From government to the RIAA we need new perspectives if we are going to make the transition to a network economy.

California to Regulate VoIP? According to this article over at Voxilla, VoicePulse CEO Ravi Sakaria has been put on notice by the state PUC that his company must begin adhering to telco rules, and has been ordered to "file an application with the Commission for authority to conduct business as a telecommunications utility no later than October 22, 2003.

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An article in Forbes provides a short sighted view of the changes currently happening in the consumer VoIP market. Apparently FWD (Free World Dialup) has been around for 10 months and until a month ago I'd never heard of it. Like the burgeoning social networks I'm wondering how many of these systems I need or want. ONE! The article does provide a good example for anonymity which can't be excuted the same way on Skype right now. May have to try it out and see if it will run side by side with Skype.

Free World Dialup from Forbes.com: Talking In The Free World

To some this will seem like more trouble than it's worth. Just as the economics of using FWD don't necessarily add up, neither do the economics of offering it. For now, Pulver runs FWD out of the goodness of his heart. Which is fine, since the whole system runs on a $5,000 dual-processor Linux server. But what if you wanted to make money offering IP phone service?

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Just yesterday Phill Wolff and I were having coffee (no WiFi and thus no Skype interruptions) and discussing how we could access walkie / talkie / Skype. Well it seems there are some hints here. Skype to GPRS enabled phones may not be that difficult. Hmmm....

Russell Beattie Notebook

This morning I saw that Jeremy Allaire had pointed out this new piece of software for our Nokia 3650s called Buzz2Talk which allows your phone to Push To Talk over an internet connection. In other words, VoIP from your mobile phone. Obviously I wanted to try it to see if it worked...

Something else to experiment with sometime.

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 01:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I was just Skyping with Mitch when we both began receiving Microsoft failure notices - Skype has to close. Ultimately Skype went completely down. As we tried to log back on I at first saw some 3000 online, then 12317 and then the rebuild appeared to accelerate reaching 45000+ pretty quickly. However this is still down from an earlier peak I saw this moring that logged 63346 as being online. This is roughly double two weeks ago and up approx. +50% versus one week ago.

Our conclusion was it was a "cascading failure of the peer directory systems. Is this balancing between broadband and dial-up? I have no idea. We do know and accept it is currently "BETA" software still with some glitches. Within minutes of various reboots it seems to be up and running again. In the meantime we finished our call via Vonage... at a lower sound quality - although we remained connected.

Was fascinating to see the peers re knitting the web and their numbers climbing. Clearly such global failures have to be eliminated!

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 01:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've been talking to bloggers and reading blogs on Skype. There's a lot of chatter from David,Dina, Lilia, Ton, Phil, Mitch, Russell, , Roland and many more.  The demands for certain features are growing. This posting attempts to define how to differentiate Skype's product options.  It focuses on Individual Skype Accounts; rather than business which is not addressed here.  I've not set any prices --- I would appreciate your feedback and comments.  

Skype Individual Accounts

This outlines a possible consumer structure that will lead to a charging model. 

On Friday I blogged about Skype being a walled garden I was also thinking about Skype's potential third world business opportunities with Internet Cafe's. So it just proves that when you become aware and start looking for emerging indicators.... that just maybe it's in the news.

Networking the Telecom Industry

Utilizing the communications channels built to terminate international voice calls into Vietnam, AMEI will create a staging platform that will allow their joint venture partners to promote, market and sell a selection of telecommunications solutions throughout Vietnam. The system will be configured to both place and receive telephone calls. AMEI will provide the necessary hardware and software for the partners to implement the VoIP calling system in each of their Internet Cafes. These devices will be routed directly back to AMEI in North America, where the calls will be routed on a least-cost routing basis to their final destinations. AMEI is currently testing two gateway networks offering bundled long distance packages in order to maximize discounts of up to 70% to its venture partners.

