Skype's All Business
Skype's All Business by Dave Michels
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.