For the past few years I have been aware of another company, aside from Skype, that develops communications software in the form of SIP-based softphones: CounterPath, working out of Vancouver, B.C.

I have always been a bit frustrated by SIP-based connectivity – my one learning across several attempts over the years to configure SIP-based softphones was that it’s not a simple exercise but rather requires a certain level of technical expertise.

But the team at CounterPath persisted. Much like Global IP Solutions (“GIPS”) they found a market for their software in the enterprise space as well as an OEM for telecomm carriers, such as Verizon and BT, and telecommunications hardware vendors, such as Cisco and Mitel. From their website:

CounterPath Corporation is a leading provider of innovative desktop and mobile VoIP software products and solutions. The Company’s product suite includes SIP-based softphones, server applications and Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) solutions that enable service providers, enterprises and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) to cost-effectively integrate voice, video, presence and Instant Messaging (IM) applications into their VoIP offerings and extend functionality across both fixed and mobile networks.

Recently I have been setting up a prototype FREETALK Connect PBX in preparation for its launch later this summer and found that CounterPath’s Bria softphone for PC and Mac could be one way to access the FREETALK Connect (in addition to Skype clients and IP-based phone sets). Let’s say it was not a totally trivial process but I now have it working. In the course of getting it to work I learned more about where CounterPath positions their software as outlined above.

Basically larger enterprises and carriers are looking for a softphone client that they can incorporate into various IP-based communications service offerings. CounterPath’s original x-Lite and recently released Bria for Windows and Mac are filling that gap. Sticking solely to being an infrastructure software developer, CounterPath does not provide a full telecommunications service such as Skype but rather integrates into VoIP service offerings of other VoIP service providers. Their focus is on providing a platform that supports Fixed-Mobile Convergence and Unified Communications activities within these third party services.

So it was not a total surprise last week, when, in addition to supporting PC’s and Mac’s as end points, they announced Bria for iPhone, available for $3.99 at the Apple App store. Two of my blogging colleagues provided lots of details:

Alec Saunders at Saunderslog: CounterPath Launches Bria on iPhone:

Today CounterPath has launched Bria iPhone Edition, their first softphone for Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.  Think of this feature-rich VoIP client for iPhone as being the mobile equivalent of a business desk phone.  With enterprise class features ranging from speaker phone to hold/unhold, swap, mute, conference, and security, this softphone is a credible tool for the road warrior. Moreover, with a strong focus on usability as well, CounterPath VP Todd Carothers proudly says “it could have been developed by Apple themselves!”.

Dan York does a great video explanation in Emerging Tech Talk #51 – Review of CounterPath’s Bria SIP softphone for iPhone and iPad:

Have you wanted to use a VoIP softphone from your iPhone or iPad? Sure, Skype is available, but what if you want to use a softphone that works with SIP and can connect to a corporate IP-PBX? In this episode, host Dan York reviews the new Bria softphone for the iPhone that was released this week by CounterPath Corp. He shows how it works, how it can connect to applications running on Voxeo’s Prophecy Hosting or Tropo platforms and offers some other comments about the app.

As a result I installed Bria for iPhone on my iPhone (but look for “CounterPath” in the App store, not “Bria”) and made the connection to the FREETALK Connect PBX. It certainly worked for making outbound calls to the PSTN. Ironically the call was via Bria as the calling client into the FREETALK Connect and then going out over SkypeOut to the called phone number.

(Note, however, that my Skype for iPhone client can also call into the FREETALK Connect from anywhere worldwide; it’s really becomes a matter of what client is convenient for the individual user’s situation. Taking inbound calls does currently require that you have the relevant client open on the iPhone, whether it’s Skype or Bria.)

In talking with CounterPath VP Todd Carothers, he pointed out how much effort had been put into the user interface to make it much easier to configure. Fortunately I had my Bria for Mac configuration available from which I copied the key parameters required. The FREETALK Connect uses the same “phone” configuration for Bria for iPhone as used with Bria for Mac.

Once configured you have access to a “familiar” iPhone calling interface from which you can call any of your iPhone contacts; most obviously the colors have been slightly modified to give it some “branding”. (Personally I find the amber numbers easier on the eyes than the traditional white.) Other screens provide access to call history, additional settings and your iPhone contacts.

And why did CounterPath start with support of the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad? Basically they had watched as Apple gradually introduced features, such as full Microsoft Exchange support with the upgrade to iOS3 earlier this year, and felt now was the time that their customers’ end user base would need access to their IP-based services from the iPhone, etc. Later this year they intend to introduce Bria for Android. Given CounterPath’s focus on the enterprise/operator market, a BlackBerry offering would be an obvious one. However, for similar reasons to the lack of a carrier agnostic Skype for BlackBerry, they are not in a position to produce such an offering now.

Bottom Line: Within its target market, CounterPath appears to be ready to play a role in the enterprise IP-based communications market, providing infrastructure to IP-based communications services that are quickly infiltrating this market space. Whereas Skype’s high level of adoption by consumers and small business results from its ease-of installation and configuration, Bria is an offering that definitely needs a level of technical expertise, usually a resource available in larger enterprises, for configuration but, once configured, fulfils a need within its target market space.

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Pardon my exuberance but I am about to write about a product that I have been beta testing for the past few months. Seven months ago I knew very little about small business PBX’s other than to know they had big $$$ signs associated with their operation.

Back in 1992 my employer of the day paid $28,000 for a PBX that would service our local Canadian office of six to ten employees – and all the extensions had to be physically in the same office. Of course we would also be paying significant long distance charges, especially for out-of-country calls. The same employer was paying about $10,000 per month for a T1 line between California and their European office in Ireland. The economics of worldwide communications has changed somewhat since then; today’s announcement from In Store Solutions of the FREETALK Connect small business PBX takes small businesses further down that path.

