Earlier this week Skype released Skype 5.8 for Windows as a gold release. It brings to all users features that have been creeping into recent beta versions including:

• Full HD video calling (720p and 1080p @ 30 fps) provided you have an appropriate webcam and sufficient Internet upload speed
• check out Logitech C920 Webcam: for a Superior Skype Video Calling Experience for more details
• Group Screen sharing – where a participant in a Group Video call can share either a window or the full desktop with up to ten participants; this requires that the host of the call have a Skype Premium subscription
• Check out Skype for Windows 5.6: Call Monitor, Enhanced Screen Sharing – and Ads! for a discussion on how Skype’s screen sharing works.
• Hiding offline Facebook contacts (Contacts | Hide Contacts Who | Are offline); in addition to hiding Offline Skype contacts
• Push-to-Talk – for multiplayer gamers – allows users to set a hotkey to toggle microphone muting on a Skype call
• Bing Bar integration (is this the first sign of a Microsoft integration?)

It’s a two screen upgrade process – in my case it took about five minutes as I have over three years of Skype chat conversations stored on my local PC; they still come in very handy using the search feature (Ctrl-F).

Video calling to Facebook users (independent from whether they have a Skype account) is still in beta but included with this release. What does beta mean? While it works quite well, there are still some issues to work through and still needs to address more feedback from user experiences:

• Need to be able to select speakers in FB window in addition to webcam and microphone
• Call from Skype to Facebook contact: when sending 720p 16:9 aspect ratio from Logitech C920 on Skype side; image on FB side is distorted to 4:3 aspect ratio – recipient on FB side should be able to see 16:9 aspect ratio

You can download this latest release by going to “Help | Check for Updates” in your Skype for Windows client or downloading here.

From the time just over four years ago when Skype introduced High Quality Video at VGA (640 x 480) resolution and 30 frames per second (“fps” or “frame rate”) I have had the opportunity to test many webcams for Skype Video calling. In the fall of 2010 I reported on the launch of HD Video calling (1280 x 720 or “720p” – @ 22 fps) using webcams from FREETALK and FaceVsion. In the spring of 2011 I first tested a “conference room” video webcam from FREETALK; “conference room” webcams are suited for covering the longer range typical of a small-to-medium conference room size rather than a close-up desktop PC webcam for both video and audio.

Last week I received an evaluation unit of the recently announced Logitech C920 webcam. In my CES 2012 post Logitech C920 sets new Skype HD Video standards I discussed some of its unique features such as:

• the first Skype-certified webcam to deliver 1080p HD video
• the minimum required upload speed to acheive 720p HD resolution is 1 Mpbs
• dual stereo microphones

On receiving the webcam I learned there is more:

• my first encounter with a Skype-certified webcam that delivers 720p HD video at 30 fps
• faster ramp-up to 720p HD from call launch
• delivers 1080p video at 21 fps
• 15MP webcam for photo capture
• delivers an excellent quality image (feedback all those whom I have called)
  • takes full advantage of Carl-Zeiss optics, 20-step auto focus and “Right Light” feature
  • Logitech calls this “Liquid Fluid CrystalTM” technology

Having made several calls with the C920; they have been my best Skype video calling experiences of all.  I am using a Dell Vostro V410 quad core PC that is about four years old. Requirements include: dual-core 2.0GHz processor, Windows XP/Vista/7, Skype 5.7 for Windows beta or later, Internet upload/download speeds as discussed below.

Worth noting:

Relevant speeds – to set the baseline for this discussion it is important to take a look at the frame rate observed and minimum upload Internet Connection speeds required, based on either vendor specifications or experience:

Previously Skype had specified 1.2 Mpbs upload speed as the minimum required. However, when I started receiving calls last fall from contacts with recent Logitech webcams (C310, C510, C910 and Webcam Pro 9000) I noticed that they went to 720p yet I confirmed that my contacts on these calls only had 1.0 Mpbs maximum upload speed. This was my first clue that Logitech had developed a webcam that allowed HD video on the very common broadband Internet services that cap out at 1.0 Mbps upload speed (and without an onboard H.264 processor).

My service has a 2.0 Mbps upload speed; however, in practice it usually delivers 1.6 to 1.85 Mpbs upload speed. So while I was expecting to easily get to 720p I was only being hopeful (or lucky) if a call went to 1080p.

Overall speed observations during a call:

When you initiate the C920 webcam (either when launching a call or by turning on the webcam during a call) it comes up almost instantly with a video image; no swirling icons waiting for the webcam to get started. But the other noticeable difference was that it usually takes less than 30 seconds for the webcam to start delivering HD video at 720p.

One other noticeable improvement was that the Logitech C920 is the only webcam that delivers 720p at 30 fps whereas the other HD webcams could only go to 22 fps. (Not a terribly noticeable difference but it becomes television quality with no choppiness or pixilation).

Overall one has a much improved call initiation experience and on all calls to other PC’s it has always switched to 720p HD in somewhat less than a minute.

All of my calls went to 720p at 30 fps as would be expected with my service’s upload speed; however, I did have two calls go to 1080p at 21 fps after about 10 to 20 minutes (remember I’m not supposed to get 1080p at all); this held for the last 20 to 30 minutes of those two calls. From the call technical info I could also see there was less demand on my CPU processors than I had previously experienced (usually had been well over 50%).

Note that these calls were to users with Skype for Windows or Skype for Mac; a call to Skype for iPad (to an original iPad) was observed to be at VGA resolution (640 x 480) at 15 fps; a call to Skype for TV on the TelyHD device went 720p at 15 fps on both sides of the call. In other words, the combination of Skype and the webcam will adapt resolution and frames-per-second to the resources of the device at the other end of the call.

The mounting bracket – one other feature that was immediately obvious was the flexibility of the mounting bracket. Using a combination of hinges and rubber surfaces, it easily mounts onto the top of any flat panel display; yet it can also sit on, say, a desktop surface. Not only does it mount readily and firmly but when on the display frame it can easily be titled up and down. Finally the underside has a tripod thread such that it can readily be mounted on any tripod.

Software: The C920 is accompanied by software that is downloaded from the Logitech website. This includes the Logitech Webcam Controller which can be used for setting zoom/pan/tilt as well as making adjustments for lighting (“RightLight”), auto focus and sound (“RightSound”). Also included is “Logitech Webcam Software” which provides:

• Video recording (up to 1080p resolution),
• Links to common video calling applications (Skype, GMail and Logitech Vid),
• Motion detection  – start recording when motion is detected, and
• Video mask maker – special effects
• Web Gallery – storing and editing recordings with the  ability to download to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube or to share via email.

Audio: The C920 also includes a microphone on each side to pick up a stereo effect and making it suitable for larger distances in, say, a small conference room. I was able to test this out in a small office environment during an HD video call and found it to work satisfactorily. While the other party on a 90 minute call reported that there can be a bit of “barrel” effect, Skype’s echo cancellation worked perfectly.

Call Example:

Call with Mike Phillips¹ (@mcphillips) who had a Logitech C910 webcam; this was captured when the C920 was delivering 1080p resolution. Mike’s Internet service had a 5 Mbps upload speed. Click on the images for a larger version:

What does H.264 have to do with this? Everything! Recall:

• Previous webcams with H.264 onboard processors took 30 seconds to 3 minutes to go to HD resolution; they capped out at 22 fps. They required 1.2 Mpbs upload speed and would take 15 seconds to a minute from launch just to show an image.
• The previous Logitech HD webcams had no onboard processor (in other words they did their video processing on the main PC using up CPU cycles); they went to 720p resolution on services with only 1.0 Mbps upload speed.
• The Logitech C920 turns on immediately, goes to 720p HD much more quickly (15 to 45 seconds), goes to 30 fps – and it goes to these performance levels consistently when calling another PC.
• The Logitech C920 reduces the demand on your main PC processor and bandwidth requirements.
• It allows a much better experience when recording a video call with, say, VodBurner, reducing wait times and quality loss that would arise from encoding on the main PC.

Putting these observations together tells me that the Logitech engineers have been hard at work not only to deliver the the best video calling experience at HD resolutions but also to  ensure that technology to achieve this performance becomes transparent to the entire Skype video calling operation. (And, given that it requires Skype 5.7 for Windows (beta) or later, it says they have been working with Skype’s audio/video engineers.)

What does the other party have? I have made calls where the other party had various Logitech webcams (C310, C910 and 9000 Pro), a recent MacBook Pro webcam and a FREETALK Everyman HD webcam. In every case my experience with the the C920 was as described here. Of course to receive HD video they must have at least a 1Mbps download speed (usually not an issue with any broadband Internet service) and a recent version of Skype – Skype 5.x for Windows, or Skype 5.3 for Mac or later. It also worked at 720p HD on a call to Skype for TV on the TelyHD device. It makes calls, but at VGA or loeer resolution, to Skype for iPad and Skype for iPhone.

There was one instance where the other party switched to an older non-Skype-certified webcam during a call (from a Logitech C910) and basically we could not get any semblance of good call quality. On the other hand it appears to work well when the other party is using a webcams built into laptop and flat panel monitor displays.

Skype Group Video Calling: While Skype Group Video Calling only delivers VGA resolution, due to screen real state issues when showing up to 10 participants and desktop sharing, I would expect this webcam to perform better in terms of speed to get into a call and robustness during a call as well as demand on the local CPU resources. I’ll report back after my next group video call later this week.

