When Skype’s Unlimited Calling Plans were modified last May, the only “Fair Usage” limitation was 10,000 minutes per month on any of the plans. Recently my attention was drawn to a modified Fair Usage policy. Primarily it would appear that the new Fair Usage policy would apply to businesses using SkypeOut for customer service and customer acquisition activities.

The new policy adds:

• calling to a maximum of 50 numbers per day
• maximum six (6) hours of SkypeOut calling per day
• each subscription is to be used by one person only and not to be shared with any other user (whether by a PBX, call center, computer or any other means).

On considering these further:

• a user can make repeated calls to a single number without impacting the “50 numbers per day” limitation
• each employee using call center or PBX services, such as OnState’s Call Center or Virtual PBX requires a separate Skype calling plan subscription for outbound calling
• the six hour per day limitation could build up quickly on a Skype multi-party call with multiple participants connected via SkypeOut
• these limitations only impact Skype services where third party termination charges are involved – all Skype-to-Skype calling remains free
• they would not appear to affect services such as Skype Trunking via a Vosky Exchange where they talk only about “call Skype users for free” and “low cost SkypeOut rates as low as 2.2 cents per minute to most landlines worldwide”

Upon exceeding any of these limits, normal SkypeOut rates and connection fees will apply for additional minutes, Of course this requires that you have Skype credits available; otherwise you may find a call cut off in the middle of a heavy conversation.

Two observations:

• When business is generating revenue or providing support via Skype’s outbound services, one should expect some cost. Skype continues to provide competitive rates for reliable, robust business calling.
• New Skype management is obviously reviewing all its business activities with a view to ensuring that consumer users can continue to benefit from the low cost of services available via Skype Calling Plans while those who are incurring heavy termination fees (and other costs) will support the cost of such usage levels.

Hat tip to participants in the Skype 4.x Discussion Public Chat for bringing this to my attention.

Update: UberOverLord developer Don Kennedy has published “Subscription Monitor for Skype” to track your Skype subscription usage in real time.

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Those folks at Engadget have been reading through the FCC applications again and uncovered an application from Creative Labs for their (forthcoming?) inPerson wireless video conferencing phone. Interesting feature set claimed, including:

• VGA camera (640 x 480)
• 802.11b/g WiFi and Ethernet
• TI DaVinci graphics chip, designed for set-top boxes and handhelds
• 76-degree wide angle lens with “excellent low light performance”
• fully integrated with SightSpeed accounts
• TV out port
• Battery life: 2 hours, increasing to 5 hours using TV out
• no pricing available

Gallery of photos, probably taken from the FCC application. In order to attract an initial customer base, it seems like they’ve also partnered with SightSpeed as the device apparently incorporates SightSpeed support including “automatic SightSpeed account login, speed dials, call history and contact list management”.

From my experience with Skype’s High Quality Video and the subsequent reviews of the Logitech QuickCam 9000 Pro one would have to question if Creative has taken similar steps to Skype’s partnering arrangement with Logitech to allow 30 fps video at 640 x 480 resolution over a 384 kbps upload speed.. I can also see end user network configurations issues to make it a practical consumer device. At the moment SightSpeed requries a 1.5 Mbps upload speed (well beyond standard broadband upload speeds of < 1Mbps). to support 640 x 480 @ 30 fps. Or has Creative licensed webcam technology from Logitech?

To go out on a speculative limb, can this portend a future Skype Video phone from, say, Logitech using their Carl Zeiss optics and RightLight^TM2 low light sensing. Recall Skype and Logitech had to work together to adapt the Logitech Carl Zeiss cameras, through both device drivers and adaptation of Skype’s p2p technology, to work at these specifications.

And how many telecom platforms will we have on our desk, in our house or on our belt (mobile devices). The world is a long way from figuring out where and how it wants to wear video. I am slowly adapting just using the High Quality Video for my Skype calls from my PC as a standard component of my conversations.

Tags: Creative, FCC, Engadget, Skype, Logitech, SightSpeed, TI DaVinci, Logitech QuickCam 9000 Pro

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