About six weeks ago, while visiting In Store Solutions head office in Spain, using Skype for iPhone in a WiFi zone at my hotel room, I called a SkypeID that gave me the options to press 1 for Jim, 2 for another person and 3 for another person. I pressed 1 and a few seconds later my BlackBerry was ringing me back in Spain, But the PBX was at my home near Toronto, Canada as was an attached Linksys VoIP phone that the PBX also rang simultaneously with my BlackBerry in Spain. Had I answered my BlackBerry the only charge would have been my voice roaming package $1.25 per minute. Had somebody else originated that call in the way I did, I also would have had the option to answer the call, with no resulting charges for either party, on my PC’s Skype client which at the time was also in my hotel room in Spain¹.

Bottom line: any Skype user worldwide could have reached me via this PBX on a “local” or “remote” phone, a mobile smartphone or my Skype client with minimal, if any, costs for the call. And, in practice, geography as a factor to Find Me or Follow Me was not in the equation.

Today In Store Solutions announced FREETALK Connect, a small business PBX that changes the algorithm and business model for small business voice communications. With FREETALK Connect a business can benefit from:

• accepting inbound calls made via Skype, a Skype Online number, a SIP client, Asterisk (IAX2) or the PSTN, via either an analog line or a VoIP service provider.
  • incorporating Find Me, Follow Me features
• accept calls on local analog phone lines, local or remote VoIP phones, mobile phones anywhere or remote PSTN-accessed phones – all provisioned within the PBX.
• placing outbound calls over Skype, SkypeOut, a SIP-connected VoIP service or an analog PSTN line.
• managed voice mail including consolidation of voice mail and email into one mailbox

As I experienced the different communications paths this product opened up, I realized that this box can revolutionize how small business communicates with their suppliers, customers and business partners – worldwide.

The press release lists all the services that will be on board the FREETALK Connect when it becomes available for purchase by U.S. registered Skype users in March on the Skype Store:

Some of the key features from the Jazinga platform found in the FREETALK Connect include:

• Callback / Dial-around
• Access to Skype Buddy lists
• Auto Attendant / IVR
• Paging
• Call Parking
• Remote Extensions
• Music on Hold
• Conferencing

The FREETALK Connect also has an easily configured and updated:

• Managing routes to users, telephone services, and applications
• Providing SIP/Skype telephone service management
• Router management (networking, port forwarding, DNS, DHCP)

“Jazinga’s products consistently ensure call integrity by integrating quality of service and prioritizing voice traffic on the network into an affordable, simple product,” said In Store Solutions COO Craig Smith. “There was no question that FREETALK wanted to partner with Jazinga to develop the FREETALK Connect, because it continues our goal of working with the best providers to distribute outstanding products around the world.”

“FREETALK Connect is designed for small businesses with between 2 and 49 users, an undersold market that desperately needs UC functionality,” said Randy Busch, CEO of Jazinga Inc. “As a result of our partnership with In Store Solutions, the telecom technology playing field is much more level between larger enterprises and their smaller competitors.”

In terms of the technology within FREETALK Connect it incorporates both Skype for SIP and Skype for Asterisk to provide an optimum level of Skype-based services but at the same time providing inbound calling flexibility and optimizing outbound calling expenses, all combined with the call integrity features quoted above.

FREETALK Connect will requires users to have a Skype for Business account, available through the Skype Business Control Panel, associated with each unit. More on this aspect of FREETALK Connect is the subject of a future post.

Bottom line: Targeted at small businesses with 2 to 25 employees and/or business partners with its wide range of inbound and outbound calling options, an attractive price point, incorporation of Skype for Business infrastructure and the ability to self-configure via wizards, FREETALK Connect represents a game changer in the small business communications market. Lots more will be written about this product as the applications experiences evolve.

¹In this situation I could not have the Skype client answering option since I was using my Skype account to originate the call.

Full disclosure: In Store Solutions has become a client of Denali InterConneXions, publisher of Voice On The Web, building on the author’s previous business development experience with establishing partnerships that can assist with the promotion of a primary vendor’s offerings. A more complete statement will follow shortly.

Other posts:

Saunderslog: FREETALK Connect, the worlds first Skype-enabled Unified Communications system.

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Skype launches an Open Beta phase for its Skype for SIP service. Over 10,000 businesses worldwide have lined up to join the program.

Over the past eight months, Skype has been running a closed Skype for SIP beta program. A couple of PBX vendor agreements have been signed while Skype personnel have been having discussions with potential Skype for Business customers about their use of business communications processes.

Yetersday Skype has announced the launch of the Skype for SIP Open Beta program. According to Skype’s press release nearly ten thousand businesses around the world have applied to participate in this open beta phase. However, this phase is also open to any new applicants, whether PBX manufacturers, SIP gateway vendors or individual enterprises, who want to learn how they can take advantage of Skype for SIP in their business communications.

And why the interest? Skype for SIP:

• allows a business to provide inbound calling from a Skype client (whether on a PC or embedded in devices such as the RTX 3088 Dualphone), web-based click-to-call buttons or a Skype Online number through a SIP-enabled PBX or Unified Communications system.
• provisions outbound calling to landlines and mobile phones worldwide at SkypeOut rates
• has a monthly fee of $6.95/€4.95 per month per concurrent voice channel (which can handle either inbound or outbound calls)
• is managed from the Skype Business Control Panel:
  • to create and manage employees’ or outsourced resources’ Skype accounts
  • to subscribe to Skype Online numbers
  • to allocate SkypeOut credits to employees’ Skype accounts
• allows management of Skype calls via the existing PBX or UC features, such as call routing, conferencing, phone menus and voice mail
• can bring significant communication cost savings to enterprises, whether large, medium or small, especially if they are addressing continental or worldwide markets

From the Skype press release:

A company’s IT administrator just creates and registers a Skype Business Control Panel (BCP) for the organization and then follows the instructions to configure Skype for SIP to work with its existing SIP-enabled communications system. This Web-based tool allows a company to control its Skype usage from a single point and enables centralized billing, easy allocation of Skype Credit, subscriptions and online numbers to users, as well as reporting about both usage and spending. Furthermore, it gives companies the ability to manage internal employee accounts, including who uses Skype and who doesn’t and what features they can use.

