Skype Journal: Memo to Skype Phone Product Managers
November 7, 2006 04:57 AMAs mentioned elsewhere I have had significant exposure to a variety of phones that have been designed to work with Skype, either as the primary purpose of the device (Skype WiFi phones, Skype Cordless phones) or as an application within a more versatile mobile "personal assistant" platform (Windows Mobile platforms and, by year end, Symbian platforms such as the Nokia N-series). In addition I have now had the opportunity to work with a few wireless phones made by Nokia and Research in Motion (Blackberry). A few comments that could help Skype ecosystem product managers going forward:
Battery life: many of these phones have a battery life of four to six hours idle time. Probably best to license RIM's Blackberry power management -- I can get four to five days of idle time on my 8700. Any device that will have a hope of broad market acceptance should have at least two days idle time.
DTMF tones: This is a fairly basic and widely deployed feature of the Voice 1.0 phone infrastructure; yet I am constantly amazed at the cavalier approach taken to making sure "TouchTones" work with any Skype client, whether a softphone or a hardware device. Here are some of my experiences:
- Skype itself would not work reliably with DTMF tones prior to version 2.0; that issue has been resolved at this point (within the Skype client's "Dial" tab).
- The Skype WiFi phones do not support DTMF; therefore they limit the usefulness of SkypeOut when calling businesses that use IVR systems or other services, such as voice mail systems, that require a DTMF response. I have also experienced USB phones with the same issue.
- At the other extreme the RTX Dualphone and VoIPvoice Cyberphones do provide the appropriate support; the Sony Mylo aslo supports DTMF but you have to remember to put their unique keyboard in NUM mode to enter the tones.
Chat: I view Skype as having two primary features: Instant Messaging (presence and chat) and Voice. For USB phones, the IM activity remains on the host PC; however, for PC-independent devices there are issues:
- The mobile phone platforms are still learning where IM can fit best into mobile phone use cases. The device's input capability (QWERTY, T9 or stylus screen keyboard) is a key feature in determining how heavily chat will be used (and promoted) on the device. This, along with the role of presence and availability, are not simply issues for Skype but also for other VoIM applications on mobile devices. On these devices, text chat must also be positioned relative to SMS services as there are significant overlapping feature subsets (as well as revenue issues for carriers).
- Processor speed is also an issue with mobile phones; those devices with processors that cannot adequately (or economically) support a VoIP Voice application should, at a minimum, support an IM presence and, if feasible, text chat capability. These underpowered phones could then escalate a chat session to Voice using the underlying wireless (GSM) voice service. (Skype for Mobile already accesses traditional phone numbers when using SkypeOut.)
- The Skype WiFi phones not only do not support chat but they also present a problem with attempts to chat with a Contact who is logged into a Skype WiFi phone. If a Skype user sees a Contact as, say, Online (from a Skype WiFi phone), they can attempt to send a chat message only to get a response to the effect that the Contact did not want to talk with them.
- Again the Sony Mylo presents the current best IM/Voice experience for Skype on a mobile device; however, the Mylo is not targeted as a wireless phone but rather a personal communicator where voice complements music, photo and video applications.
Three seemingly basic issues but they need to be considered for every mobile device if Skype phones are to gain any significant level consumer/prosumer market penetration. Those that do address them attention will significantly enhance their chances of winning..
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