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by Jane McEntegart
Skype has announced that the company will today launch Skype For SIP for Business users.
In a move that the VOIP company no doubt hopes will drag in companies feeling the effects of a recession, Skype has launched a business-friendly model: Skype for SIP. The new service allows corporate customers to use Skype with their IP-enabled PBX's, which use an open standard called SIP or Session Initiation Protocol.
While the rates will be great for businesses (standard rates—a little more than 2 cents for most global calls—will apply for now), we can’t help but get excited about the click-to-call buttons that could start appearing all over company websites.
Other key features as per the Skype blog are as follows:
Receive and manage inbound calls from Skype users worldwide on SIP-enabled PBX systems; connecting the company Web site to the PBX system via click-to-call
Place calls with Skype to landlines and mobile phones worldwide from any connected SIP-enabled PBX; reducing costs with Skype's low-cost global rates
Purchase Skype's online numbers, to receive calls to the corporate PBX from landlines or mobile phones
Manage Skype calls using their existing hardware and system applications such as call routing, conferencing, phone menus and voicemail; no additional downloads or training are required
One thing we noticed about the announcement that we’re not nuts for is the pricing. While standard rates apply for the moment, Skype mentions that the final rates are undecided as yet and will be announced once the program is out of the Beta stages. It would be a huge bummer if this worked out more expensive for corporate customers. Surely it would be more of an incentive to use the service if there was a standard rate for both consumer level and business customers?
Skype has announced that the company will today launch Skype For SIP for Business users.
In a move that the VOIP company no doubt hopes will drag in companies feeling the effects of a recession, Skype has launched a business-friendly model: Skype for SIP. The new service allows corporate customers to use Skype with their IP-enabled PBX's, which use an open standard called SIP or Session Initiation Protocol.
While the rates will be great for businesses (standard rates—a little more than 2 cents for most global calls—will apply for now), we can’t help but get excited about the click-to-call buttons that could start appearing all over company websites.
Other key features as per the Skype blog are as follows:
Receive and manage inbound calls from Skype users worldwide on SIP-enabled PBX systems; connecting the company Web site to the PBX system via click-to-call
Place calls with Skype to landlines and mobile phones worldwide from any connected SIP-enabled PBX; reducing costs with Skype's low-cost global rates
Purchase Skype's online numbers, to receive calls to the corporate PBX from landlines or mobile phones
Manage Skype calls using their existing hardware and system applications such as call routing, conferencing, phone menus and voicemail; no additional downloads or training are required
One thing we noticed about the announcement that we’re not nuts for is the pricing. While standard rates apply for the moment, Skype mentions that the final rates are undecided as yet and will be announced once the program is out of the Beta stages. It would be a huge bummer if this worked out more expensive for corporate customers. Surely it would be more of an incentive to use the service if there was a standard rate for both consumer level and business customers?
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