As an example of the cost savings, Enterprise Business Development Manager Matthew Jordan described a company who would replace a T1 line with 23 lines at a cost of, say, $400 per month plus per minute toll charges, at up to,say, $0.03/minute, for both inbound and outbound calls. With Skype for SIP, the company would be looking at a cost of $161 per month for the 23 voice channels plus low SkypeOut rates for outbound calls to landlines and mobile phones anywhere worldwide and no charges for inbound calls.

From Skype’s perspective, a primary goal of this beta phase is to monitor usage to determine experience-based usage patterns. To facilitate this goal,  during this open beta Skype for SIP will have a 20% burstage allowances such that a company with 10 channels can actually use up to 12 channels as a means to optimize bursting levels required  based on real calling patterns. With over 10,000 Skype for SIP customers, they hope to gain statistically significant data as well as learn more about scalability and robustness issues.

The entire systems is designed to be global and scalable as numbers build. The required SIP gateways (at sip.skype.com) will be independent of SIP gateways used for legacy consumer SkypeOut calling.

Skype for SIP is a classic case of a transitional offering. Enterprises continue to use their legacy SIP-enabled PBX and then add Skype for SIP such that they can continue making calls but run them over Skype for SIP to reduce costs as they feel more and more comfortable with the advantages of the Skype for SIP exerience. It provides a low cost means of adding voice channels; it also allows a company to expand their calling into new countries at low SkypeOut rates with the only provisioning being the initial setup of Skype for SIP via the business control panel.

More information, including an introductory video, can be obtained and Business Control Panel accounts set up at the Skype for SIP beta website at sip.skype.com.

• Peter Parkes: Skype for Business Blog: Skype for SIP beta program opens up to all businesses.
• All Voice On The Web posts mentioning Skype for SIP.
• Andy Abramson talks about the “Skype Pipe”; he thinks “…. Skype just created a massive pipe into the corporate market.”

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Over the past two weeks we have started to see signs of a transition period for Skype’s developer support activities. Yes, Skype Extras is dead; however the current Skype API’s remain supported. Jonathan Christensen gave Michael Arrington at TechCrunch some hints of forthcoming developer support activity.  Skype for Asterisk was launched three weeks ago. All this builds on the “Skype Everywhere” theme announced last January at CES 2009.

And whither the Skype for SIP activity whose beta program was launched six months ago? Over the past two weeks we have seen a couple of Skype for SIP launch partner interoperability announcements incorporating Skype interoperability into their Unified Communications offerings:

• the initial announcement covered incorporation of Skype interoperability as a feature for Shoretel’s 11,000 enterprise customers using Shoretel’s IP Phone Systems.
• this was followed by an announcement of incorporation into the SIPfoundry’s open source enterprise IP PBX unified communications solution for organizations running a sipXecs IP PBX.

But today’s announcement of Skype for SIP interoperability with Cisco’s Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business opens up significant new markets for Skype through Cisco’s extensive worldwide reseller channels. From the press release:

“Cisco is committed to delivering easy-to-use technology to small businesses to help them run their business better and gain a competitive advantage,” said Mark Monday, vice president and general manager, Small Business Solutions business unit, Cisco. “We are excited about Skype for SIP interoperability since it adds a very cost-effective choice to the many other options within the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series.”

Note that Cisco VARS will be required to register for a new Skype Service Partner certification program covering configuration of the Cisco solution to support Skype for SIP. And that the Skype for SIP interoperability with the Cisco 500 Series goes through third party certification at tekVizion Labs, an independent interoperability testing facility in Richardson, Texas.

In all three cases Skype for SIP increases the enterprise’s or organization’s worldwide communications choices while reducing costs through:

• taking advantage of Skype’s interconnection to the PSTN that provides low cost (SkyepOut) calling to most countries worldwide
• receiving inbound calls from Skype users via a global click-to-call button on the enterprise’s or organization’s website
• receiving inbound calls via Skype Online numbers in 25 countries (previously SkypeIn)
• interoperation of these features with all the other features of the PBX offerings of  Shoretel, sipFoundry and Cisco’s 500 Series, such as call transfer, call forwarding, voicemail, etc.

For organizations and enterprises, the availability of Skype for SIP, Skype for Asterisk and the Skype API’s used by Skype’s other business communications partners, such as OnState and Scendix (PamFax), brings about significant overhead benefits. This offering:

• ensures that, with one service, the enterprise can achieve low cost calling to any country worldwide without the need to mange and use country- or region-specific calling plans offered by the legacy PSTN telcos.
• eliminates a layer of communications cost overhead through the value-add of making all Skype’s global termination agreements available through one source via the various Skype for Business partners’ distribution and reseller channels.

Bottom Line: These announcements all build on Skype’s “Skype Everywhere” strategy. The key point here is that, going forward, Skype’s developer and partner activities will focus on transitioning business markets into Skype services by Skype-enabling legacy communications services and platforms, complementing its prior focus on applications that bring about communications enhanced business processes.

As predicted last spring these announcements execute on Business Long Distance: Death by 1,000,000 PBX’s.

Dan York says “Congrats to Skype and Cisco on this announcement”.

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In a story on VoIP Planet, Gerry Blackwell provides a case study of the implementation of OnState’s Virtual Call Center at CyberDefender Corp., an Internet security software and services firm.

CyberDefender’s new director of customer service, Jose Martinez, investigated a few solutions, including traditional Panasonic and Nortel automatic call distribution (ACD) systems. But in the end, Martinez chose a radical on-demand service from start-up OnState Communications, and coupled it with VoIP service from Skype.

“OnState was very competitive,” he says. “But not only was it priced right—and this was very important to us—they were able to implement very quickly.” It took barely a week to get agents up and running and trained.

Gerry goes on to talk about the cost savings over traditional premise-based and hosted call center solutions, the visibility and transparency of the call center activity in real time and the ability to rapidly scale the service as they add more staff. He then quotes OnState CEO Pat Kelly:

“Conversation management and knowing about people are the most important elements in our application,” says OnState CEO Pat Kelly. “We’re interested in phones, but the problems our customers come to us with are not really about phones.”

“We’re more concerned with understanding the business presence of employees. What can they do—what skills do they have, what kinds of calls can they answer? And what are they doing at this moment. Are they at work today? Are they free? Are they involved in a chat? Are they on a phone call?”

