Skype Journal: SkypeWeb: "I'm not telling" 2.0.79

February 2, 2006 05:20 PM

SkypeWeb quietly went live today for those that download the laterst Windows version 2.0.79. Still this quiet launch still has bugs. I wrote about my initial reservations in this post. For others you may just ask what the big deal is. Many will see this as catch up. Other Instant Messaging Services have enabled presence icons on websites for years. So why the frustration over presence now? The simple answer is commerce. I know of more than one Networking Site that is ready to go and add in Skype presence (we have, it is easy) however, with their large number of Skypers they are afraid most users would display a "?" or "Not Telling" status. They are also concerned about accuracy.

The button that means it is not ready for prime time.

Not Telling! A poor attempt at humor. Why is my status a "?" My status is not in question. In fact it is unclear what Skype is declaring to the world. For "Not Telling" is returned for both Skypers and nonSkypers. I'm surprised that nonSkypers don't return a 404 message. What it should mean is I've chosen not to enable it. The icon should just be a blue Skype. The larger one should communicate "buddies only". Similarly Skype could return a "not on Skype" button for non Skypers.

Adding Skype presence to your Site. This is an illustration of the buttons you can use.

My status
Bill's status
Skype VP
Skype Manager
Skype Boss

Status Accuracy: Networking Sites are also concerned about "status" accuracy. When you log off your last known status stays up. There is no notification to SkypeWeb that I'm going offline before my my system goes into hibernation. Thus without action by the user my last known status is broadcast. I could appear to be online all night. Thus we have a reliability issue. When I wrote this the status for two of the Skype employees was incorrectly shown. The third one is apparently not participating. That level of accuracy is unacceptable.

I know Skype has been told about these issues. They were reported to the SkypeWeb forum. So why launch a product that isn't ready for prime time? Is this to do with performance and release targets set in the Ebay deal? If so there is a performance system in place that is compomising both the brand values "innovative communications product", while driving the launch of features that are not ready for market. The net net is Skype is now turning out "me too" applications rather than pushing the innovation boundaries. Where does this push the innovation boundary?

Example:
1. Can I share that I am on mobile? I can with my buddies. Can I do it via SkypeWeb? Not at the moment. Why not? It already exists as a presence icon. Would this help solve the "hibernation" problem? No other IM system can do this. Thus it would have created added value for some users.

2. Enabling presence at certain times. Or the capability to set a default. Eg "Invisible" displays as "offline". I actually have (at least) three states that should be allowed. One is the "blue Skype" I want to indicate that I don't share my presence information or am not currently (eg. on vacation - could be an additional one). Second is I want to share presence only with my buddies but not globally. Thus offline is displayed externally with current status to my buddies only. Disabling my client provides the "?" that is not acceptable. The toggle for this form of presence should selective and reside next to the current "change status" toggle. In addition this secondary info should enable a ZIP code status. So now Skype can broadcast a local element with the presence/profile information. Then networking sites can provide some simple location networking too.

3. If we have mystatus.skype.com/ and we have http://skype:stuart_henshall?userinfo then why can't that info be mapped to http://myprofile.skype.com/stuart_henshall which includes my presence when it has been enabled? Add in location. Then we actually have the JyveCard capability option that was proposed ages ago. We also have a great mashup opportunity. One difference is that Skype would have to serve that. Why not do that for all SkypeOut account holders as an option?

Maybe the "bugs" explain why it went live today without any "noise". I don't quite get what's happened to Skype's great storytelling "spin". They used to be really good at this. I think they must miss Kelly Larabee. I know I'll get flack for being critical yet again. The issue is "supporters" are waiting and wanting a great Skype presence system. It seems they will have to wait some more time yet.

01.02.2006 version 2.0.0.79 Change Log

* feature: Web status
* bugfix: Dialog windows now use background colors from Windows Scheme
* bugfix: Accessibility: Contact mood text not in MSAA
* bugfix: Can not add a PSTN contact from History
* bugfix: Missing group name when hiding group
* bugfix: Contactlist: sort order does not follow local collation order

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Comments (5)

Part of the problem here is that people who have not upgraded, people who have web presence turned off (the default), people using the Mac, Linux or pocketPC client (which don't yet support it) and a simple mis-typing of the Skype ID all return the same grey "I'm Not Telling" images. For the moment, this is going to be the vast majority until people upgrade and enable web presence. It really needs simple generic Skype branding instead of this joke.

Posted by: julian.bond at February 3, 2006 12:30 AM

I am really dissapointed too. Like mentioned on the Skype Forum, i agreed to test webpresence before the official launch, but i will remove it from my professional website! It is not usable, and the status provides often misleading information indeed!

If they (Skype) can not listen to their customers, they will loose them!

And i agree 100% with Stuart and Julian above! (100% does'nt happen often ;-) )

Posted by: Jean Mercier at February 3, 2006 12:59 AM

Why is the Skypeweb presence set within the client anyway? Surely this could be enabled/disabled within your actual account preferences on the skype website? I mean c'mon, you're logging into the skype servers any to authenticate your ID anyway. This way the skype web presence would be available for all clients regardless of platform... am I the only one that thinks this?

Posted by: Paul Livingstone at February 3, 2006 4:38 AM

Thanks for the comments. Julian for adding clarity and Paul for offering a solution which needs a notification from the cloud that X has logged off. I'd guess that is more difficult than it sounds. I don't think supernodes keep track of info that way. Thus Skype may only have the data for when someone logs into the cloud. However they may not know when they log out. Only that they log in again. It probably has to be that way because supernodes must collapse / be closed all the time. Thus you remain in the cloud and simply reconnect to another.

Posted by: Stuart at February 3, 2006 9:48 AM

This is very poor! I have to say that I don’t know the technical side. But I know that the online status was working fine before. I also know that people are have designed php scripts to display the status. Unfortunately does it look like skype don’t care. All the comments what customer in the forums post. Testers have mentioned problems quite early. I really don’t understand why skype or should I say EBAY, why do you NOT listen?? If it is important to bring skype commercial sure I understand, but why so hasty and with so many problems? Ring tones ugly, stability not as it was, why does it always links to this page after a commercial call, file transfer slow…I hope you are work on this .

Posted by: mark at February 23, 2006 11:09 PM