Bottom line: The Logitech C920 delivers a quantum leap to the user experience for Skype video calling, especially when it comes to taking advantage of HD video:

• The webcam fires up delivering video images almost instantly after launching video
• It reduces the minimum upload speed requirement for 720p HD video to a speed available on most broadband Internet services
• It goes into 720p HD video much more quickly (not to overlook at a TV quality frame rate)
• If you have sufficient Internet connection upload speed, it delivers 1080p video at a reasonable frame rate.
• It delivers a smoother, more robust and sustainable HD video call experience
• Its optics deliver the best quality images when it comes to natural colors and color depth, sharpness and dealing with lighting issues.
• It reduces the load on your PC processor/CPU
• It easily adapts to mounting on any monitor or laptop display, work surface or tripod.
• It works with other services such as GTalk and Logitech Vid
• It provides a much better experience with video recording
• I have recorded a Skype call with VodBurner
• It includes a recording ability with single click download to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

As mentioned at the beginning I have followed Skype video calling for over five years; I have checked out many webcams, especially when it comes to HD video. If you are looking to have the best overall Skype video calling experience from a Windows PC, it’s well worth spending the $99 to achieve it.

The Logitech C920 is available on Amazon and at electronics retailers such as Best Buy.

In another post I’ll talk about successfully recording a Skype video call using this webcam and VodBurner.

And the inevitable Mac question: while a reviewer on Amazon.com claims it worked on his Mac, Logitech will not comment on future products. In any event full Mac support, certainly for 1080p resolution, would also require an upgrade from Skype for Skype for Mac – Skype has made no announcement in this regard. In a response on Logitech’s community forum:

Unfortunately, at this time, there are no plans to provide Mac support for the C920; however, I suggest keep checking our website as we are always coming out with new solutions.

Currently the Logitech C910, as shown in the chart above, does support the Mac and offer most of the C920 features except support for 1080p  and the onboard H.264 processor as the major omissions.

¹Mike Phillips blogs on Scoop.it at Equipment and Techniques for Webcasters and Podcasters and hosts a weekly podcast Computers 2K Now Sundays from 9 to Noon ET where he and his co-hosts discuss podcasting, webcasting, broadcasting and audio. Follow him on Twitter @mcphillips

Last night at ShowStopper at CES 2012 Logitech was demonstrating its newly announced HD Pro Webcam C920; it sets some new performance standards that open up a much larger market for HD video on Skype:

• the first Skype-certified webcam to deliver 1080p video
• the minimum required upload speed is 1 Mpbs
• dual stereo microphones

It also now supports H.264 encoding which reduces the load on the main PC processor and allows HD Video calling on more PC’s. Standard Logitech features such as autofocus and Carl-Zeiss optics are also included. All for $99.99.

The reduced minimum upload speed (as opposed to the previous requirement for 1.2Mbps upload speed) opens up HD video calling to anyone with the most common broadband connections which are most often capped at a 1Mbps upload speed. (I have recently had calls from the earlier C310 and C910 where the caller’s video went to HD yet their upload speed was capped at 1 Mbps.) And supporting 1080p allows “telepresence-like” images on much larger displays in full screen mode (720p video does a great job on up to 22” displays).

In their demonstration they had two PC’s on a Skype video call where one (in the right) used its native webcam while the other(on the left)  used the C920. The image quality difference shown in the photo was definitely real. (Because it’s a video call the transmitting webcam on the left shows its image on the receiving PC on the right.)

At the moment it only supports Windows® XP (SP3 or higher), Windows Vista® and Windows® 7 (32-bit or 64-bit); it requires Skype 5.7 beta for Windows to support the 1080p video. The 1080p video can be received on any Skype client.

Bottom line; Logitech has a long history of supporting Skype Video calling (going back to the launch of Skype’s High Quality Video VGA calling) and appears to continue to have leading edge offerings. It should be available in retail stores and the Skype Store by the end of January. At that time I’ll look to do a more thorough review.

Update – The Review: Logitech C920 Webcam: for a Superior Skype Video Calling Experience

Logitech Press Release

Logitech Blog Post

Related articles

• Logitech C920 first webcam with 1080p video calling (ces.cnet.com)
• Logitech outs C920 HD webcam, lets you Skype with your mates in 1080p (engadget.com)

Today Skype announced the availability for user testing two upgrade clients: Skype for Windows 5.7 beta and Skype for Mac 5.4 beta. Most importantly this brings major feature equality, including one major new feature, to both:

• Both expand their ability to combine real time communications with asynchronous social networking. The major feature introduction is the launch of one-to-one video calling from the Skype client to your Facebook Friends. In addition there are updates to the delivery of Facebook presence information to/from your Skype client.  Combined with the previous Facebook news feed and Facebook chat, the Skype client is also becoming a unique Facebook client/user interface.

• Skype 5.7 for Windows beta now supports screen sharing in Skype Group Video Calls – a feature available on the previous release of Skype for Mac.
• Skype for Windows has also added a “Push-to-Talk” microphone toggle in its hot-keys menu (Tools | Advanced | Hotkeys). (OK, this feature, addressing a request from gamers, is missing from Skype for Mac).

Bottom line: For the first time it would seem that both Skype for Windows and Skype for Mac have feature equality for all their major features. The challenge remains to make the user interface, including navigation, consistent between the two. At the moment they require two different learning experiences. And Skype for Mac is still missing the Call Quality Information bar.

More to follow once there has been a chance to try out the new features. Keep in mind this is beta software and may still have bugs. From one of the announcement posts:

Please post your comments and suggestions on our Support Network and in case you see the odd bug then please report it to us on our public issue tracker, so that we can make the next release an even better one.

Update: Dan York confuses feature equality with porcine aviation: OMG! Skype Simultaneously Releases (Almost) The Same Version on Windows and Mac OS X

Related articles

• Hands on with Skype’s new Skype-to-Facebook video calls (gigaom.com)

Yesterday Skype released Skype for Windows 5.6 continuing the process of new releases every two to three months. This release incorporates several incremental changes that modify the user experience. And expanding on the recent incorporation of advertising into other Skype clients (Mac/iPhone/iPad/Android), Skype for Windows now has advertising for those who do not have one of Skype credit, a Skype Calling Plan subscription or a Skype Premium subscription.

The changes involve:

• Screen sharing improvements
• New “getting started” experience
• Moved “Call Phones” button into the frame at upper left with Skype Credit
• Call monitor window widget with call controls when in another application
• Compact mode viewing does not launch Skype Home window on startup

Installing this version from the file download (automatic update was not available at time of writing) takes one through the startup process to set up audio and video devices as well as the profile picture:

Of course for a new user, the Skype account creation process precedes this setup wizard.

If you are in a call and move to another application window a “Call Monitor” widget pops up on the desktop, as shown on the right, with call control buttons for mic muting and ending the call. This is one feature that had been on Skype for Mac 5.x for a while.  Returning to the Skype client’s window restores the full call window with the profile picture or video image.

While the call management bar icon for going to full screen has changed slightly, one can still go full screen for video to get a telepresence effect on larger displays.

One major change relates to screen sharing. Whereas previously one could only share a full desktop, it is now possible to select a window to share; this certainly assists with any privacy issues when sharing a desktop.

On selecting the sharing icon from the call management bar, one selects “Share entire screen” which, in turn brings up the Sharing Screen (below, left). (Might the availability of screen sharing options be more obvious if the menu item simply said “Show Screen Sharing”.)

Clicking on the arrow at the lower right brings up the selection of the Full Screen or a Window. The latter will show thumbnails for all the windows open on the desktop; select one for sharing:

The other party’s screen is shown below where the sharer’s avatar remains; recall that screen sharing takes over the video channel’s stream:

While this change certainly is an enhancement of the screen sharing feature, there is still no screen sharing available for Group Video Calling, a feature that was introduced on the recently launched Skype for Mac 5.4.

Finally there were many complaints from those using Compact View about having Skype Home coming up when they logged in. This has been addressed; now when a user logs in and has selected Compact View they will not get a Skype Home display.

Bottom Line: Several “incremental” changes but combined they are significant enough to improve the overall user experience. Lack of screen sharing for Group Video calling is a disappointment; let’s hope it’s in the next upgrade. On the other hand the Call Monitor window is very handy allowing some level of call control while in other windows/applications. And I would still like to see the Call Quality Information feature over in Skype for Mac; it’s the handiest tool for ensuring a caller has the appropriate hardware and Internet connection.

At the time of writing the automatic update to Skype 5.6 had not been triggered; this will occur within a few days. In the meantime download Skype for Windows 5.6 here.

Not all PC’s were created equal! With its level of popularity and 170 million monthly active users, there are going to be almost 170 million different PC and device configurations on which Skype is installed. Supporting a software application on this many configurations across 27 languages can be a challenge, especially when working across many versions of Windows and Mac OS/X as well as the various hardware peripherals (headsets, webcams, phones, etc.) that can be incorporated into these configurations.

While Skype does a major effort at checking out its releases such that it installs easily and works “out-of-the box” there are always a few configurations that present a challenge. Add into this mix the variety or ways one can connect to the Internet and an additional series of challenges arise. (Full disclosure: the author at one time managed a support operation for a top-selling utility product that would disclose all the “sins” of PC’s configured with DOS and early versions of Windows. Been there; done that!)

Over the past eight years the Skype Forum has been a hotbed for users to air issues and get assistance from either other Skype users or Skype personnel. About a month ago Skype announced its intention to replace the Forum by launching a beta version of a new Skype Community Support Network with improved infrastructure and navigation for reporting issues and obtaining responses.