Read the entire article to learn more about how OnState handles calls, its integration with Skype and Google Talk, the competition (such as it is), costs and OnState’s DNA that underlies its legitimacy as a call center solution.

Bottom Line: A win for CyberDefender and a win for their customers with improved customer service and an ability to scale appropriately as demand varies over time. And a a Voice 2.0 world application where Skype is contributing to business model disruption.

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Legion are the stories of small and medium businesses who are using Skype for their worldwide communications operations.

• Skype is the cornerstone for keeping Toronto-based  b5media’s worldwide staff of bloggers, editors, developers and executives in touch via both informal and formal conversations.
• SeeWorthy gets an assist from Skype when communicating with their Taiwanese supplier (via an Alberta-based translator), North American and Caribbean agents, and prospective European distributors as well as their customers.
• A Canadian-headquartered resource company is using Skype voice and IM for communications with their operations in Asia; their biggest challenge involves time-zone issues. Skype chat’s inherent asynchronous nature helps to address that issue.

Skype itself claims that about 30% of all its user activity is business related. I often encounter small businesses who have a wealth of stories about how Skype contributes to their business success.

But during a recent conversation with OnState CEO Pat Kelly I learned about how Skype is stealthing its way into medium to large enterprises. Pat discussed two examples (who will remain generic until case studies are available):

• OnState received an enquiry from a major North American parts distributor whose operations involve agents, resellers and business customers spread out across North America. While this company has an internal IT team, the CFO was focused on significant cost reductions for their call center operations. He has now contracted OnState to provide voice, chat and other customer relationship communications activities that do not simply save money but provide additional communications processes such as IM with its inherent presence and chat features. Once the contract was signed, the CFO mentioned he would guide his IT personnel with their role in the implementation.
• A European country manager for a worldwide, US-headquartered business found that he was getting charge-backs for “corporate” communications services that did not meet his particular needs. He had enough autonomy that he investigated OnState’s services, went through not only the technical specifications but also the legal reviews and business process requirements. He is now meeting the communications needs of his business ecosystem using Skype and OnState’s other auxiliary services for call center and virtual PBX requirements. Subsequently other European subsidiaries of the same company are implementing OnState’s services. Yet this is a situation where the U.S. head office has yet to be contacted about what additional opportunities for Skype and OnState may exist within their business.

Pat’s key point is that, in today’s economically stressed environments, there’s a trend where CFO’s and business unit managers are making the key communications services decisions in larger enterprises in order to meet their financial goals. IT personnel are playing little or no role in the decision making although they may be involved to a limited degree in the implementation. What are Pat’s key observations?

• The consumer experience with Skype is stealthing its way into business implementations, not only with prosumers and small businesses but also at the business unit level within larger enterprises.
• Why? Skype just plain works. There are no firewall issues; OnState’s SaaS model eliminates capital investment for PBX’s and related infrastructure.
• It’s relatively easy to implement.
• Economic pressures are driving adoption.
• Where a business partner or customer has Skype also, HD Voice, incorporating SILK, provide for more productive voice conversations.
• It’s not simply about using a technical mashup across multiple services (Skype, Google, and Voxbone, for example) involved in OnState implementations; it’s a “business mashup” involving business processes and employee acceptance.

It’s a repeat of a trend that drove personal computers into larger enterprises twenty-five years ago. I recall one story where a Canadian bank Vice President found an employee with a PC that had a modem attached (with, at best, a 1200 kbps speed). The modem was ordered disconnected! Bank security was going to be upheld despite technology progress. Four years later that same bank ordered over 10,000 PC cards from my employer of the day for inclusion in their new, at the time, teller terminal system.

Bottom Line: Even if it’s not totally free it’s the raw cost savings that are driving Skype adoption, sometimes in co-operation with their business software partners. It’s about not only lower calling costs but also the elimination of capital asset costs. For some business markets Skype is stealthing its way into business communications infrastructure.

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As the supplier of a key element in delivering voice-enabled solutions, Global IP Solutions’ activities provide a window into the world of voice- and video-enabled applications and IP-based communications beyond the Skype ecosystem. The GIPS Voice Engine contains API’s that allow a service provider or application publisher to readily incorporate robust, reliable, high quality voice and video calling into their offerings. A recent announcement from Global IP Solutions provides a classic example where we catch a glimpse of the role of IP-based communications in delivering commercial and large enterprise communications solutions.

I first learned of CommuniGate Systems as a provider of Internet-based communications infrastructure software solutions when one of my business planning clients from ten years ago, a business services ISP, was installing the CommuniGate Pro Messaging Suite as the backbone of their email offerings. From that time until last June, when an acquiring ISP failed to provide an appropriate level of support, my own email had been run through this particular CommuniGate-enabled server.

But CommuniGate, building on their CommuniGate Pro communications architecture, has gone on to be a major supplier of unified communications infrastructure. From their website:

CommuniGate Systems’ goal is to consolidate all forms of Internet Communications into one address space, making the single address for email, IM, VoIP and video calling, more productive, portable, and independent of tariffs and tolls of closed network topologies. We see all Internet Communications becoming accessible to multiple media types through one account, providing true portability of an “address” no matter where you access the Internet.

Communigate’s 12,000 strong customer base services over 2 billion email accounts through broadband, wireline and wireless service providers as well as larger enterprises who require “private” communications services. Secure airline communications services, such as required by British Airways, is one significant vertical enterprise market for CommuniGate.

In the fall of 2007 CommuniGate announced the launch of a Flash-based unified communications client, Pronto!, that now serves as a “single dashboard for e-mail, collaboration, secure instant messaging, RSS feeds, and Rich Media”. Pronto!, with an Outlook-style interface and built on Adobe Air, supports contacts, calendar, email, Instant Messaging, voice calling, conference calling, voicemail, news, photos, audio and video player. Users can access their communications services via the Pronto! client on any PC and network connection.

