yes
No
Suggested: If Yes, how thoroughly, under what conditions, how quickly, and how is recovery triggered?

14. Do you have a posted appeals process or dispute resolution procedure?

Yes
No
Suggested: If Yes, where are the procedures posted?

###

As you fill this out:

Would you have designed your service differently if you read the Portability Pledge beforehand?
Do you really need the pledge or are you ready to write a full portability policy before Austin?

tags: dataportabilityproject, dpp, portabilitypolicy, portabilitypledge, pledge, policy, sxsw, sxswi, roadtrip, promise

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

23 million Skype users log in at the same time

2010-03-08T20:10:00.001-08:00

Skype hit a new high watermark for user activity today: 23 million people logged in to the Skype network at the same time.

Skype should reach 26 million concurrent by the end of the year, barring any major improvements in distribution or marketing.

Dialtone is the most useful measure we have of Skype's capacity. The more people who use Skype, the more valuable Skype is to all the users. Skype's capacity for network effect is driven by the number of people with accounts times the percent of the day they are available for incoming calls.

tags: skype, charts, stats, statistics, trends, dialtone density, dialtone, accounts, activity, metcalfeslaw

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Microsoft: Windows Live Messsenger: 325 million active users

2010-02-27T01:50:00.001-08:00

Jeff Kunins, Senior Director, Social Networking (Windows Live) at Microsoft (and Tellme alumnus), blogged some Live Messenger facts and figures. Monthly user behavior:

Status updates: 1 billion
Profile picture updates: tens of millions monthly
Emoticon packs: millions purchased monthly
Web traffic from Messenger to Windows Live Profile, Home, and SkyDrive: 300 million unique

tags: microsoft, stats, statistics, trends, charts, messenger

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
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Orphaning Skype for Windows Mobile users shows Leadership

2010-02-26T11:56:00.001-08:00

UPDATE: Added explanation of cow photo.

When is Windows Phone 7 Series coming to market? September 2010? Seven months from now? That's a long time to be making WinMobile users hate your brand. Or to keep investing in code that only runs on 6.5 with a short shelf life. In that spirit, Adobe announced it's suspending engineering for 6.5 flash products.

The cow to the left is being immobilized for humane slaughter. Photo: Dr. Temple Grandin. Do you love your product? Product portfolio managers set those feelings aside so they can end-of-life them at the right time.

Similarly Russ Shaw yesterday killed the Skype Lite for Windows Mobile thin client and the Skype for Windows Mobile app. Shaw is Skype's new VP/GM for its mobile business unit. Customer dissatisfaction with those products hurt Skype's reputation as easy, reliable and sensual. It took fresh eyes and a clear mandate to kill Skype's current offerings without a replacement ready. The user experience -– complaints of abysmal audio quality and improper hardware setup -- hurt Skype's business more than it helped.

Skype pulled these releases from distribution; if you have Skype installed on your Windows Mobile phone then you can Skype away all year.

Practicing product management sometimes feels like raising livestock. We have great hopes, spend time nurturing them, and get the most out of them during their productive life. When that productive life is over? Take them to the slaughterhouse and kill them. Make room for the next generation.

Skype's mobile services are available on most handsets yet Skype is still just starting to partner deeply with mobile operators. While the product portfolio is diversified, Hutchison Whampoa's 3 has been the only large carrier to seriously partner with Skype. Skype's partnership with Verizon is a great start at diversifying mobile revenue partners and expanding United States distribution.

Hat tip to WMPoweruser for breaking this.

Jim Courtney: Skype for Mobile – Now Focusing on a True Skype User Experience.
Jim Courtney: Skype for Mobile: An Interview with Skype’s Russ Shaw.
Russ Shaw: 2009 in Mobile, December 2009

tags: skype, windowsphone, mobile

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Skype's All Business

2010-02-25T16:08:00.001-08:00

Guest post by Dave Michels, Verge1 CEO, @DaveMichels

Want to know where enterprise UC is headed, take a look at Skype now. It seems counter-intuitive at first, but Skype is consistently ahead of the enterprise pack. Skype discovered IM before the enterprise, as well as softphones, presence, and desktop video. Skype has been a consumer service, but its impact on business is significant and growing.

Almost a year ago, when eBay declared its intention to host an IPO for Skype, I wrote the Case to Buy Skype. My logic was based on the fact that every voice communication equipment maker was working hard on desktop clients, presence, and telephony and what a great boost to absorb Skype's experience and user base. Skype is an usual solution, part carrier, part software, and increasingly (via partnerships) part hardware. EBay never got to an IPO with Skype, instead it spun it out and Silver Lake is now the majority owner. Silver Lake is also the majority owner of Avaya (and Nortel). My initial thought was Skype would be absorbed into Avaya, but I don't think so any more. Skype is becoming a very valuable brand in this Internet area of communications – and the company appears to be focused on rapid growth. Rumors of Avaya and Skype working closer together are strong, and such a partnership will likely result in strengthening both brands. It is unlikely the brands will be merged, but if they were it would be more likely Avaya (and Nortel) would be absorbed into Skype.