Offering support in eight languages, it is still supported by many of those, including Skype enthusiasts, often designated as Moderator or Super User, who have provided much of the support in the past. Since its launch as a beta over a month ago, it has once again evolved into an very active forum for reporting and resolving issues with using Skype.

Earlier this week Skype announced the availability of support via Skype’s Facebook account page:

We think there is a big appetite for information about Skype, and Skype Support Network was created in direct response to that. Having this information available within our Support Network and extended to various social media channels, such as Facebook, is part of our efforts to engage customers and help them access information they need. So, feel free to ask us a question or search our community for answers right from within Facebook or visit us at the Skype Support Network.

Again it’s shown as a “beta” but there is certainly no lack of queries in its first few days:

Bottom Line: one more resource for discussing any issues arising from using Skype. While Skype employees are tracking and responding, one must also recognize and appreciate those many Skype enthusiasts who voluntarily supply their support to these forums. Without them these forums would not be nearly as effective.

Related articles

• Skype 5.5 for Windows: Deeper Facebook, New Emoticons and More (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Skype Opens Its Walls A Bit? Lets You IM Facebook Users Just Like Skype Users (disruptivetelephony.com)

Since the launch of Skype 5.2 for Windows, the Dial Pad features have been enhanced significantly to point where it actually has some intelligence to make it easier to place a call to the PSTN.

Normally the Dial Pad is used for SkypeOut calling for two purposes:

• to dial out to a PSTN number (to place a call)
• to interact with any Auto Attendant or Interactive Voice Response (“IVR”) menu that may answer the call (usually a call to a business or an automated service, such as for fax number deletion). (during a call)

Skype 5.5 for Windows gold release also restores the dial pad as an option during Skype-to-Skype calls; this option had been dropped in the 5.5 beta release. But you may ask why would one need a dial pad for a Skype-to-Skype calls? Turns out that there is a Skype for Business offering that requires access to the dial pad during what is really a Skype-to-Skype call to a business using this offering.

Over at the Skype Reference Guide I have added a page that describes all the features and benefits of the Dial Pad in Skype for Windows 5.2 and later. Find out why, when you click on the “Call Phones” button, you may end up with no numeric dial pad; learn about the only situation where you may need a dial pad during a Skype-to-Skype call and the minimal dial pad feature in Skype for Mac 5.x. Learn about Text-Tone dialling and how that simplifies making a call to a Contact’s PSTN number.

Related articles

• Skype 5.5 for Windows: Deeper Facebook, New Emoticons and More (voiceontheweb.biz)

Yesterday Skype released the “Gold” or “user” version of Skype 5.5 for Windows. Many of the features, including the Facebook integration, were discussed in Skype for Windows 5.5 beta: First Impressions with Facebook Integration and Skype for Windows 5.5 beta: The Call Bar. In the final release these have been enhanced; at the same time Skype introduced some amusing new emoticons – some in the emoticon table for the chat message; others are “hidden”.

As for the complete new feature set, according to Raul Liive, Skype’s Beta Program Manager, it includes:

• Skype to Facebook instant messaging (enhanced from beta)
• New and updated emoticons (new)
• New login experience
• Improved call controls (modified from beta)
• Improved video calling reliability (yes!)
• Simplified installer flow (only three splash screens)
• Avatar selection improved
• Video snapshot capture improvements
• Changed group conversations profile area:
• 
• Plus several bug fixes

Facebook Enhancements: In the beta there was little to identify whether you were in a chat session with a Contact’s Skype chat or Facebook chat. With this release, the Facebook icon appears at the top of the conversation pane. However, confusion can still arise. In the Contacts pane “Recent” tab there is no way to identify whether one would be communicating with the Skype chat or Facebook chat. Product management is probably conflicted because they also want to show the contact’s presence information … maybe a blue icon for Facebook chat presence would help.

Notice also that if you are in the Contacts Facebook chat conversation, the call bar only allows you to call PSTN numbers (via SkypeOut) but not place a Skype-to-Skype call, as would be expected. You can still set up a conference call and monitor your hardware and network conditions via the call bar.

Finally the Facebook news feed content has been moved to the Skype client Home Page tab (no longer a separate tab) but still continues to show the profile pictures (avatars) for the most contacted Contacts (either through calls or chat sessions).

• When you enter a Mood Message on the Home Page tab, there is an option to share the message on your Facebook news feed.
• Running your cursor over any of the Skype profile pictures along the top row or a Facebook message will bring up a Call button which can launch either a Skype-to-Skype call or a SkypeOut call with the Contact.
• You can “Like” a Facebook message and/or add a Comment

It will be interesting to see how the various calling services evolve in both the Skype client and Facebook itself as Skype’s integration into Facebook deepens beyond the initial Facebook Video Calling introduced three weeks ago. Dan York adds his comments on the implications of the Facebook Chat integration in Skype Opens Its Walls A Bit? Lets You IM Facebook Users Just Like Skype Users.

Emoticons: not something I used a lot but I can see using them more often; when appropriate in the context of a chat session I might use only a few of the emoticons. However, today Skype introduced several new emoticons as shown on the right. Most amusing is the “wfh”, a hidden icon that I can see many users in today’s virtual commuting world having an association with (although more often in their Skype Mood Message).

Skype has several hidden icons, as shown on the left – sometimes called “Easter eggs”. I’ll not give the shortcodes but many of them can be implied from the name. “Working from Home” is very dynamic rotating between the two images shown in this graphic. For those who are totally puzzled and frustrated there is a hidden “wtf” button.

Suffice it to say that these icons have created much discussion and amusement today. Skype for Mac’s Chief Whining Officer, Dan York made himself heard arising out of our musings earlier today when the release was first announced. Let’s hope they appear in a forthcoming Skype for Mac release. Actually both sides of the conversation need to have Skype for Windows 5.5 “Gold” release in order to see these emoticons properly.

The Call Control Bar (or Call Navigation Bar) has been modified slightly. Most importantly it continues to offer the Call Quality Info feature – perhaps its most useful feature where you want to monitor and modify conditions during a call. Also very useful is the PopOut window during a video call which allows you to watch the video image while using other applications during a call.

And, talking about Video, over the past two weeks I have done a few Skype Group Video Calls with up to eight parties. Where this group had previously used a service where only the speaker’s video appeared (it was really a “push-to-talk” service) the dynamics of the group call change entirely when you have the many “ad hoc” features of a Skype Group Video call – chat window, identification of who is speaking, monitoring the network conditions .. even the network connection recovery feature has helped a few times. And, as it should, the technology stayed in the background relative to the conversation. (The call resulted in at least one Skype Premium subscription being picked up.)

Oh, and there’s lots of flexibility in sizing and placing the various participants’ images. As Raul noted in his post reference above:

In this version we have made numerous ‘under the hood’ updates to our video engine to improve its reliability. We have reduced the amount of graphic card resources needed for video calls and improved support for older cards, especially for users with SiS graphics cards.

Full disclosure: the Skype Group Chat is being hosted on a quad core PC with a 1.7 Mbps upload speed on the Internet connection.

Bottom line: Skype for Windows 5.5 “user release is a winner, most importantly because the client and technology is almost totally transparent to the conversation. The Facebook integration remains optional as to whether you use it (you simply can either not log into Facebook or log out of it if you find it not satisfactory). It still needs a bit of User Interface work to more readily identify whether you are chatting via Skype or Facebook. The emoticons can add some fun and excitement to the conversation (an picture is worth a thousand words sometimes) and have some amusing new additions. But experiencing the robustness of Skype Group Video Calling is perhaps it most innovative feature in terms of user benefit (even if Skype for Windows is still awaiting inclusion of the screen sharing feature recently introduced in Skype 5.2 for Mac).

Being the “Gold” or “ user” release, Skype for Windows will probably auto-update at some point. However, if it does not or you want to try it out now go to Help | Check for Updates or click here to access the download.

By the way notice that the Help Menu now includes a link to Skype’s Heartbeat page – not sure if this is new but worth drawing attention to, as one qick check on the service status. Don’t know if this arose out of the comments re Phil Wolff’s “Heartbeat” suggestion reference by Tony Bates in the Skype Journal interview at CES last January.

Release notes.

Related articles

• Skype for Windows version 5.5 update adds more Facebook features (digitaltrends.com)
• Facebook Video Chat – Powered by Skype: First Impressions (Voice On The Web)

Yesterday Skype launched Skype 5.5 beta for Windows whose main feature is deeper Facebook integration. But there were some other changes as well:

• changed Call Bar and the call control icons
• improved video calling reliability
• Changed group conversations profile area design
• New login window design
• Added a ability to start video calls via URI
• addressed several bug fixes

On the download page Skype does remind us:

Over the past few hours I have done some exploring and have noted:

Facebook integration:

The most obvious change is the new Facebook tab in the Contacts (left) pane. Only the selected tab shows the full name, such as “Facebook”; in this case the left icon represents “All Contacts” while the right icon represents “Recent” … showing recent contacts going backwards in time.

What changes is what occurs when you start to type a name into the Search bar; the Search bar finds all the Skype and Facebook contacts. In this case the top Contact shown is the Skype contact, while the second one is the Facebook contact. And the tabs themselves only show the three icons. But what happens when you go to the Facebook Contact?

Whereas from the Skype Contact you can call the Contact’s Skype account and any PSTN phone numbers on the Contact’s Skype Profile (or that you have manually entered locally into the Contact’s information), from the Facebook Contact you can only call any PSTN phone numbers in the Contacts Facebook profile. However, there is no way to add people or share files during a call even though the greyed-out buttons show up at the top of the Conversation pane. But the ability to call a Facebook contact on a mobile or landline number is one approach to encourage SkypeOut usage … using either a Skype Calling Plan or Skype Credit.