Over time CommuniGate has been adding features to Pronto!; for instance, last summer they announced the addition of video mail, contact and calendaring features, RSS “news” feed support and audio media support. But they also had been evaluating solutions that would improve the voice calling experience with a more robust voice engine that incorporates the enhanced sound quality characteristic of wideband audio HD Voice. After an investigation of their options over the past few months, it was announced at the end of March that CommuniGate had signed an agreement with Global IP Solutions to incorporate the GIPS Voice Engine into Pronto.

“Global IP Solutions has been a pioneer in HD Voice for many years. They have over 800 million downloads and a growing list of brand name customers to prove it,” says Jon Doyle, VP Business Development CommuniGate Systems. “GIPS has a unique engineering team that is focused on addressing the processing issues related to IP communications on various network topologies. With GIPS superior engineering skills, we are able to deliver on the promise of a truly business grade UC experience.”

In a recent interview with CommuniGate’s John Doyle and Larry Golob, GIPS Senior Director of Business Development it was pointed out that:

• CommuniGate was seeking a solution that met HD Voice specifications supporting 8KHz wideband audio during voice calls; the GIPS wideband iSAC codec meets these specifications.
• However, they were also looking for a full voice engine package that could call quality issues such as jitter, packet loss, echo cancellation while adapting readily to network congestion conditions through bandwidth management features.
• In the future, CommuniGate may elect to investigate Skype’s superwideband SILK voice codec for incorporation into their GIPS Voice Engine; however, as its royalty-free licensing had only recently been announced, they would consider the SILK codec at some point in the future, especially if customer demand existed
• CommuniGate is also evaluating the expansion of the role of video in Pronto!; they will be evaluating GIPS video technology later this year.

While services using Pronto! are distributed to end users via either Internet Service Providers or large enterprise “closed network” operations, one can experience Pronto! by setting up an account at TalktoIP.com.

A final question: how will Pronto! users be able to have access via mobile smartphones? Is there an opportunity for GIPS’ mobile offerings?

Bottom Line: Meeting large enterprise and service provider requirements for low cost, secure IP-based communications creates a separate market space – of significant size – not addressed by Skype’s current business model and strategy. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see if CommuniGate incorporates connections with Skype users as another offering within their unified communications suite. Certainly Skype for SIP opens up an interesting opportunity for CommuniGate to consider as they move forward.

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Skype announces launch of a beta version of Skype for SIP, connecting IP-PBX’s to the Skype cloud.

Dan York, while a keen supporter of Skype, has been campaigning for a Skype to SIP interconnect on his Disruptive Telephony blog. In a post last fall, “Skype and SIP – the two sides of the issue raised by Michael Robertson”, he says:

We need to build the interconnect.

Yeah, there are a TON of issues out there that we still need to address to build that interconnect. There’s a whole host of security issues… there are billing issues… there are trust issues… there are network plumbing issues. Yes, there are all those issues. But if we are to succeed in ultimately bringing about the rich communication experience we want, we need to make this happen.

And for that, Skype’s walls need to come down…. at least a bit.

What we need is that Interconnect from Skype’s cloud out to the emerging IP infrastructure. Think about it… Skype right now has a two-way interconnect between Skype’s cloud and the cloud we know as the PSTN. It’s called “SkypeOut” and “SkypeIn” (or whatever marketing names they are being called now). If you dial my SkypeIn number, you can reach me on Skype wherever I am. From my Skype client, I can call anyone on the PSTN. The two-way interconnect is already there.

This morning Skype announced the launch of a beta version of Skype for SIP as a major initiative for further penetration into the business market. Basically Skype for SIP allows SIP PBX owners to access the Skype cloud as additional inbound lines , via Skype Online numbers, and outbound extensions to their existing PBX, via SkypeOut. From the press release:

Key Features

The beta version of Skype For SIP will enable business users to:

• Receive and manage inbound calls from Skype users worldwide on SIP-enabled PBX systems; connecting the company Web site to the PBX system via click-to-call
• Place calls with Skype to landlines and mobile phones worldwide from any connected SIP-enabled PBX; reducing costs with Skype’s low-cost global rates
• Purchase Skype’s online numbers, to receive calls to the corporate PBX from landlines or mobile phones
• Manage Skype calls using their existing hardware and system applications such as call routing, conferencing, phone menus and voicemail; no additional downloads or training are required.

In an interview with Skype Senior Product Manager Chris Moore, I learned:

• Skype’s’ goal will be to have a totally user friendly interface such that Skype for SIP is a seamless service
• Administration will be done through an extended Skype Business Control Panel interface which, amongst other activities will establish Skype for SIP account mapping, manage online numbers and perform appropriate configuration for the various PBX’s.
• Skype will be looking to work with the various SIP PBX and Unified Communications vendors, such as Cisco, Avaya, Nortel and Siemens. When I asked about Microsoft Response Point, which had been demonstrated to me the previous day, Chris confirmed, yes, they were another prospective vendor to be approached.
• during the beta, Skype will be used on a pay-as-you-go basis; pricing for the service once it is launched has yet to be determined
• Skype will be including security issues as one major consideration (I expect Dan York to have more to say on this issue)
• The service will be configured to take advantage of Skype’s royalty free SILK codec; if both endpoints of a call support SILK, then the SILK support will carry across the Skype for SIP interface.

This has to be a landmark announcement for the IP-based communications space. It effectively allows businesses to integrate the Skype cloud into existing infrastructure to handle all long distance and international calling. Some other initial observations:

• Does Skype for SIP impact the space currently served by Vosky’s PBX services?  It definitely leaves open for Vosky the analog PBX market; one question will be how does Vosky figure out a way to work Skype for SIP into their business activities and offerings during the six- to twelve-month beta?
• It’s currently a beta; applicants for beta participation can apply at www.skypeforsip.com. From the press release: “Applicants will need to be businesses, have an installed SIP based IP-PBX system, as well as a level of technical competency to configure their own SIP-enabled PBX. The initial beta is available to a limited number of participants.”
• Skype also expects to determine an appropriate distribution channel. While ease-of-use is a key goal, there will still be small business owners who will want third party expertise to manage their communications activities. So expect Skype to look to a VAR or Systems Integrator channel to support implementation.
• Skype for SIP broadens Skype’s penetration into the small-to-medium business market. Where Skype for Asterisk introduces a Skype feature-rich Asterisk channel to Asterisk PBX’s, Skype for SIP simply brings Skype cloud connectivity to a major subset of existing small business PBX installations.
• Along another feature axis we see hosted services vs on-premise implementations. Will widely geographically distributed small businesses favor a hosted service, such as OnState’s Virtual PBX, or one of these on-premise PBX offerings.

