After a visit to VON Canada and meeting the two stars of VON Canada Niklas Zennstrom of Skype and Jeff Pulver the organizer I sense that radical changes are in the works. VON is not yet Skype’s stage at least not from the point of view of VON attendees. However, if Jeff’s message didn’t get through it soon will. Today you can’t have a VON strategy if you don’t have a Skype strategy.

I’m yet to find a telecom or a mobile carrier that effectively communicates their Skype strategy. I listened to a Bell Canada presentation that followed Jeff’s opening. Carl Condon had screens that demonstrated just how he and his team used a Skype like softphone and video solution. It all looked wonderfully plausible and effective. Carl saw and promoted the collaboration advantages. However, I’m sure he still expects someone to pay for it. The Skype lesson for Bell Canada is to make it work for free. I doubt they can do that.

I spoke to others including journalists