I'm looking forward to participating in Robin Good's upcoming Kolabora Live along with Eugene Eric Kim. Hope you can join us this Thursday at 12:00 New York Time - 9:00 AM PST . Robin thank you for your invite and being so generous with your praise.

The Future Of Online Collaboration This Week At The Competitive Edge

The Competitive Edge is back for its second live event, bringing together two...

Skype is working with two carriers to enable dialing into the PSTN. It will be interesting to see the rate card when released.

The basic Skype service will remain free for Internet phone calls.

Zennstrom revealed agreements with two telecommunications carriers that by summer will allow Skype calls to be made to standard phones anywhere in the United States.....Zennstrom would not name his telecommunications partners in advance of an official announcement....

From the notes at VON Canada a debate I too would like to see.

I would personally like to see a public debate on SIP versus Skype with myself and Niklas on the panel and put the theories in front of the people. If nothing else it might educate a few people. SIPthat.com

...we've already travelled down...

I was doing a little Skyping today trying to get a line on the impending roll-out of the PSTN interconnect which for all I know was announced at VON Canada today.

Whenever Skype launches their PSTN interconnect which I assume will use a prepaid card format and proprietary interconnect agreement (for they have no advantage going to SIP directly) somethings will happen...

Five Million Softphones will be launched. Has anyone else ever... ... continue reading.....

This little clip out of this weeks Economist highlights the changing nature of conferencing. My feeling is the figures are low, tracing to corporate behaviors and traditional market definitions. The number of new products emerging in this space suggest many more see opportunities.

Then the number of informal and impromptu conferences I'm now finding myself in has increased dramatically and that traces almost entirely to free services (like Skype) that make it easier... ... continue reading.....

Jeff Pulver picks up on a theme that I'm now investing a lot of time in. I've bolded his statement where it counts and resonates from my perspective.

The time has come for the IP Communications Industry to start to move beyond the HYPE of VoIP and start to deliver some of the services which are only possible because of the advent of IP based communications. Some of these services start to become...

I spent a few hours at Networld Interop in Las Vegas over the last couple of days. I'm only going to report on two items after noting that this show will be at a smaller venue next year. I was also taking a look for future "stand" reference points and filled a couple of pages with what was good and bad. I saw too many "cloud... ... continue reading.....

Do you hate dialing with your cellphone internationally? Tends to cost a lot. Here's just another example of how personal VoIP exchanges will change the way we connect and get charged. This is another illustration of the power that is coming to consumers as we move to morphed personal IP PBX solutions.

Technology from i2 Telecom will let cell users dial their home phones and connect to a voice-over-IP network, then dial anywhere...

If you are a startup with a little money in the bank and burning a hole in development costs for interconnects, porting to OSX, Palm and Symbian platforms you would probably be in a hurry to figure out how to generate more revenue.

Selling prepaid calling plans might just be the thing. Having already adapted to making international calls for free, connecting and convincing other friends and family to Skype may just get a... ... continue reading.....

Rafe Needleman posts a guide to Internet Phone services.

INTERNET PHONE SERVICES
Consumers and businesses alike will come to appreciate the low monthly rates, useful features, and clear voice quality of an Internet phone service. We reviewed five such services and found one clear winner.
Internet phones: CNET Editors' guide to VoIP - CNET reviews

I received this from Ed Prentice. He's one of the guys that really gets it. I just wonder if these guys are going to print my "Skype Business Plans" post on the enterprise next. I've added a few comments to their note for I think they have the shades down.

From the Network World Newsletter. Today's focus: Who's afraid of the Big Bad Skype?

By Steve Taylor and Larry Hettick

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