One sure call: the market for business long distance, especially international calling, is about to be radically disrupted as these services come into play. It brings about new business opportunities and, most significantly, makes any business a global business, if the will is there. With probably over one million IP PBX’s out there (Skype’s press release says over 438,000 were sold in 2008 along), Skype for SIP brings the slow but sure death of legacy international calling, one PBX at a time.

And, of course, Dan York brings his deep perspective, not only on how Skype for SIP works, but also on the security and codec issues surronding Skype for SIP: Skype tears down more walls with “Skype For SIP”.

A year ago August IBM‘s Lotus Sametime Division announced the acquisition of Skype Partner Webdialogs to obtain their widely respected Unyte Desktop Sharing collaboration technology. About four months later we learned, from Lou Guercia, Lotus SameTime’s Director of Operations and Strategy, more about Unyte’s integration into the Lotus SameTime offerings. In that post on Lou’s presentation I asked:

Question: with IBM pursuing excellence on a service that comprises voice, video, chat and file transfer in a secure, encrypted environment, and with the stated goals of “working with their partners”, would this not result in a situation where IBM would be licensing Skype technology to provide a comprehensive real time multi-media communications infrastructure?

With announcements this week, including some at IBM’s annual Lotusphere 2009 event in Orlando, FL, it seems like that question is starting to get some answers..

Yesterday IBM announced “A Strong Fourth Quarter, a rarity these days“. ZDNet’s Dennis Howlett, in Can IBM sustain its momentum, goes on the provide some background, pointing out that most of IBM’s growth is occuring in its software division. Certainly IBM sees its Lotus Sametime division as a key to sustaining their momentum. Except it appears that IBM has reorganized their SameTime collaborative services into “a cloud-based porfolio of social networking and collaboration services designed for business” under a new name: LotusLive.

In a press release this past Monday, in conjunction with the annual Lotusphere event, Skype announced:

…. it will integrate Skype™ functionality with LotusLive (www.lotuslive.com), IBM’s new cloud services which are designed to help individuals build communities to work smarter, more effectively and more efficiently across and beyond their own companies. Skype’s voice and video calling will add rich, real-time communications capabilities to LotusLive, making it even easier for enterprises to collaborate in the cloud.

At Lotusphere 2009, IBM demonstrated the new Skype integration into LotusLive Engage, “an integrated suite of tools that combines your network [of contacts] with Web conferencing and collaboration capabilities like file storing and sharing, instant messaging and chart creation.”

Today we interviewed Peter Kalmstrom, Skype’s Program Manager for Toolbars, who had been attending Lotusphere to assist with the demonstrations. Peter made several points:

• This announcement covers only the first step of what will be a series of Skype integrations into the LotusLive offerings.
• The integration into LotusLive Engage is targeted at “businesses looking to collaborate inside and outside the organization to easily expand their networks…” In other words for businesses that need to include, say, sub-contractors, third party consultants, suppliers and buyers within their business operation processes.
• Within a LotusLive Engage contact profile, “Skype” fields have been added such that when a user clicks on a a name to bring up a profile card, the user can launch a Skype conversation and transfer files with a single click.
• The only additional requirement for engaging in a Skype conversation is that the initiating user must have a Skype client open.
• In addition to Skype-to-Skype calls, SkypeOut calls can also be made.
• Where several contact profile cards have been opened, a user can launch a Skype multi-party call
• Due to the nature of LotusLive Engage’s web architecture, the resulting Skype access is cross-platform; it does NOT require that the user have a Skype web (FF or IE) toolbar installed.
• A session can then also launch a Lotus Web Meeting (also known as a Lotus SameTime Unyte meeting).

Sounds like the Lotusphere demonstrations got the brainstorming going between Skype and IBM. In a concluding statement Peter said:

“We are enthusiastic about the partnership with IBM and we see a lot of areas where we can collaborate and help each other improve our services. We met with a series of executives at IBM during Lotusphere and the general feeling was highly positive.”

At the same time IBM announced Salesforce.com and LinkedIn integration into their LotusLive services. Andy at VoIP Watch comments on the competitive “collaboration and communications” space where IBM LotusLive, Microsoft Office Live and Google Apps are the key players.

With the IBM offering, we are seeing one more example of “Skype Everywhere”, in this case, being embedded into an offering that is key to IBM’s future success in delivering cloud-based outsourced business services.

Phil will have some comments on the technical aspects of this integration along with where he feels there are “deeper” integration opportunities.

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When fellow blogger Dan York joined Voxeo Corporation last October, very few of us in the IP-based communications blogging space had heard of this rapidly growing service provider. Over the next few months, sometimes with Dan’s assistance, Voxeo has become a familiar name identified with a self-financed startup, a profitable business and a very large enterprise customer base focused on supporting voice applications through third party development activity. Revenue generation comes solely from their “cloud” hosting and VoIP/SIP communications server software business. Last week, in following up on a couple of press releases, I had the opportunity to interview Voxeo’s CEO, Jonathan Taylor, and to learn much more about their success story.

Fundamentally Voxeo provides hosting environments for telephony applications, whether hosted on their in-house server “cloud” or on a customer’s premise-based servers. Developers write applications to their Prophecy platform creating XML files and SIP connections that are understood by the Prophecy-enabled servers. The Prophecy 9 client used by developers to create and manage these applications is now available for Mac OS X and Linux in addition to their legacy availability for Windows. Originally Voxeo only offered a hosted service but two years ago, in response to customer demand, they also provided the capability to support customers’ premise-based servers. Key elements of their program that have led to their success (and profitability) include:

• No charge for downloading, and use of, their software
• A focus on ease of development and deployment
• Charging customers only when a service is launched and providing business value
• Option to use either Voxeo’s hosting “cloud” or customers’ premise-based servers (usually based on the overall business case for supporting the application)
• Licensing based on a “per port” or “per minute” business model, as appropriate
• Providing Prophecy as a suite of components for SIP implementations
• A platform based entirely on open standards
• Including solutions for supporting conferencing, voice mail, call recording, speech recognition and auto-attendant requirements
• A strong channel and developer focus recognizing the role of third party professional developers as their key to implementing their enterprise customers’ services
• Lowering their customer support requirements through innovation in their software.