Here’s where it gets confusing: when you send a chat message to the Facebook contact (which goes to the other party’s Facebook chat and, if s/he is also a Skype contact, Skype chat) you set up one “Contact” in the Recent tabs. Then send a chat message directly to his/her Skype account, another “Contact” is set up in the Recent tab. But there is no way to differentiate the two; this is an issue that Skype is addressing in a future release (whether beta or final).

Messages sent from the Facebook Contact go to both the Contact’s Facebook chat window and the recipient’s Facebook chat pane in Skype. But not to the Contact’s Skype chat conversation, as expected. Bottom line is that Facebook Chat sessions and Skype chat sessions are independent. However, this feature is sufficient to eliminate the need for my Contact here to use Pidgeon to follow both Skype and Facebook chat sessions … one less client to take up desktop real estate (and CPU cycles).

There is an option to disable the Facebook Contacts tab; simply go to “Contacts | Hide Facebook Contacts.

The Facebook Wall Tab

The other major Facebook feature is the Facebook Wall tab:

Skype for Windows 5.5 - The Facebook Wall

Highlighted are:

• Enter a message to post to both your Skype Mood Message and, optionally, your Facebook wall
• Select whether you wish to view only the News feed from All your Facebook friends or simply those who are also Skype Contacts. (Alerts brings up Skype alerts such as subscription confirmations)
• Scroll over a Contact’s name to bring up the Call button from which you can launch either a Skype call or a SkypeOut call to the Contact.
• The small heart and cartoon bubble icons allow Facebook “Like” and Facebook “Comment” activity.

It’s optional as to whether you want to use the Facebook features; you need to log in to Facebook and do the usual “Facebook Connect” approval to get started; it’s not a default setting in Skype. If you want to log out of the Facebook connection, hit that little blue gear at the extreme middle right on the Facebook Wall.

Skype for Windows 5.5 - The Facebook Login

As I have over 250 Facebook “Friends” and over 500 Skype Contacts it took several minutes after logging into Facebook for the information to be synchronized and the Facebook News feed to appear.

Hide Facebook Contacts in the Contact Pane

Bottom line: Will I continue to use this? That will depend on how critical it becomes to my overall core Skype activity.

• For those who may be using a multi-IM service for chatting with both Facebook and Skype contacts, it is probably a benefit as they need to only chat through their Skype client.
• If I can contact my Skype contacts through Skype, do I really need another set of “the same” contacts to make voice calls via their Facebook information? Only if they have not entered PSTN numbers available in their Facebook profile but not in their Skype profile.
• Does the Facebook activity slow down my Skype activity? Only some experience will tell.
• The option is there to Hide Facebook links or even log out of your Facebook account authentication, should you find the feature of minimal use.

Remember, it’s beta; the good news about Skype for Windows betas is that they usually continues to offer the standard Skype voice, video and chat features reliably. It’s really the new features for which Skype wants feedback on the user experience.

In the next post I’ll talk about the changes to the call bar and its “control” icons.

And meanwhile we wait to see if Skype for Mac 5.thenext can bring some consistency with the Skype for Windows User Interface.

Related articles

• New improved Facebook view in Skype for Windows (blogs.skype.com)
• Skype delivers deeper Facebook integration (news.cnet.com)
• Your Skype is now a Facebook Chat Client (labnol.org)
• Why Skype just added deeper Facebook integration (gigaom.com)

Two weeks ago in the post, Whither Skype Extras Today? Withered?, I asked for a clarification about the status of Skype Extras.

Today Skype announced a HotFix that effectively removes access to Skype Extras although it shows up, greyed out, in the Tools Menu. Go to Help | Check for Upgrades. In Windows Task Manager you’ll find that SkypePM.exe is no longer seen in the Processes tab.

As PamConsult’s Dick Schiferli points out in the comments below the Skype Extras do remain available in the Skype Store and are also available from the various publishers’ websites. However, the good news is that several publishers of Skype Extras have not withered away but rather have upgraded their products to remove their dependence on the Skype Extras program while introducing new features.

The Skype Extras Survivors

PamFax – winner of the 2007 Skype mashup competition, continues to grow; their recent infrastructure upgrade means that faxes are delivered within a minute of clicking on the Send Fax button. No ongoing obligations yet there are subscription programs that include a fax number in 27 countries. Send and received faxes to/from PC’s, iPhone/iPad/iPodTouch and Android. Fax Dropbox documents; receive faxes in DropBox. Click here for a complete update on PamFax,

InnerPass is releasing a new team collaboration product, Group Mix, that aggregates all their document management, persistent “rooms” and desktop sharing expertise into a web-based product with a great user interface that is easily accessed in any browser from, say, a bookmark. The first release includes voice connections in several countries via the PSTN; they will bring Skype back in shortly. More details will be forthcoming in a post early next week.

Pamela continues to upgrade and add more features to the longest running Skype Extra. Call recording, conversation archiving and many other nifty features that enhance the Skype user experience.

Netralia continues to offer its Skylook Outlook plugin that has done very well in the customer relationship management space. More recently they launched and have upgraded VodBurner, capable not only of recording Skype Video calls but also performing editing of the recording and direct upload to YouTube.

Evoca has been building their online audio recording and hosting business where you can call in from any phone, Skype or PC mic, record interviews and conference calls. From their website:

Dial any of our U.S. and international phone numbers or use the Evoca Skype Call Recorder — available for registered subscribers. Our 100% web service securely saves and stores your audio file in digital MP3 format in your online Evoca account. You can keep it private, share it with colleagues, or publish it online for the world to listen.

OnState continues to provide and grow its web-based, pay-as-you-go call center/PBX offering. In fact, in addition to its Skype integration, it now supports Google Talk and Salesforce.com amongst other features.

There may be others; I’ll be glad to add them. But these are the publishers who have managed to build on their user feedback and market acceptance. They have continued development to enhance their products which incorporate Skype integration but can operate independently of the Skype Extras infrastructure.

Where have all the Skypers gone? Long time coming back
Where have all the Skypers gone, one day ago?
Where have all the Skypers gone?
Skype crashes have closed them, everyone.
Oh, when will they ever come back?
Oh, when will they ever come back?

Paraphrased with apologies to Pete Seeger.

It’s a popular 60’s folk song that comes back to mind when one wonders how large a “small number” is?  The initial post from Skype about this service interruption (which has had three updates) read:

A small number of you may have problems signing in to Skype. We’re investigating the cause, and hope to have more details to share soon.

What was termed in Skype’s blogs as a “small number of you” appears to have become a significant portion of Skype users online. Have a look at this trend chart (based on Users Online data collected by Hudson Barton at Borderless Communicator):

June 6 represents a typical pre-interruption day. June 7 shows the impact of the outage on Users Online. June 9 shows a shortage of about 4 million users throughout the day (will be updated as the day progresses).

But there is one other Skype statement that I have to dispute:

If you were disconnected from Skype earlier, you shouldn’t need to manually sign back in to Skype – it should reconnect automatically when it’s able to do so.

Personally I found that when I went to Skype on my two Windows PC’s and clicked on the application, it effectively crashed with the dialogue box shown on the right. I checked with a couple of other users (one in France, one in North America) and they had the same experience. Automatic reconnection was not happening.

Based on the rare previous experiences when I had seen this, something was causing Skype for Windows to crash when one attempted to go to the Skype client once the interruption had commenced.

But there is one other learning from my experience with Skype (especially with project I was managing a few years ago). There are many installations of Skype, especially in business environments, where Skype has been installed on a PC yet rarely used, if ever. However, Skype is sitting in the background, logged in (because the default setting of Skype is to log on when Windows opens) but never used.

Somehow I suspect that these users of Skype have been either logged out or their Skype has crashed and they don’t realize it. These users need to somehow shut down their Skype and relaunch it; but given their lack of awareness, they may not come back online until the next time their PC is rebooted which may be several days from now. Just my “gut” hunch but definitely worth considering.

Bottom line: if these trends continue this interruption may effectively be a Refresh to tell us how many “truly active” real users are online. I’m sure Hudson will keep an eye on the situation and see what bears out by the weekend. In any event it’s a challenge for Skype to get these 4 million users back online using Skype.

Question: Is 18 million (or ~ 65%) of users  – the Users Online deficit at 18:30 GMT Tuesday – a “small number”?

Meanwhile I’ll dig out my old Kingston Trio (or was is Peter, Paul and Mary) recording of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?’

Related articles

• “Skype Has Stopped Working”: Another Service Interruption (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Skype Login Disruption Update: User Friendly Fixes Becoming Available (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Skype is Having Another Outage Today – Appears Widespread (But May Be Recovering) (disruptivetelephony.com)

My plans for this morning were severely interrupted when I attempted to use Skype around 8:00 a.m. (GMT-4) and I got the error message shown on the right. On further investigation it turns out that Skype has had another service meltdown, at least when using Skype for Windows 5.3.

Initially I checked my Windows Task Manager and found residuals of Skype.exe (two instances, in fact); I then “Ended” those processes and “SkypePM.exe”. Knowing that Skype was totally closed I then attempted to re-launch Skype for Windows. I could see all my Contacts; however, my “Recent” tab showed no “Recent” Contacts –totally blank. After another unsuccessful attempt I then rebooted my PC, got the usual list of “Recent” contacts in the “Recent” tab. However, no Contacts were showing as being Online.