Skype is an amazing (free) service, amazing in its breadth, scope, and ability to monetize. The company is highly innovative and capturing a fair amount of attention at events such as last week's Mobile World Congress and the huge Consumer Electronics Show in January. Skype's service reach includes desktops around the globe, living rooms, mobile phones, and the board room. Skype-ready hardware devices include simple phones, televisions, cell phones, webcams, headsets, speaker saucers, and more (the PBX?). The service can be used for presence, audio calls, visual calls, and collaboration.

Skype's deal with Verizon last week at the Mobile World Congress shows how powerful Skype has become. Verizon and Skype made an exclusive agreement (sorry iPhone) to allow Verizon's smartphone users to access Skype over Verizon's 3G network with a new service called Skype Mobile. This is the first 3G calling plan with a mobile carrier's blessing to bypass calling plan minutes and Verizon's international calling rates. It serves as an admission by Verizon that VoIP is coming to wireless users (a voice plan is still required). But more telling is Verizon is using this as a way to differentiate and compete against AT&T and the iPhone. Andy Abramson describes the deal as a 'If you Can't Beat Them, Join Them' strategy by Verizon. Skype now represents 12% of international long distance traffic, and getting a slice of it is better than losing it all together.

As a consumer service, Skype has raised the expectations of corporate communications. Consumer services are supposed to be simple and limited when compared to enterprise class solutions. But at home with Skype, users connect with friends and relatives around the globe - visually and inexpensively. Incorporating Skype directly into the living room TV is a brilliant way to connect Grandma to her grandchildren. Not only is usage free, but it need only occur when both parties are at home (presence) and without overly complicated desktop computers. Can you do that with your customers and suppliers at the office? Possibly – but those ensuing conversations include words like "federation" and "H.323". Or just use Skype on the corporate PC (unless IT blocked it).

But Skype is not content with being labeled a consumer service. "Skype for Business" still sounds a bit out of place, but it's not. In fact, it is an established division of Skype recently headed by David Gurle. David reports directly to Skype President Josh Silverman and comes from Thomson Reuters where he migrated a messaging service into a collaboration service. Prior to that he headed (and created) Microsoft's Real Time Collaboration Group (NetMeeting, Windows Messenger, Exchange IM, Exchange Conferencing Server, Live Communications Server and Office Communications Server, as well as Microsoft’s acquisition of PlaceWare). In his first public UC appearance since hire, David will be a keynote speaker at the UC Expo in London on March 11.

It has been interesting to watch Skype's attempts to penetrate business mature. There was a solution with ActionTec called VoSKY which used a gateway to convert communications from Skype's packets to analog. This was a fairly simple solution, but it had issues with scalability and basic features. Scalability was a problem because it required PC type resources for just a few lines. Basic issues were a challenge because Skype does not support features like hunt groups, so it was best suited for outgoing calls. Then came a more comprehensive solution for Asterisk known as Skype For Asterisk. This Skype-to-SIP gateway offered the benefits of low-cost calling with Skype presence. It enabled users to make concurrent calls over one Skype account (from a desktop phone), transfer calls, and set/view status. Administration is done through a portal called the Skype BCP (Business Control Panel) where individual rights and prepaid balances are maintained. This solution was promising, but the Asterisk market isn't sufficient for Skype's appetite. Then came Skype For SIP. This solution requires much less custom integration and will be available to a large number of brands (initially certified for ShoreTel and Cisco). So far, it's just SIP trunking - no real integration to Skype's advanced features. The feature disparity between Skype for Asterisk and Skype for SIP is confusing. Matt Jordan, of Skype for Business, told me the disparities will be minimized and both will be rebranded as Skype Connect. Presumably, Skype Connect will be a SIP-based solution with various add-on modules for presence and potentially video.

Skype's influence over business communications is just beginning to be felt. It is increasingly used as a tool for direct communication and collaboration, and many enterprise communications vendors are beginning to see Skype (as Verizon did) more attractive as a partner than a competitor. Skype isn't just a communications network. It is a network of users that are pushing the capabilities of communication and collaboration. Skype is utilized around the world at the desktop (computer and phone), the living room, and the car – for audio, visual, and textual communications. Something few enterprise communications vendors can claim.

Reposted with permission from Unified Communication Strategies, an industry resource for enterprises, vendors, and system integrators

A 2009 history lesson: Mark Spencer on Skype and Asterisk

2010-02-23T14:42:00.001-08:00

Mark Spencer's speech to the Spring 2009 Emerging Communications Conference at the San Francisco Airport Marriott. His slides on Slideshare. eComm2010a looks hot and may sell out. I'll be speaking, and so will thought leaders from Skype, Google, Cisco, and a host of others.