The beta system testing will take approximately two weeks after which AMEI and its partners have projected a minimum volume of 10,000,000 minutes a month of long distance usage, representing over $ 1,000,000 USD per month of gross revenue to the Company. Unlike North America, Vietnam and its burgeoning economy have minimal communications systems infrastructures in place and the average citizen has to rely on outlets such as Internet Cafes for access to the Internet and/or long distance calling. These Cafes, many of which are open twenty four hours.

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Comments:

See http://www.henshall.com/blog/archives/000427.html I agree! :) Stuart Henshall • 9/29/03; 1:49:50 PM

Posted by Phil Wolff at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Phil adds to the Skype meme below with additional "wants" that I've also been mulling over. It lead me to a few more to start the week.

   1. Auto - Info Profile: For eveyone not on my buddy list each incoming call should automatically open their profile. I may also want to specify that for all profiles filled with less than x-details Eg: First Name / Last Name, location etc.. to notify sender that I don't accept calls that don't match this criteria without ringing me.

   2. Profile / Photo Fix. I'd like to insure I see photos of friends on my buddy list when they call. They could be incorporated into the directory as well. I'd like to insure that all others photo's are optional "view photo" when the info advice is received. Concern will grow about offensive photos.

   3. Call Message Integration: For those I'm calling who are not on my buddy list I'd suggest a two-click calling option. This would enable me to send a short personalized message with my profile when placing the call. For example providing a business reason for the call.

   4. Timestamp: I need timezones in my buddylist and a current time for caller in their info file. This may be further enhanced with some form of "politeness" time management system.

   5.   GeoUrl: Adding where we are in the world might tie-to timestamps. However even more specific tie-ins may enhance the opportunities for social networking. Some WiFi applications are already experimenting in this area. With time I'm sure "online" Skype users within X area may prove interesting.

From a klog apart

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I should be able to initiate or stop this at any time before or during the call.

Either party should be able to block recording. The Veto button.

Indicate the call is being recorded by at least one party.

Permit routing of the audio stream to a third-party recording service.

Recording a call is Skype functionality that I need now. I do lots of interviews and I would like to record my calls. I would like, if I could, to record and podcast calls from an audio blog. Adding recording functionality would greatly improve the Skype app. Ralph Poole • 10/8/04; 2:33:26 PM

Posted by Phil Wolff at 06:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Skype knows when I'm available to take calls. Let me share that.

Expose user status to other programs.

• Ehanced blogrolls, showing not only who's posted lately, but who's online.
• Newsreaders that show author status next to the posts I'm reading.
• A near-realtime status icon on my blog, so you know if I'm available.
• Integration with IM clients, so we can see if buddies are skypeready.

Skyperolls should be sharable. I'd want to be able to merge skyperolls.

Make available Skyperoll Me links: click to add a person to one of your skyperolls.

Posted by Phil Wolff at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As long as we're talking about sound, I want scheduled text-to-speech conversion of pre-selected RSS feeds. Speak them into an MP3 file. Automatically download them to an iPod for offline listening at the gym or during a commute. Feeds become folders, posts become files, to help with navigation.

While you're doing it, check the RSS feeds for audio enclosures. Download those too.

Nice idea! Text to speech, even with the clunky stephen hawking voice would be a cool way to pass time at the gym. Otherwise I just make guys uncomfortable by eyeing them. Todd • 11/26/03; 7:56:13 PM

Posted by Phil Wolff at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There's increasing discussion around Skype and its business model. The question keeps getting asked. How will they make money? Beyond software charges where is the next money making opportunity? Personally I don't think there will be much charging until a million people are on all the time - perhaps more. So far we are only at 50000. So there's some way to go.

For a call charging model I first thought of those used for cellular in many countries outside the USA where one just pays a flat fee. In NZ you can call any number in with no minute limitations. Cell phone to cell phone calls were also free. However (and unlike America) a landline to cell phone call was expensive. Probably still round US$ .20 to .30 cents a minute. This same barrier exists on international long distance.

