Actually what we are suggesting is a trial subscription (strike that call them memberships). The problem is you can't just give it to everyone for 30 days and then hope that everyone will upgrade. The challenge is to get almost universal participation. If at the 30 day mark VM disappears or is waiting for a payment it would be just like bringing the whole system down. So just like companies manage billing to smooth cash flow and operations, Skype needs to implement the same type of program. So we need some incentives.

1. Lottery. FreeVM for one to three months. After a month you will probably want to renew / convert 5% every week to the VoiceMail premium. This means that overtime you will get all of them on an account and paying for VM.

2. Incentives for signing up early. Including those being asked to commit at the end of one month, with a sign up now and get 14 months for the price of 12. (I don't think we are talking a lot of money here to get VM. Perhaps even give them longer... so everyone gets 14 for 12 effectively.

3. Bundle VM with a SkypeOut minutes deal. With 785000 SkypeOut users already, VM provides the opportunity to increase that number dramatically. One element could make it much more attractive would enable SkypeVM forwarding to mobile phone numbers. With a SkypeOut account it could in fact be forwarded to any number. Simply the cost of a couple of pennies on SkypeOut.

The objective of this approach is to make VM something that Skypers won't live without. In fact what you want to encourage is the environment where everyone has it. Those that don't have it end up being almost shady.

Skype's real interest is in the next 100 million users. That's where the cost of VM should really "blow" American and European minds. Skype's objective at this point has to be to create a real "global" value offering. I know if I ask 10 Americans and the same number of Europeans they would pay $15 to maybe $25? per year (What would you pay?) for VM without even blinking too hard. That may not be right for India, China, South America etc.. A radically low cost could also have the impact of further destroying the perceived "value equation of the SBC's of the world who charge huge $'s per month for voice maill.

In the third world VM (and contact support) will bring a new group into the Internet Cafe etc. This is much cheaper than a cellphone and a great way to get messages and make calls. It's also another reason why providing a "contacts list" service will be coming (perhaps even as part of this package).

Finally, the "low ball" dollar amount could help to solve Skype's credit card problem. If you get 80% of committed Skypers to buy into VM then you have credit cards and payment records online. When it comes time to renew Skype minutes and services the data history will be on file.

For more on SkypeVM see:
Skype Voice Messaging Fast Forward
SkypeVM Update