Two recent press releases covered:

• Launch of Prophecy 9, providing support for OS X and Linux clients to their platform as well as a new management console that not only reduces the complexity of development and associated deployment costs but also provides increased scalability.
• Acquisition of Beijing, China-based Micromethod, not only complementing Voxeo’s Prophecy suite of modules with their SIP-focused products but also providing a base for expanding Voxeo into serving the Asia-Pacific markets..

When I asked Jonathan about representative applications beyond the flexible yet effective IVR applications they can support, the list of several thousand applications includes:

• Intelligent call routing (using their call control features)
• Voice mashups providing access to, say, email or Google Calendar
• Anonymous calling services
• Facilitating calling services for children’s websites such as Nickelodeon.

Jonathan summed up their application support as providing a “services innovation platform” that operates “at the edge”, bypassing any carrier dependence beyond acting as a pipeline for their services. A final key feature is their provision of a highly accurate billing infrastructure, critical to their ability to support both their own invoicing and receivables management as well as their customers’.

Last Wednesday Voxeo issued a third press release discussing some of their business success with revenue growth of 99.7% (no rounding allowed – who would believe 100%, they say), 18 successive profitable quarters and a very high customer retention rate. Not being a public company they do not need to release any detailed financials. But building and supporting a community of 31,000 developers probably says it all.

In conclusion, Voxeo’s business represents a practical, successful and profitable implementation of Alec Saunders Voice 2.0 Manifesto, emphasizing that the value-add for voice conversations going forward lies in the applications.

Note 1: Tomorrow morning (August 26) Voxeo CEO Jonathan Taylor will be the guest for Alec Saunders’ daily Squawkbox conference call. Dan York provides more details on how to participate. If you miss the call, you can hear the recording posted on SaundersLog.com.

Note: Voxeo’s hosted “cloud” also supports connectivity to Skype for inbound calls.

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OnState Communications hosts business communications services that facilitate customer relationship management and enterprise marketing activities. OnState Call Center for Skype allows even the smallest business to operate a call center with geographically disbursed agents. OnState Unified Communications provides complete business real time communications management by extending the call center back office functionality to include conversation recording and archiving as well as messaging activities such as email and voice mail.

Customer conversations, whether through Skype or the legacy PSTN, may be initiated from a website with click-to-call and click-to-chat buttons, toll free numbers or direct inward dialing (DID) numbers. All back office agent connectivity is handled via Skype to minimize costs.

OnState is a one-stop supplier whose services include setting up not only their own services but also complementary services such as management of Skype accounts and Skype hardware acquisition.

Summary from Supplier: OnState’s founding and management team have pioneered communications solutions that drive customer service and empower business users – so they are aptly named the call center guys. Through highly successful careers with industry giants such as Cisco Systems, GeoTel Communications, and Nortel, they hold scores of industry patents for applications that you may be using right now including: Automatic Call Distributors (ACD); Intelligent Call Routing; Network Call Routing; Computer Telephony Integration (CTI); Voice Response Units (VRU); Customer Relationship Management (CRM); and Quality Assurance and Employee Performance Management.

Always at the forefront of business communications tools that directly serve people, the OnState team is redefining the traditional call center paradigm. They deliver a solution that exploits the convergence of advanced Internet, voice and networking technologies to create value-driven collaborative environments – at the lowest cost possible anytime, anywhere.

Website: www.on-state.com

Products and Services:

• OnState Call Center for Skype
• OnState Unified Communications

OnState has been the pioneer in providing full service call center solutions that not only employ Skype’s various conversation modes but also use Zimbra to offer a complete multi-modal Unified Communications suite that incorporates conversation recording and archiving, email management and call back capabilities. Call center agents can be contacted via live chat, free inbound Skype calls, toll-free inbound lines as well as traditional PSTN lines and email.

As an initial target market, they have built a full service solution for technical support operations such as that operated by B4 Consulting, a SAP Channel Partner. B4 Consulting needs to provide 24/7 support as they are involved in SAP Business One installations across enterprises with worldwide operations. As a result they have implemented OnState’s Call Center for Skype to deliver real-time customer support. From the press release:

The OnState CallCenter for Skype™ is integral to B4 Consulting’s delivery of its global Application Management Services for the SAP Business One application, SAP’s affordable business management solution for growing businesses. B4 Consulting’s Web-integrated call center capitalizes on the full range of OnState’s multiple communications modes and customer contact options. This includes concurrent Skype chat and voice,Skype voicemail, dynamic call recording, and callbacks. Customers can initiate contact with agents via live chat, free inbound Skype calls, toll-free inbound lines, as well as non-Skype traditional landline and email. Additionally, the OnState CallCenter is integrated with B4 Consulting’s customer relationship management system.

It is interesting to note B4′s observation that “most customer conversations begin with voice and evolve to other communication modes, principally chat.” And once communications with their customers have commenced, live chat is the favored communications mode. All customer contact, conversations, email, and chat exchanges are easily recorded in B4 Consulting’s CRM system for historical reference.

Two quotes from the press release help to put this into perspective:

“To deliver technical support services on a global basis, B4 is leveraging nearly every feature within OnState’s portfolio of customer contact solutions,” said Pat Kelly, president and CEO of OnState. “And, they are using them in a completely integrated manner and sometimes simultaneously to deliver highly-responsive support services to their customers using SAP Business One.” Moreover, as call center and support portal functions are Skype-based and Web-enabled, support can be delivered from anywhere at anytime. Therefore, B4 Consulting’s support customers can rely on call center agents who are subject-matter experts in SAP Business One.