Call-in Charging Makes it more Viral
I've had a sense that all the "money constructs" are about calling "out" rather than calling "in" to Skype. What if Skype failed to execute a call "out" of the garden but quickly enabled the cheapest calls on earth in? That would help growth --- right! It would also infect others. Even with a free Skype account others could call you without knowing anything about Skype, just that you have a new number.

So the step two in the money making infrastructure is in enabling people to call into the Skype network. In the US we have 900 numbers 1010629, 1010987 and other dial round services. I'd imagine my New Zealand mother-in-law - no-PC being very happy with a local call and a cent a minute to dial internationally. Hour long calls from any phone in the world to a Skype account for less than $1.00?

Create a Simple Dial Solution for non Skype Callers
This sort of presumes that from a consumer perspective all you need to know is the equivalent of 1010Skype and the call to ID pressed numerically which then may require a choice from names currently online or a zip number or similar. I'm sure there is a voice activated solution somewhere that would dock with their directory. Then it connects. What could be easier? It also benefits Skype. People then need to be transparent about their directories and names.

Businesses accounts could make this a free number by paying for the minutes at the access point. (Note those business accounts will want one account multiple answering capability).

Thus calls remain free between Skype users, many of which will upgrade their accounts for portability and access. Calls in to a Skype user are very low cost, perhaps a 10th of today's rates.

Plausible Scenario?
This scenario has the potential to attack both traditional POTS charging structures and hit mobile users that will soon be carrying WiFi enabled gadgets. It also encourages Skype users to continue bringing their friends into the garden.

To top it off. Skype is likely to enable "Skype to SMS" as they introduce this calling charging system. It would be interesting to play with the numbers. I'm guessing they could subsidize SMS with the inbound calls.

Other point ofs view???

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 04:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)

I'm having a blast here listening to a live broadcast from TDavid. Very humorous and completely off topic for me. He's set up his weekly show in a talkback format this week..so the audience has the option to call in using Skype. It has reframed my idea of what and how simply this can be done. Come-on Clay Shirky... when is the first "Many to Many" Talkback?

So what's happening? I'm listening to the broadcast via winamp and running IRC in trillian. People are Skyping in and Tdavid has a 800 line as well. Early question was a real insight. Instant use of the Callto tag straight from the IRC window. This is experimenting messing around doing it live trying to get the audio mixing right. I'm generally amazed at the sound quality. The set up is using two computers. David is broadcasting from one and the second computer is being used for the Skype call-ins. There's little latency in this whole system.

A shot of --- a desk and the second computer. ...

Equipment requires two computers and a few mics speakers etc. Cheap call it $50, more expensive $250 with some slicker audio mixing. Take the out of the mixing board and plug it into the other computer and using shoutcast start the live record.

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Some experiments using Skype enable a better understanding of how it works and what opportunities will emerge for "chargeable" versions. Let's hold the pricing theories a little longer and uncover some systems architectural features that begin to identify "product upgrades" and innovations to come. Points covered:

   

Will this be the first use of Skype for a web broadcast? Innovation in action!

"Today on the 160th live broadcast of the Script School Radio show, we are going to be discussing and demonstrating the use of Skype to allow live callers into our live web streamed radio show. For those who are interested in seeing and hearing a demo of this capability, stop on by and learn how." Things that

Radio feeds available at (mp3): http://www.scriptschool.com/radio/
IRC: irc.scriptschool.com #scriptschool
Java: http://www.scriptschool.com/commons/

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

When I posted on Dartmouth I had no idea it would be Slashdotted. The coments are interesting.

FREE VoIP for Dartmouth Students - Slashdot
From the prespective of the IT/IS department, they need to worry about
how much bandwidth consumption there's going to be, and that's it. Not quite right.

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This post covers where we are going next with Skype. My underlying belief that this is radical innovation and that managers must understand networks to be successful. I plan on using my blog as a good way to test these ideas with a live emerging case study that we are all involved in. Particularly for Skype connected bloggers there is a range of insight we can each individually and collectively bring to this.