At that point I checked Google News and found there were several posts about an interruption and references to Skype’s Twitter feed.

Initially I had to reset my own status from Offline to Online but even then the only contact showing as Online was “Skype Test Call” – which worked. I sent some test chat messages to various contacts whom I knew should be Online. Eventually I started receiving responses and a few contacts showed up as Online.

At that point none of my Group Chats appeared to be working; however, after another half hour I found that not only were my Group Chats operating again but they had restored messages which had been exchanged during the outage period.

The Bad: another Skype service interruption, so soon after last week’s. Hudson Barton’s Skype Statistics showed as few as 12 million online at a time when over 25 million are usually online. (Not a “small number”!) When I attempted to use Skype on another Windows laptop, I got the same “Skype has stopped working” message as shown above; in this case re-opening Skype did work without the need to reboot that PC.

The Good: Restarting Skype for Windows appears to now address the issue. Missing messages from Skype chat sessions were recovered once the service was restored. Also, of note, is that my Skype for Mac client continued to work through all this although messages to Contacts using Skype for Windows were again not getting through.

Hopefully the Skype engineering team can sort out what is behind these interruptions. Not having Skype access totally interrupts the workflow of over 20 million users. Frustrating!

Yes, you can try other services. But the act of one acquaintance trying to call me via GTalk was not exactly the smoothest experience and definitely not ad hoc! And, while voice quality was acceptable, there was a definite degradation without the SILK support.

Dan York, at Disruptive Telephony,  has a couple of posts:

• Skype is Having Another Outage Today – Appears Widespread (But May Be Recovering)
• Skype Is Back For Me – But Only 2 Million Users Are Online (versus normal 25+ million)

Related articles

• Skype down. Again. (thenextweb.com)
• Skype hangs up on users yet again (go.theregister.com)
• Skype Goes Down (Again), Users Inexplicably Blaming Microsoft On Twitter (techcrunch.com)

If Skype Extras is creating an issue with software bloat through its games partner, Easybits, why do I get a blank Skype Extras window from the Tools | Get Skype Extras menu in Skype for Windows 5.3?

In one of its previous lives, ca. 2006, Skype introduced a Partner program where they encouraged third party developers to innovate products around the use of Skype. These products arrived in the form of games, productivity tools, hosted business services and utilities that enhanced the Skype experience or incorporated Skype for its real time communications features. At the time Skype provided API tools that facilitated development of these products; they remain available even as Skype ramps up its SkypeKit developer platform. Products were made readily available to Skype for Windows users through the Tools | Skype Extras menu of the Skype client. One partner had over 3 million downloads between January 2009 and August 2010; a very significant number have become ongoing subscription-paying customers.

Original Skype Extras Window

During the summer of 2007 Skype held a Mashup Competition with regional and worldwide winners. PamFax, still in its infancy but sending faxes from a PamFax window, won the worldwide competition. (Watch Voice On The Web for a complete update on PamFax’s evolution to a one-stop multi-platform “Fax for business” solution in the next few days).

Some the Extras publishers were acquired; for instance IBM’s Lotus Sametime division acquired the popular desktop sharing utility, Unyte. Others went away due to either  a lack of market acceptance, a failed business model or impatient investors. And there were many issues with the level of support provided by the Skype Developer program at that time.

Skype announced the end of the Skype Extras program in late August 2009, pointing out that no new Extras would be accepted from that point forward and that Skype Extras would not be accessible from the Skype for Windows menu after August 31, 2010. However, while this menu is still available from the Skype for Windows 5.3 client, I get the blank window shown above. However they can still be found available on the Skype website: Skype Extras page and on the Skype Store.

So what puzzles me is the recent appearance of stories about an additional program, easybits.exe, being installed with Skype for Windows. Easybits provided the platform for the Skype Extras games; it seems that a recent update to Easybits inadvertently got into some users’ recent installations of Skype for Windows. Looking through my Task Manager, there are no traces of easybits.exe; the only item related to Skype Extras Manager is skypePM.exe and it’s not consuming much RAM. Phil Wolff, over at Skype Journal, has more to say on this, including Easybits response, in #Skype Extras partner EasyBits releases game uninstall tool.

Bottom Line: So my real question is, given the blank Skype Extras screen I receive as shown above (and have received for some time now), the lack of any trace of EasyBits software on my Skype for Windows 5.3 installation and the announcement that Skype Extras would go away last fall, what is the real status of Skype Extras today? Or is it just quietly withering away?

Skype’s statement: EasyBits Update for Skype Extras Manager

P.S. – many of the former Skype Extras publishers have continued to offer their software and even built additional products that use the Skype API’s. Within a few days I’ll provide an update on where you can find these products today and their evolution into even better offerings.

Related articles

• EasyBits releases removal tool for afflicted Skype users (zdnet.com)
• Skype pushes gaming software down users throats (go.theregister.com)
• How To Uninstall EasyBits GO (EasyBitsGo.exe) Completely (ghacks.net)

Earlier today I blogged about the Skype Login Disruption that occurred this morning. Seems like Skype’s developers got onto the issue pretty quickly with the announcement on Skype’s Heartbeat Blog this evening:

• An update of Skype for Windows is available immediately.
• An update of Skype for Mac will be available tomorrow is now available.
• Updating Skype for Linux will continue to require a manual update.

Update: May 27: Skype’s Heartbeat blog reports on the Skype for Mac 5 upgrade. Also ensure you have Skype for Windows 5.3.0.116, released early this morning to address an auto-installation issue with last nights update.

Kudos to the Skype developers for getting on top of the issue and doing the software updates so quickly and to Skype corporate for communicating the issue and the fixes as they became available.

Hopefully each fix such as this builds a little more robustness into Skype.

Oh, and it had nothing to do with the Microsoft acquisition.

Related articles

• Skype faces second big outage, already has fix (electronista.com)
• Skype Outages Worldwide & How To Fix App Crashes For Windows/Mac [News] (makeuseof.com)

Yesterday Phil Wolff at Skype Journal brought our attention to an “infographic” from the financial due diligence-minded Credit Score Blog for Focus.com. It attempts to provide a history of Skype both from the technology and financial performance perspectives. But, in addition to Phil’s Quibbles, I have found some others.

Click on the graphic to see a larger image.

Research and Design by Credit Score Blog for Focus.com

Accounts and Users – there’s a difference!

Skype now has registered somewhere beyond 700 million accounts, increasing by over 500,000 every day. But, as has been pointed out often over the past few years, this number in meaningless since over 75% of the accounts have not been used for quite some time for at least three months. Users die, they try out Skype and give it up, a business will register new business accounts for employees who resign or are otherwise terminated. The list of reasons for not using an account can go on forever. (Unlike direct mail lists that can lose 20% of their accuracy every six months, users who move geographically can continue to use their Skype accounts provided they have an Internet connection.)

Starting with the IPO filing last year, Skype finally started to give out a more realistic number – the number of users who actually made at least one call or participated in at least one chat session in the previous calendar quarter. Whereas there were about 125 million in the April – June quarter of 2010, this number has risen to over 170 million for the January to March quarter 2011. In other words this is the number of active users.

So while Skype had registered over 100 million accounts in 2006, they did not reach the level of 100 million users until late 2009 or early 2010. It’s those active users whom become interesting to Microsoft as they work with their Skype team to develop plans for Skype’s (and Microsoft’s) growth.

Skype’s history with Video Calling – Sorting Out High Quality Video and HD Video

Yes, Skype introduced video calling in early 2006; it first came of out beta with Skype for Windows 3.1 in early 2007 delivering 320 x 240 images @15frames-per-second . However, in November 2007, Skype showed it got serious about taking the lead in video calling with the introduction of High Quality Video which required a new line of Logitech webcams, new video codecs from On2 (since acquired by Google) and a new version of Skype for Windows (3.6) that could deliver VGA resolution (640 x 480) at 30 frames-per-second and over a 384 kbps upload speed Internet connection.

With its superior quality that delivered in-your-face real time video, Skype video took off to the point where today video calling represents about 40 per cent of all Skype calls.

In 2010, with the launch of Skype for Windows 4.2, Skype announced support for 720p HD video calling; at the time it only supported webcams from two vendors: the FREETALK Everyman HD and Facevsion N1 webcams. HD video was off to a rocky start; it required at least 1.2 Mbps upload speed on the Internet connection (above the upload speed of most broadband connections) and there were call reliability and stability issues. With a firmware upgrade in December (FREETALK, Facevsion) and the release of Skype 5.0 for Windows, HD video calling has become a much more reliable service. Recently Logitech released a line of webcams that support HD Video calling. Over the past few weeks I have received HD video calls from Logitech webcams where callers had only a 1 Mbps upload speed.

With respect to the Infographic:

• Skype released High Quality Video in late 2007; they did not release HD Video until 2010.
• A major milestone for Skype video calls was the introduction of video calling on iPhones at the end of 2010.
• Finally, in early 2011, Skype took Group Video Calling out of beta, increased its capacity to ten participants and offered it as one component of its revenue generating Skype Premium service.

Microsoft Anywhere Graphic – What Happened to Outlook and Office?

The infographic attempts to illustrate all the potential Microsoft products that could benefit from embedding Skype technology and services. But what happened to Office and, especially, Outlook? At the press conference there was, to say the least, a strong emphasis placed on how Skype could be integrated with Outlook for both consumer and business use.