“When we launched our Application Management Services [AMS] for SAP Business One, we couldn’t afford the time and resources to establish a traditional call center – yet we wanted to provide premium, enterprise-level services on a global basis,” noted Frank Paetzold, vice president of delivery and AMS at B4 Consulting. “Establishing a sophisticated call center was quick, easy and affordable with OnState. The beauty of OnState, however, goes beyond affordability. Implementing OnState requires no server hardware or software and minimal agent-based client software installation. OnState eliminates barriers to communication, enabling us to give customers the freedom to decide how and when they want to communicate with us as well as the option for self-service through our online knowledge portal.”

OnState’s three executive team members each bring over 20 years’ experience with call center requirements. It is a prime example where, while Skype can provide the real-time conversation infrastructure, unique experience, knowledge and resources are required to deliver a full call center solution with both the connectivity infrastructure and back office functionality required to deliver a fully operational solution.

Tags: OnState, OnState Call Center, Unified Communications, Skype, B4 Consulting, SAP Business One, Pat Kelly, Frank Petzold, SAP, SAP Channel Partner

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Skype’s Halina Mugame, editor of the Skype Developer Program newsletter and weblog, yesterday interviewed OnState CEO Pat Kelly and started her interview, “Less Mess with Unified Messaging“, by referencing Skype Journal’s recent post announcing OnState’s Unified Messaging offering. Questions included:

• Tell us more about this new product. In comparison with current OnState Call Center solution, what new features will be made available via mash-up with Zimbra?
• What makes Zimbra a good solution to integrate with OnState?

But the best line is the last:

Oh, and the important bit, they do all this at an industry-redefining price point.

Read Halina’s full post for more background on how OnState’s Unified Messaigng offering evolved out of their Call Center service.

Tags: Skype, OnState, OnState Unified Messaging, Halina Mugame, Pat Kelly

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Buried in the Yahoo assets that Microsoft covets is recently acquired Zimbra, “a leader in Open Source, next generation messaging and collaboration software”. Amongst Zimbra’s product line, the initial offering of Zimbra’s Unified Messaging is based on a partnership with Asterisk, the open source VoIP provider. Zimbra has an extensive list of service provider, business and education customers; Comcast has teamed up with Zimbra to offer Comcast’s Unified Messaging portal. And I have personally heard positive comments about Zimbra from a couple of third parties.

Yesterday, OnState Communications, provider of the OnState Call Center for Skype announced an expansion of their product line to add OnState Unified Messaging for Skype – a mashup of OnState, Skype and Zimbra. Basically this is a hosted service that involves, for the user, a web client along with an agent that captures Skype chat sessions, on-demand voice recording and voice mail, allows tagging of these conversations and integration with email, a calendar and an address book such as to provide one point access to all your messaging activities. An integrated and advanced search engine with a simple WYSIWYG feature allows for rapid recovery of relevant communications in any mode. From the press release:

Managed Communications
OnState Unified Messaging for Skype routes, manages, stores and archives a range of business communications to expedite business processes and drive improved customer-contact management. Features include:

• Web 2.0 Ajax client
• integrated Skype voicemail
• dynamic call recording
• online business chat logging
• enterprise-class email and calendaring
• push-mail for mobile devices
• support for Outlook™, Thunderbird and other mail clients
• cross-mailbox search and compliance features

“With this latest offering, OnState advances its charter to deliver Web-based, enterprise-class, customer-contact management solutions at an industry-redefining price point,” noted [Pat] Kelly, [CEO of OnState].

OnState is already configuring its Unified Messaging for current OnState Call Center customers. Some of the above features, such as “push-mail for mobile devices”, will come with an upgrade incorporating Zimbra 5.0 in about a month. I am in the course of evaluating OnState’s Unified Messaging and hope to provide a full review once the upgraded edition is released.

In closing it is important to note the value of a service provider’s reliance on an Open Source application when it comes to mergers and acquisitions. Being Open Source, Zimbra’s source code is readily available to any third party. Zimbra is a classic example of building infrastructure and enhanced services around an open source application that can survive any consequences of a merger or acquisition.

Tags: Skype, OnState, Zimbra, OnState Unified Messaging, OnState Call Center, Yaho

Ever since the Internet became commercial in the mid-90′s, the term “Unified Communications” has been tossed around as if it is some form of “holy grail” for a communications offering. PhoneBoy Dameon Welch-Abernathy finds the term somewhat overhyped in his recent post “Unified Communications Is A Pipe Dream“:

Anyone who understands the technology knows that unified communications is a pipe dream. Perhaps within a small subset of the possible communication methods, for example the corporate PBX and the corporate-issued mobile phone, it is possible. In the real world, where people actually communicate, it’s not. There are too many ways to communicate and too many parties unwilling to open their networks to allow some unaffiliated third party to create an environment to manage all their communication.

To date, I have not seen a single unified communications “solution” – a buzzword if I ever heard it – incorporate all of the following:

• SMS (not just sending, but receiving)
• Skype
• IM–not just corporate IM, but all public network IM
• SIP, both outgoing to random SIP URLs and incoming SIP calls
• Email from multiple locations
• Social Networking (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Jaiku)

Until it includes SMS on my mobile phone, which none of the solutions I’ve seen even attempt to deal with, it’s not truly unified. Until it includes Skype – a tool I am using more frequently – it’s not unified. Unless it includes a SIP URL that anyone with an open SIP client can reach, it’s not truly unified. Until it handles all my IM stuff, it’s not unified. Until I can get a unified view of all my email and social networking traffic, it’s not unified. [Ed bold]

It would be interesting to see if Microsoft embeds Skype into their Live Communications Server offerings. And note PhoneBoy’s positioning of Skype as a peer equivalent of SIP. On the other hand, Skype makes no attempt to position itself as a Unified Communications platform.

Note: Dameon more recently has started posting additional insights on The VoIP Weblog, a publication of the Creative Weblogging network.

Tags: PhoneBoy, PhoneBoy, Dameon Welch-Abernathy, Skype, Unified Communications

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