Last nights small Skype dinner was a blast. We covered a lot of ground and there's more still to cover. You see I came away believing I'm not alone in thinking Skype may be a really big thing. More importantly with the whole VoIP space hotting up (don't believe me then just go to Google News and subscribe to VoIP and Skype respectively) it is worth considering alternate scenarios. From Microsoft to SBC, Motorola, Nokia and Dell, not to mention AOL and Yahoo, I hope to hell their management teams have this on their radar and it's not a surprise.

Skype represents Radical Innovation:
Some of you may wonder why I'm still running with the Skype story. It's frankly a great space. This is the intersection of marketing, innovation and strategy that I most successfully facilitate and implement…. The product pricing opportunities are intriguing while new functionalities can potentially redefine how we "phone". Then there are the peripheral businesses and particularly hardware innovations that will be coming. That will be a change as yesterdays phones and innovation are an oxymoron.

P2P Networks - Connectivity, Flow & Sharing
I've been a believer for four years that this was coming. This may be more than just another early warning indicator. Skype is also more. It presents a point in time where the opportunity to test thinking around topics from social networking, IM tools, to the future of email and telephony, and the internet itself. The impact is much broader as well. This is a software company. It is an intellectual asset backed by I bet a very few people that is potentially reconfiguring economic structures. How we connect impacts on how and where money is made. This may just be an example of tomorrow's company. Just like Ryze is an example of one pioneer creating a community for 50000, a few are creating real value here. It is also Creative Distruction. Simultaneously, I am seeing numbers that say currently 10% of all voice calls are VoIP. What's the potential for Skype? Possibly as a program it could approach as much as 10% of Windows revenues. Broker some relationships with the Telco's and it could be more. Negotiating with the telco's alone will be interesting.

Emerging Topic areas.
So where do we go with this? Our brainstorming session lead in many directions last night. We're both going to keep blogging about Skype. Here's the list I organized. Phil's separately blogged his perspective.

Story to Close and Comment:
I wonder how many of you have had your first experience of Skype with a full headset? For the simple observation is that phones only use one ear while Skype profits from two.., People really get into your head in stereo. No wonder the sounds so good! We laughed so hard on this observation.

Then again if Skype were the size of Kazaa in two years time… with approximately 250m users and say 100m online at anyone time, I'd guess that would make them the largest telephone system on earth. It creates a different sort of negotiating position.

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

This is the first in a series of posts about Skype. This one owes a huge debt to Stuart.

Skype is a telephone system that, at the moment, runs through the Internet. You access Skype through your computer. What are the elements of user experience? First, let's start with six choices, six user behaviors.

1. Start a call
2. Answer the call
3. Bring in another person
4. Share something
5. End a call
6. Add a friend to your address book

Much of the product and business analysis will cluster around one or more of these moments. There must have been prior art on telephone consumer behavior, so research will follow.

Start a call

Includes:

• Recognizing the need to talk to someone
• Choose to talk now
• Looking up or remembering their phone number
• Going to the phone
• Calling

Answer the call

• Be alerted (ring ring)
• Choose to answer
• Go to the phone
• Answer

Bring in another person

• I'm on the phone and recognize the need to talk to another person without hanging up the existing call
• Choose whether to create a second call, bring the next person into the existing call, or to merge two ongoing calls
• Make a call or merge two calls

Share something

• "Oooh, you gotta (see / hear / play with / click on ) this!"
• Send it

End a call

• Recognize the need to end
• End it

Add a friend to your address book

• Think of it
• Add
• Organize

How are these behaviors different with Skype than POTS? than with mobile phone? What are the opportunities to redefine how you experience these moments? to create new value or cut time or effort?

Theme of the week.

Posted by Phil Wolff at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This confirms the venue for tonights Skype Dinner is "Pacific Coast Brewing Company" See Directions and be there around 6:00pm. Will be fun. They apparently have WiFi online.

