Since the initial announcement of Skype for SIP a year ago today, with the goal of integrating some elements of Skype’s infrastructure into legacy PBX systems that support SIP, Skype has been expanding its partner base as well as incorporating its deployment into the Skype for Business program.

To repeat: the purpose and goals of Skype for SIP are:

• to allow small-to-medium businesses to reduce their international calling cost to over 180 countries through use of Skype Out business subscriptions (without the need to negotiate and manage country-specific contracts with the telcos in each country)
• to provide a free, optionally international, click-to-call inbound calling capability through Skype Online numbers
• to allow integration of these elements of Skype into legacy PBX systems that support SIP

Recalling that Skype for SIP is still at a public open beta stage, Skype participated in four announcements yesterday that expand this ecosystem and the open beta activity with a “third party” Skype for SIP certification partner and three new PBX Gateway partners:

• Skype Selects tekVizion Labs to Manage Skype for SIP Interoperability Certification Program

tekVizion Labs has been introduced to the Skype partner community as the interoperability experts to help expedite Skype for SIP interoperability testing and certification. In addition to Skype for SIP interoperability testing, tekVizion Labs can provide consulting, integration and support services to Skype’s customers and partners and the systems integrators and value added resellers they work with.

• Grandstream Achieves Skype for SIP Interoperability Certification

Interoperability with Skype for SIP gives SMBs the ability to receive inbound calls through their Grandstream GXE IP PBX or related gateways from more than 521 million registered Skype users around the world at no additional cost to the Skype user when calling through Skype. Businesses can leverage the investment in their corporate website even further by enabling Skype users to simply click on a global click-to-call button on the website to place immediate calls to sales or support via Skype. Skype calls received through the Grandstream IP PBX are handled by the PBX in the same way as other inbound calls. For outbound calling, Grandstream customers can realize significant cost savings to landlines and mobile phones around the world using Skype’s low-cost calling rates.

• Skype for SIP now Interoperable with AudioCodes Mediant 1000 Multi-Service Business Gateways

By certifying the AudioCodes Multi-Service Business Gateways with Skype for SIP, customers can benefit from interoperability with hundreds of TDM PBXs, Key Systems, and IP-PBXs that have not been able to connect to Skype so far. In addition, if a company buys and associates an online Skype number with their AudioCodes Mediant 1000 Multi-Service Business Gateway solution, it can then receive inbound calls via Skype from business contacts and customers calling from landline and mobile phones.

• VoSKY’s New PBX Gateway Is [Amongst] Industry’s First to Achieve Skype for SIP Certification

The VoSKY SSG is available in two versions, supporting either 4 or 8 channels. It offers seamless integration with Skype for SIP Open Beta with any analog PBX or key system, connecting via a conventional (FXS) analog port. It allows businesses to take advantage of Skype’s cost savings and enhanced business features without restructuring their existing communications network and infrastructure.

As a result the Skype for SIP ecosystem grows beyond the initial partnerships announced with Shoretel, SIP Foundry and Cisco. Skype for SIP Certification ensures that Skype’s partners meet established standards not only for the technology behind the implicit interoperability required but also the user experience. And these partnerships allow Skype to leverage each vendor’s existing customer base to build awareness and revenues while disintermediating and disrupting legacy long distance business models.

Bottom line: With all the various Skype for Business activities coming this year, including the launch later this spring of the FREETALK Connect PBX incorporating both Skype for SIP and Skype for Asterisk (which also supports free Skype-to-Skype calling), small-to-medium businesses will have several options to both lower their communications cost, have customer calls directed to appropriate employees and/or end points, and expand their markets through low cost communications to new international markets.

Link to a list of all Voice On The Web posts discussing Skype for SIP.

Full disclosure: In Store Solutions, producer of the FreeTalk Connect PBX, 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.

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The Voice On The Web public chat has continued to be lively through the week. Not only has Skype’s Senior Product Manager responsible for Skype for SIP, Chris Moore, participated but a couple of other guests have joined the discussion to clarify some issues.

First to summarize Chris’ comments:

• He is sorting through the overwhelming number of beta program applications with the intent to make accepted accounts live early next week
• G.711 codec support is in the late stages of development and may be available as early as next week; this will be accompanied by a list of countries where G.711 is supported.
• Chris has been taking input from participants with respect to SIP header information that would make Skype for SIP more broadly applicable. This, of course, leads into a discussion of going outside the “box” of SIP header standards. (SIP headers basically provide information that is transferred across a SIP connection.) More information from Jason Goecke at Adhearsion; Dan York at Voxeo has made an initial suggestion over at Github.