For Windows users, Outlook has become the core resource for managing users’ contacts; many products’ address books and scheduling features rely on the user’s Outlook Contacts and Calendars as the primary source of contact and calendar information. Outlook is critical for synchronizing a mobile phone address book, keeping the user’s schedule current and integrating Outlook information into third party collaboration services as well as many other Microsoft and third party offerings.

Full disclosure: the author’s first association with Skype involved beta testing of the Skype Email Toolbar, an Outlook plugin that allows you to make Skype calls directly from Outlook. However, the Skype for Windows client now incorporates an optional feature for importing Outlook contacts into a user’s Skype contacts, so this plugin has become a secondary offering.

I’ll place my bets on Outlook being the first or second Microsoft product to find Skype embedded into it.

Skype and Its Competition

That competition bar misses a couple of key aspects of Skype:

• Internationalization: Google Voice really only works  if you live in the U.S.; after all these years it still has no offerings for the rest of us around the world. Personally I have set up a Google Voice account during a recent visit to the U.S. but it’s of no use to me when at home in Canada.
• Technology: Over time Skype has developed some very unique technology that delivers a unique conversation experience; for example,
  • the SILK codec provides crystal clear voice on Skype-to-Skype calls, even when calling from/to iPhones and Android phones.
  • Video: Skype is unique in providing 640 x 480 video calling @ 30 fps via a simple user interface. Since its introduction in late 2007, there has been no competitive service with such a large network of users that can deliver this quality of real time video calls. And now HD video capability is starting to penetrate the user base.
  • Network connection: Skype has introduced features that monitor and adjust to the conditions of a call’s network connection such as to minimize the chance of call failure.

Bottom Line: While the infographic is a good attempt at outlining both Skype’s financial background and user experiences, it is missing some key elements that have the potential to contribute significantly to Microsoft’s ability to benefit from a $8.5 billion acquisition.

The key risk lies in how effectively Microsoft’s various product teams can work with the Skype teams to develop world changing communications-enhanced offerings. It’s a challenge to Microsoft’s ability to support real innovation. This represents the best opportunity for demonstrating Alec Saunders Voice 2.0 Manifesto where talk is the baseline, the meter is “off” and communications-enhanced applications are the value creators.

Related articles

• Microsoft Acquires Skype – The “Amber Mac Test” (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Microsoft Acquires Skype – A Most Interesting Marriage (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Microsoft Acquires Skype – Steve Ballmer Does Skype Europe (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Microsoft Acquires Skype – An Investor’s Perspective (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Skype’s Rollercoaster History [INFOGRAPHIC] (mashable.com)

Tuesday’s announcement of the pending Microsoft acquisition of Skype has certainly drawn a complete spectrum of comments, feedback and posts. They range from Microsoft’s perception as doomsday venom for an acquisition’s products and services to praise for the potential to merge two complementary software companies that allow not only the continuation of the current service but also leveraging real time conversation features and technology into Microsoft’s existing platforms and products.

But the bottom line is that over 170 million people have actively been using Skype this year. As reinforced at the acquisition press conference, any move that would threaten or inhibit those users’ ability to continue using Skype would not help Microsoft’s bottom line. Thus, for instance, the ongoing support of Skype clients for Mac OS/X, iOS4 handheld devices, Android devices and even Linux. Yet we can now certainly see that a Skype for Windows Mobile can be expected to surface by year end.

But it’s really the user experiences that will both win new users and drive continued use by existing users. Technology journalist, technology TV program host/producer and social networking strategist Amber MacArthur has summed up the desires of most Skype users in her Tending Tech blog on the Globe and Mail website in a post: Dear Microsoft, don’t mess up Skype.

Amber outlines the history of her experience using Skype video. She was a pioneer in using Skype video for TV broadcast feeds – even when the best Skype video call resolution was 320 x 240 – long before Oprah. She regularly uses Skype for her current productions and business activity. But she also has more importantly found the value in Skype for reinforcing family relationships through calls to relatives, especially to her parents for the weekly grandparent call – regardless of where either she, in her travels, and her parents are geographically.

Amber speaks for all Skype users in her conclusion:

In my world, it’s fair to say that Skype is a necessity. Aside from Gmail, it’s the one piece of technology that I’d hate to live without. With more than 170 million active users around the world, I’m not alone. Sure, Facebook has more subscribers, but I’d ditch that social network any day of the week if I had to choose between it and Skype. I can’t say I remember any memorable Facebook messages, but there are Skype video calls I can’t forget.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what the Microsoft news means to the tech world. After all, $8.5-billion is a lot of money. However, the truth is that I don’t care. I don’t really care how much the giant software company paid. I don’t care if it gives them a stronger foothold in the web world. All I care about is that I can still make free video calls to Mom and Dad on my son’s birthday and invite them to share in a little virtual cake and a singalong. [Editor’s bold]

So, Microsoft, don’t screw up Skype. There are 170-million people and growing who won’t be very happy if you do.

Bottom line: I would ask that every Skype employee and all Microsoft employees who may become involved with embedding Skype technology into Microsoft products print  Amber’s post and put it up in their cubicle or office and, when making decisions related to the deployment and use of Skype, ask if each individual business decision passes the “Amber Mac Test” outlined in the excerpt above. It provides one significant benchmark against which the evolution of Skype and its technology can be measured.

Note: the number of users in the quote has been adjusted to reflect the 170 million active users reported at the Microsoft-Skype press conference. Based on previous reporting, this is based on the number of users who actually made at least one Skype call or conversation during the Jan-March 2011 quarter. A much more realistic measure of Skype usage than simply the total number of Skype accounts that are increasing by over 500,000 per day.

Update: Check out Alec Saunders Microsoft-Skype: emerging themes for the perspective of a former Microsoft product manager.

Related articles

• Microsoft Acquires Skype – An Investor’s Perspective (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Microsoft-Skype: emerging themes (saunderslog.com)
• Microsoft And Skype Like A Horse And Carriage (informationweek.com)
• Microsoft-Skype Deal: Three Ways It Benefits Enterprises (lirax.wordpress.com)
• The End of the “Skype as Bandit” Era (disruptivetelephony.com)

For over a year the author has been a keen user of Skype for Windows 5 as a Skype client that has simplicity, yet flexibility. It’s easy to manage contacts, follow conversations, handle video calls as well as archive and search conversation history. Yet, with the release of Skype for Mac 5, there has been a “Skype for Mac 5” fever outbreak on the Internet due to its lack of consistency with these features. Bottom line is that users are confused and, in many cases have gone back to Skype for Mac 2.8. On the other hand the Skype for Mac team says they are listening.

In the previous post in this series, Skype for Mac 5: Returning to Ecstasy – Step 1 – Consistency, after pointing out how widely Skype for Windows 5 has been accepted, I went on to discuss some consistency issues including the use of the left Contacts pane. It is primarily used for managing Contacts and selecting a Contact or Group with whom the user wants launch or monitor conversation activity, whether chat, voice or video. One key recommendation here was that, in Skype for Mac 5, not only individual Contacts but also Contact Groups should be managed in this pane.

This post focuses on the right Conversation pane which, for the most part, manages and, as appropriate, archives content associated with the user’s conversations such as chat text, call detail records and file transfer information.  During Skype for Windows 5.x voice and video conversations it also displays, in the upper part of the pane, not only other party’s Skype profile graphic or video associated with the call participants but also user “controls” to manage how the call proceeds:

• a Call Bar beneath the image allows the user to manage the call activity, such as adding people, bringing up a dial pad, opening a chat window, sharing a desktop or file and, via the Call Quality Information  tool, monitor associated hardware and Internet connection conditions. This latter tool has been discussed previously with a recommendation to adopt all the features of this call bar in Skype for Mac 5. Also note that, from the CallBar, there is an obvious icon from which you can open a chat window below the video image.
• during a video call you can select whether you want to continue to view the video within the Conversation pane (with an option to zoom in on the image), in a separate “pop-out” window or Full Screen. There is also an option to capture a snapshot.

Recommendations for the Conversation Pane

1. Use the right pane solely for conversations; move all the Contact management activity, especially Contact Groups, to the left Contact pane.
2. Invoke all the features of the Skype for Windows call bar, including the Call Quality Information tool; this has been a most useful tool during calls in ensuring that all the audio and video hardware is working during (or prior to) a call.
3. Include the larger blue Chat icon, not a barely visible down arrow to open the chat window.
4. Invoke the Snapshot/Zoom/Full screen/Pop-out feature bar. When in an HD video call with Full Screen Skype is approaching a telepresence effect that will be even more useful with newer (HD) webcams that can pick up an entire small board or meeting room.
5. Invoke these changes while leaving available the existing View options to have a small Call Control bar that remains visible while in other Mac desktops and to have a list of contacts online. Useful options but they should be “Mac” enhancements to the feature set of Skype for Windows 5.
6. As with Skype for Windows 5, invoke a “Home” screen for viewing some conversation history information and manage the User’s Skype profile.
7. I’m neutral on whether to invoke Facebook; occasionally I find it useful.
8. Keep the indicator on the left of the panel for expanding the video image to the full width of the Skype window.

Bottom Line: Users are not only looking to have all the primary Contact, Calling and Conversation features available across Windows and Mac (and potentially Linux) platforms but they are most comfortable when there is consistency between the User Interfaces. In some cases there is a feature that is currently available in Skype for Mac 5 (such as viewing Full Screen) but it’s the User Interface triggering “button”  or icon that should have a base level of uniformity across all platforms.

One may say that most users have only one platform but I am in a family where some members run on Windows while others run on the Mac. Also during cross platform calls it is features such as the Call Quality Info or Sharing icon that I ask the other party to use or seek out when they are having difficulty with, say, their hardware or features such as screen  sharing.