Need more info.... Skype me: Stuart Henshall" or Phil Wolff

Like the idea of P2P telephony? See opportunities for Skype and blogging. Want to explore SkypeWorld? Got some programming ideas? Come join us for some brainstorming and fun....

Stuart Henshall and I need to talk. We talked on Skype. Now we're going to talk in person. Join us for dinner in Oakland this Wednesday. On the agenda:

• What are the traditional business opportunities for Internet telephony?
  
• What are the non-traditional, blog and social software -based business opportunities?
  
• What would we ask Skype to open to independent developers?

[a klog apart]

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Now add beer.

Wednesday, 24 September 2003 6pm

Pacific Coast Brewing Co. 906 Washington St. (in Old Oakland, a block from 9th and Broadway) Oakland, California 94607 Yahoo! map New! Guest caller: The Skype team all the way from Denmark (2-3 in the morning Copenhagen time).

Call me at 510-444-8234 or Skype me.

Posted by Phil Wolff at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mitch provides more thoughts on the business model for Skype. What's attractive to me is the "global" flat rate of this demonstration. Even the emerging VoIP carriers like "Vonage" aren't providing a global flat rate. Now the global rate just went to almost zero and the cost of the infrastruture moved to the edge.

The real business model is in linking VoIP to plain old telephones, including 911, which would make a broadband connection into a true phone instead of a closed P2P system like Skype.

The debate now is over what Skype is... [Ratcliffe Blog]

I do agree with Mitch's POV that this is not the only VoIP option. I'd add that there are other business models too. For example we may not want a phone system run like KQED or PBS, which has a good on air record. There are a good number of value added services that will be interesting. Let's see what emerges. What do others think?

I'm excited by what I'm seeing in the blogosphere as individuals are connecting up who have never talked before. In seconds in terms of time we are moving from Blogs as Clipper Ships where one exchanges letters and comments to the Jet Age where networking becomes even more important. It was a "writing world" and now it's a "writing - talking" world. For the bloggers that have talked it is materially different. What were weak ties, or public exchanges of letters gather additional warmth with real conversations. Voice strengthens weak ties quickly. I never had an opportunity to talk about what I might blog today or that I wanted to respond. Skype is a way by which bloggers with weak ties can strengthen them. Each new conversation adds to my delight and fuels my interest to keep blogging. Then that's probably natural. Voice to me is an easier medium to share in than just text.

Accelerating Voice conversations will lead to better blogs. If someone you like to see reading didn't blog this week. Skype them and find out why?

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (2)

Will the adminstrators or the students drive the change to VOIP telephony? From the New York Times --- Students get free calling. Dartmouth is looking to reach 13000, Skype already has 42500 online.

Using the software together with a headset, which can be plugged into a computer's U.S.B. port, the students can make local or long-distance telephone calls free. Each student is assigned a traditional seven-digit phone number.

The software, supplied by a variety of companies, works on laptops and desktop computers alike. Over the next six months, the softphone platforms will expand to include Apple computers, as well as Palm and Pocket PC hand-held devices.

When running, the software appears on the screen as a phone with a dial pad. Phone numbers are dialed by clicking the numbers on the key pad.

Voice over Internet protocol is not new. But running so much voice over a wireless data network is.

"As far as I know, no one has done a wireless voice-over-I.P. network this large before," said David Kotz, a computer science professor at Dartmouth.

The network is being phased in across the entire campus with plans to reach 13,000 people, including faculty and staff.

"So far, it's just incoming freshmen, because they're the ones mostly likely to grab on to this," said Larry Levine, the director of computing at Dartmouth.

The $50 headsets are being sold at the campus computer store. "But most headsets will work," said Bob Johnson, director of network services at Dartmouth. "It's just a question of what kind of voice quality you want."

The roll out of voice over Internet protocol is closely coupled with Dartmouth's recent decision to stop charging students, faculty and staff for long-distance phone calls. The college made that decision when administrators discovered that the billing function w