However, more significant have the the responses from Digium about their perspective on where Skype for Asterisk is positioned and the participation of David Tang, Vice President, Global Marketing at VoSKY in the Public Chat discussion.

Steve Sokol at Digium put up a post, “The Rumors Of Our Death” where he outlines key differentiators of Skype for Asterisk from Skype for SIP (slightly revised by Steve after feedback from Skype and chat participants):

• SFA can handle incoming Skype calls directly from any user on the Skype network.  SFS can receive incoming calls from Skype users names that are statically mapped to a Skype name to a SIP account.
• SFA can place calls to any user on the Skype network.  SFS cannot place calls to Skype users.
• SFA includes support for Skype presence information.  SFS has no support for presence.
• SFA includes buddy list management.  SFS has no buddy list management features.
• SFA calls are encrypted from end-to-end while SFS calls are delivered to the SFS endpoint devices (PBX) as unencrypted RTP streams.
• SFA supports multiple media codecs including G.711 aLaw and uLaw as well as G.729.  Wide-band audio will be available in a near-term revision.  SFS supports only compressed telephony-grade G.729 media streams.

Ultimately, the key differentiator is that SFA is designed to allow developers to build rich applications that are deeply integrated with the Skype network, while the SFS offering is a trunking solution for legacy IP-PBX systems that support SIP. Both have their place and neither is specifically competitive with the other. Both Digium and Skype are dedicated to Skype For Asterisk and both are working hard to make sure that when released it exceeds expectations.

Steve then goes on to discuss the current status of Skype for Asterisk, why it is taking so long to come out of beta and makes this important point about changes in the Skype Business Control Panel:

Enter the Skype Business Control Panel (BCP).  Skype’s Skype For Business division has launched an all-out effort to make business customers a corporate priority. Currently the BCP is simply a way to aggregate and share Skype credit.  As business services like SFA and SFS are rolled out it will take on a much more prominent role as the administrative interface for commercial customers.

The next update to the BCP will allow business customers to create master accounts that are owned and managed by companies rather than individuals.  With the BCP, Bob’s account would have belonged to AGI rather than to Bob, much like his AGI email account and company credit card.  If Bob went in search of greener pastures the system administrator could simply redirect his calls to another sales guy.

Jason Goecke has then put up his second post on Skype for SIP, Skype for Asterisk DOA; long live Skype for Asterisk, clarifying his positioning of the two offerings and concludes with:

The point is not to declare SFA dead, but to highlight these points in the hopes that the opportunities for deeper integration and the associated benefits are clear. For SFA to overshadow the SFS announcement, I contend these features are needed:

• Two-way chat via the Manager API
• Extended presence support
• SILK-codec support, which would require end-points (ie – SIP soft phones/hardware phones) embedding SILK

I understand that Digium and Skype need to get SFA to market, but a clear roadmap of what comes next and the timing would be immensely useful as developers look to place their bets. I applaud the work that Skype and Digium have been doing and the opening of the Skype network on multiple fronts. I just hope this is an opportunity to open the Skype network that little bit more.

David Tang at VoSKY has also contributed to the discussion; his main point:

We have our fair share of scars from being an early pioneer working with Skype.  Digium is just beginning to experience it.

From the tone of a few comments re VoSKY in the chat and considering their long experience with Skype implementations in businesses, a large reseller network and their creative ingenuity, we can expect that VoSKY will figure out a way to  go beyond simply continuing to be a “Skype trunking” solution for legacy PBX’s lacking SIP support (non-SIP PBX’s).

Back to the Business Control Panel (“BCP”) and its role. To date it has simply been a means for an administrator to manage Skype accounts in terms of handling Skype credits and implementing Skype on PC’s within an enterprise. Going forward Chris Moore has made the following comment:

I think I’ve chatted about the BCP in some interviews, yes the BCP will take a larger role in administration for small business of existing and new services. It will be the central portal for an SMB to use Skype.

Seems that there are many of the Voice On The Web Public Chat who are ready to start experimenting and developing with Skype for SIP; I look forward to monitoring the feedback as they finally get their hands-on experiences. Bottom line: from these developers, Digium, VoSKY and others, Skype has launched a significant opportunity to see innovation at work solving real business communications issues.

Overall Skype is starting to execute on their Business strategy through the new Business marketing group. The Business Control Panel is central to this strategy. We now have seen three activities in that direction: Skype for SIP, Skype for Asterisk and the Lotus Live support.

Update: Chris Moore has confirmed that the first beta account acceptances have gone out today; login details and passwords will be issued Monday/Tuesday next week.

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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”.

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

The new policy adds:

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

On considering these further:

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

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

Two observations:

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

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

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

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