Other posts in this series:

• Skype for Mac 5 – From Ecstasy to Agony
• Skype for Mac 5: Returning to Ecstasy – Step 1 – Consistency

Other views on this issue:

• Ignore the Code: Skype 5 Ideas
• Dan York, Disruptive Telephony: My 3 Main Issues With Skype 5.x For The Mac
• Balance Network: Skype 5 for Mac Redesign, “A little more than just a Chat Style”
• Attack of Design: Skype Beta for Mac’s Usability Failings
• Hudson Barton, Aaytch: How To Fix Skype-for-Mac 5.x
• Andy Abramson, VoIP Watch: Skype Has Another Set of Outages Yesterday
• Keith Lang: screen shot on how to organize Contacts
• Jaanus Kase: Skype 5 for Mac: spatial arrangement and inconsistent single-window design

And, for those design masters: enter the Mac chat style competition; competition announcement

Related articles

• Skype for Mac 5.0 Goes Gold: Incorporating Beta Feedback and More (voiceontheweb.biz)
• What’s New in Skype 5 for Mac? (appreaders.com)
• Skype’s "Easy Conference Call" – A Hidden Gem (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Skype for Windows 5.2 Released: Subtle Window Dressings (voiceontheweb.biz)

For over a year the author has been a keen user of Skype for Windows 5 as a Skype client that has simplicity, yet flexibility. It’s easy to manage contacts, follow conversations, handle video calls as well as archive and search conversation history. Yet, with the release of Skype for Mac 5, there has been a “Skype for Mac 5” fever outbreak on the Internet due to its lack of consistency with these features. Bottom line is that users are confused and, in many cases have gone back to Skype for Mac 2.8. The rash of posts reminds me of a famous comedy routine asking “Who’s on first, What’s on second and I Don’t Know on third” (read down the post for an explanation). On the other hand the Skype for Mac team says they are listening.

It is obvious from personal enquiries and blog posts that Mac users have not experienced Skype for Windows 5 and why it has become so readily accepted after some initial feedback from beta versions and even previous “Gold” versions. The irony here is that, whether intentional or not, Skype for Windows 5 subtly incorporated some of the widely acclaimed  User Interface features of Skype for Mac 2.8.

Behind all this, Phil Wolff, in How to keep & maintain an online relationship tip #1 (Skype!), points out how deeply Skype has penetrated our psyche:

First, Skype is just assumed. It is not novel, special, or difficult. It’s just there, like it’s always been. How could you not Skype? More than seven years after launch, Skype is part of American [Ed. worldwide] youth culture. Like tuxedo nail polish art.

In this post I want to point out where some key terminology needs to aligned so that a couple of terms used in Skype for Mac 5 is consistent with the terms already used in Skype for Windows 5. Keep in mind that in Skype for Windows 5 there are two underlying panes, each with a consistent purpose:

• Contacts on the left: add them, manage them, organize them, select whom you want to converse with and open the relevant conversation pane.
• Conversations on the right: it’s about content! Chat sessions, call detail records for voice and video calls, file transfer information, when did it happen? over what time period. Even the Facebook feature puts conversation content into the same pane. And if you select your own name at the top of the Contacts pane you deal with your own personal “content”.

Compact View

In his  Ignore the Code post, Skype 5 for Mac, Lukas Mathis provided an example where he was able to follow eight separate chat conversations in one Mac desktop. When he wants to deal with Skype he simply switches to his “Skype” desktop and picks up on the relevant conversations – switching desktops is unique to the Mac OS/X:

Skype for Windows has a Default View where the Contacts pane and Conversation pane are side-by-side in one window. However, after a wave of initial user feedback, it quickly incorporated a “Compact View” where conversations could be broken out into separate windows with the following result for an eight window scenario:

One window for managing Contacts, three containing group discussions, one window for the dialpad (more on that in another post) and three conversation sessions with individuals. However, one advantage of Mac OS/X is the ability to have up to four “desktops”. As a result there is the potential to keep these windows open on one Mac desktop and have them readily accessible by using the Mac OS/X features for switching desktops.

Because I personally find it easier to manage conversations in my activities, I now prefer the Default View; however, users have a choice; choice has won over acceptance.

But “Compact View” in the current Skype for Mac 5 simply removes the Contacts’ Profile Pictures from the list of Contacts in the left pane; frankly, it’s useful only because I want to optimize real estate and maximize the number of Contacts I see in the left pane. And forget about the “Cover Roll” view; I find no reason or utility for it other than aesthetics.

Anti-biotic recommendation One: Incorporate the flexibility to have either a single “Contacts/Conversation” pane or a “Compact View” similar to Skype for Windows 5 where the Contacts pane is accompanied by multiple individual conversation panes, such that Lukas could keep his “Skype” desktop. And use the term “Compact View” for this option on both platforms.

Groups and Categories

When Skype launched Skype 4.0 for Windows it changed the definition of Contact Groups (“Groups”) and introduced a new term: “Contact Categories” (“Categories”). Basically a Group is comprised of all the Contacts participating in a Group Chat or Group Voice call (multi-party call). A Group is created in the Conversation Pane either by dragging Contacts into the blue header of a Conversation pane or using the “Add People” button in the Conversation pane call bar. Once created, a Group can be added as a Contact in the Contact pane’s list.

Contact Categories, associated with the Contacts pane only, are subsets of Contacts that can be categorized by some common interest. Basically by selecting a Category from the Contacts (or left) tab in the Conversation pane you only see those Contacts within the Category – a great tool when you have over, say, 50 Contacts and the Categories only include those for whom there is a common association.

The issue with Skype for Mac 5 is that what are Categories in Skype for Windows 5 are still called Groups in Skype for Mac 5. And, with Skype for Mac 5.1 the Groups are listed across the top of the Conversation side of the client. Also I can find no way to create a Group in Skype for Mac 5.1; fortunately adding a new Category in Skype for Windows 5 is reflected in the “Groups” of Skype for Mac 5.

Anti-biotic recommendation 2: Incorporate the Skype for Windows 5 algorithms for identifying and managing Categories and Groups into Skype for Mac 5. Use the left (“Contacts”) pane only for all management of Contacts, including Categories. And introduce a “Create Contact Categories” feature.

Managing “Who’s on First”

(Apologies to non-North Americans who have not heard the Abbott and Costello’s famous “Who’s On First” routine; it’s a word play parody incorporating baseball analogies.)

In Skype for Windows 5, near the top of the Contacts pane are two “tabs”: on the left one for selecting Categories as defined above; on the other a tab called , simply – and appropriately – “Recent”. It builds a Contact timeline, going backwards, of those Contacts with whom a user has had her/his most recent conversations. The latter reflects Phil’s statement:

In my own experience Skype weighs fresh conversations more heavily than other factors.

Select a Contact under either tab and the Conversation pane opens up with a chat window and button bar from which a conversation with that Contact (or Group Contact) may be launched or continued. Note that there is also a Search window where a user can quickly find a Contact when the Contact list gets too long to appear within the length of the Contacts pane; a feature I find very helpful.

But one might as well watch “Who’s On First” to get a flavor for the confusion created in Skype for Mac 5. Contacts and “Recent” Contacts are not readily separated or categorized. In fact, if you want to see the Contacts in a Group …  woops Category … you need to click on a a Group (Category) name in the right pane and the Contacts are listed in what should only contain conversation content.

Anti-biotic recommendation 3: Incorporate the Categories tab, Recent tab and Search window that is seen in Skype for Windows 5. If there are any “Mac”-unique quirks associated with doing this, such as a floating Contact Monitor, incorporate them as an enhancement but keep consistency with the basics as a starting point.

Bottom line: Not only should Skype for Mac have the same feature set as Skype for Windows, as often  promoted by Dan York, but also the user interface and associated terminology should be similar such that a user going from one platform to the other can just continue to use Skype in a manner totally transparent to the user. On the other hand, let the Skype for Mac team innovate through enhancements that take advantage of features of Mac OS/X where feasible and reasonable.

Other posts in this series:

• Skype for Mac 5 – From Ecstasy to Agony
• Skype for Mac 5: Returning to Ecstasy – Step 2 – The Conversation Pane

Other views on this issue:

• Ignore the Code: Skype 5 Ideas
• Dan York, Disruptive Telephony: My 3 Main Issues With Skype 5.x For The Mac
• Balance Network: Skype 5 for Mac Redesign, “A little more than just a Chat Style”
• Attack of Design: Skype Beta for Mac’s Usability Failings
• Hudson Barton, Aaytch: How To Fix Skype-for-Mac 5.x
• Andy Abramson, VoIP Watch: Skype Has Another Set of Outages Yesterday
• Keith Lang: screen shot on how to organize Contacts
• Jaanus Kase: Skype 5 for Mac: spatial arrangement and inconsistent single-window design

And, for those design masters: enter the Mac chat style competition; competition announcement

Related articles

• Skype for Mac 5.0 Goes Gold: Incorporating Beta Feedback and More (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Skype for Mac 5, Skype for iPhone 3.0.1 – Upgrade Wednesday (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Skype for Windows 5.2: Subtle Window Dressings II – “Text Tone” Dialing (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Months pass, and fury over Skype 5 for Mac still boils (skypejournal.com)
• This Is What Skype 5 For Mac Should Look Like (techcrunch.com)

For Mac devotees worldwide there has developed a significant appreciation of Skype for Mac 2.8 with it’s drawers, separate chat conversations windows, contact management algorithms and other features that present a “Mac-like” user interface. It provided both ease-of-use and flexibility across the spectrum of new to advanced users. However, there have also been cries for incorporating many features that are now available in Skype for Windows 5.x, especially Group Video calling. A tall task, to say the least. Recall Dan York’s rant on Skype’s fragmented product strategy, for instance.

Over the past couple of months Skype has released two versions of Skype for Mac 5.x (5.0 and 5.1) to some acclaim (yes, I have heard some complements) but also to much dismay. On the positive side it supports Group Video Calling (but now requiring a subscription). It took a couple of weeks after the Skype for Mac 5.1 release but last week the Internet erupted with an outbreak of Skype for Mac 5.x fever as several bloggers passionately displayed the rash by posting their concerns, apprehensions and aspirations. From my recent interviews with Skype personnel, their blogs and my own experience using both Skype for Windows 5.x and Skype for Mac 5.x I find the following:

• It appears that the goal for Skype for Mac 5.x is to have an interface similar to the revamped user interface first launched as Skype for Windows 4.x and now at its most recent version, Skype for Windows 5.2. At the same time the goal was to catch up to the feature set of Skype for Windows 5.x.
• From my CES interview with Neil Stevens, Skype’s VP Consumer Products, I learned that Neil wants to see new versions with incremental feature enhancements released every two to three months. Certainly the activity since the beginning of 2011 has lived up to that goal with two new releases of both Skype for Windows and Skype for Mac in that time frame.
• In the announcing the contest for “Styling” a theme the Skype for Mac 5.x conversation pane there is a concluding paragraph stating:
  • Finally, a note to those of you who have commented on the user interface as a whole. We’re in the process of developing some changes which will offer a lot more flexibility in the interface, and they’re on the roadmap for a (near) future version. Stay tuned.
• In response to last week’s deluge of blog posts Skype’s Rick Osterloh has posted “An Update on Skype for Mac” where he attempts to explain some of the challenges of building Skype for Mac 5. He states:
  • However, there’s still plenty of work for us to do and we know that not all of you prefer 5.X. To that end, we’ve taken a comprehensive look at the feedback from the last couple of months and identified two broad patterns. I’ve captured a distillation of some of the issues we have heard.
• In the meantime Skype has restored the ready availability of Skype for Mac 2.8 on their website as an option.

Skype for Mac 5 Fever – The Outbreak

• Lukas Mathis, Ignore the Code, in his post Skype 5 for Mac, finds an upgraded Skype Contact asking: “What the hell happened to Skype? Is this some kind of a joke?” He goes on to point out the simplicity in Skype for Mac 2.8 of the basic contact window, how chats were displayed and how he uses the Mac multi-desktop feature to manage multiple concurrent chat sessions. He continues by outlining his issues with Skype for Mac 5: complexity, rigidness and non-essential features. All valid points including a demonstration of how a more advanced user took advantage of the UI’s flexibility in 2.8.
• Jaanus Kase, a former Skype employee who has since acquired a degree in Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, in his post, Skype 5 for Mac: spatial arrangement and inconsistent single-window design, discusses the the “Floating and Disappearing Dial Pad” as an example. [My comment: here is one feature that needs to be addressed by looking at how the dial pad is handled in Skype for Windows 5 (I’ll have more to say later on this one.)]
• Hudson Barton, a Skype for Mac enthusiast who tracks Skype users online every 15 minutes, uncovers a previous Skype for Mac UI design proposal from an agency that Skype worked with (don’t know if they still do). He points out in his post, How To Fix Skype-for-Mac 5.x :
  • ….. the features of Skype-for-Windows work consistently and as one might anticipate, with lists of contacts,  conversations calls on the left and the content of those items on the right.  The Mac interface, by contrast, is all mixed up. {Editor’s bold} Things pop up in unexpected locations and in formats that are both strange and unusable.  Some of the features are too buggy to use.  Others are annoying, or meaningless, or simply dead, and several things that were admired in 2.8 have gone missing.

  and offers some suggestions for fixing Skype for Mac 5.

• Phil Wolff at Skype Journal, in Months pass, and fury over Skype 5 for Mac still boils, provides one perspective on “How did this happen” and points out that “Design Is Hard”:
  • How do you hold fast to your core Skypiness, to what made people love you, and support new features for new markets, new use cases, new business models? Your backlogs overflow. The pressure is intense. Heck, I add to my Skype wishlist daily so I can only imagine what your iceboxes look like.
• Andy Abramson at VoIP Watch speculates on how this all may have evolved in Skype Has Another Set of Outages Yesterday.

Skype for Mac 5 – The Anti-Biotic

From these posts and conversations in the general course of my work I get the feeling that I am one of the few users who has experienced both Skype for Windows 5 and Skype for Mac 5 on an almost daily basis. I am also involved with a network of business contacts who simply use Skype — they don’t care about the underlying technology –  and just want it to work but again I hear that “What the hell happened to Skype?” line from those who use a Mac.

Just over a year ago I acquired a MacBook Pro and quickly learned first hand about the features that made Skype for Mac 2.8 attractive to its user base. And then I realized that some of the basic precepts behind Skype for Windows 4 and 5 had some consistency with how Skype for Mac 2.8 worked, especially when it came to handling contacts and conversations. At that point I realized how some of these features were inherent to Skype for Windows 4.x and have become very comfortable with the Skype for Windows 4 and 5 overall format while benefiting from its new features:

• The two panes clearly separate Contact Management and Conversations
• There is a “Compact View” option to have a separate window for Contact management and multiple windows for individual conversations (with chat text, call detail notes and file transfer records) in addition to the “Default View” with one overall user interface window and two panes. (Note: don’t go running to Compact View in Skype for Mac 5 – that has totally different consequences)
• Skype for Windows 5.x has evolved with new UI features that make using Skype even easier (for example I have commented on two nifty new Skype for Window 5.2 here and here – the latter addresses one aspect of how the dial pad works).

Over the course of this week I will be putting up a series of additional posts outlining in more detail what I see as needed for Skype for Mac to come close to the convenience, feature set and ease-of-use found in Skype for Windows 5.2.

Bottom line: the Skype for Mac team has lots of work outstanding to address the challenge of not only having the feature set but also ease-of-use of Skype for Windows 5 while also taking advantage of some potential features that are unique to the Mac. Hopefully my comments can help point out key issues. With over 30 million online concurrently last week and 145+ million active users late last year, there is a significant portion of Skype’s users who count on a positive user experience (18% of this blog’s visitors in 2011 are on a Mac.)

Dan York has some additional comments:

• My 3 Main Issues With Skype 5.x For The Mac – And Jim Courtney Summarizes The Skype for Mac 5 Saga

Other posts in this series:

• Skype for Mac 5: Returning to Ecstasy – Step 1 – Consistency
• Skype for Mac 5: Returning to Ecstasy – Step 2 – The Conversation Pane

Other views on this issue:

• Ignore the Code: Skype 5 Ideas
• Balance Network: Skype 5 for Mac Redesign, “A little more than just a Chat Style”
• Attack of Design: Skype Beta for Mac’s Usability Failings
• Hudson Barton, Aaytch: How To Fix Skype-for-Mac 5.x
• Andy Abramson, VoIP Watch: Skype Has Another Set of Outages Yesterday
• Keith Lang: screen shot on how to organize Contacts
• Jaanus Kase: Skype 5 for Mac: spatial arrangement and inconsistent single-window design

And, for those design masters: enter the Mac chat style competition; competition announcement

Related articles

• Skype for Mac 5.0 Goes Gold: Incorporating Beta Feedback and More (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Skype for Mac 5 Beta 1: Catching Up to Skype for Windows 5 But With a Mac Touch (staging.dicx.com)
• This Is What Skype 5 For Mac Should Look Like (techcrunch.com)
• Download: Skype for Mac 5.1 (skypejournal.com)
• Skype 5 for Mac continues to frustrate — how’s it treating you? (engadget.com)

A couple of days ago I wrote about some new Call Bar features in the recently released Skype for Windows 5.2. But there was one other feature that I have investigated …

• Modified call phones dialog with integrated contact number search

It’s not huge but makes calling the PSTN easier if a Contact has PSTN numbers embedded in either his/her Skype profile or you have entered into a Contact’s profile via the “Add a Number” feature in the Call Bar.

To call a PSTN number a call has to be placed via the menu which brings up a traditional T9 dial pad in the Conversation pane. Previously one could enter a number and make a call; the default was to make calls to your local country code but one could also change the country selected. (Click the drop down to change the flag.)

With Skype for Windows 5.2 one can now start to type in a Contact’s name and place a call.  In Phil’s case on the right the options are his Mobile, Office and U.K. Skype Online number (Home). Select a number, click on the Call Button and the call is initiated.

One other subtle change: there are now several opportunities to Save a PSTN number that is not already embedded in your Contacts. In this case one can save the number prior to the call; however, at the end of a call there is also an opportunity to Save the number called.

Bottom line: Subtly Skype is generating more awareness of its PSTN calling options. Between the Call Bar changes in my previous post, the “Text Tone” feature described here and the opportunity to add numbers to a Contact’s profile on your local PC, Skype is attempting to increase what, to date, has been its largest revenue generator (according to recent SEC releases).

(Note that it’s not a true T9 dialpad, you have to enter alpha characters via your PC keyboard, pressing a number one, two, three or four times does not generate the relevant alpha character in the number bar. Yet, Skype does show the alpha characters in the dialpad; it’s the familiar user interface, after all.)