Here we are. Four days into 2006. Is this too early to make predictions about who will win the Skype “2006 product of the year award”?

Let’s examine this question.

CES starts Friday. The press releases are already pouring in: IPEVO, Kodak Photo Voice, D-Link, three new products from Actiontec/VoSky… Wild! Crazy! And the press releases keep coming…

I have been testing a few of these new emerging products. Two products representing two new Skype categories have jumped out as extra hot.

Both categories hit on the Skype SMB/SME (Small Medium Business or Enterprise, a market segment categorically denied by Niklas Z. to be a target of Skype.). Both categories jump out at me and yell, “Bill, this is where the money is.”

So to pick winning products four days into the new year is a bit of a stretch, but picking new market categories is probably a safe bet.

My first category pick is Desktop Sharing or maybe better described as: “Lite Web Conferencing”. This product category is about how Skype plus a third party product can deliver a disruptive blow to the WebEx’s of the world. In a similar way to how Skype is a disruptive element to the business model of the Telecoms of the world.

The second category is a Skype-2-PBX Gateway. I have written on this topic several times. Here and here.

People frequently ask, “Hey Bill, how can anyone make money playing in Skype’s sandbox?” Product in categories for Lite Web Conferencing and Skype 2 PBX gateways both attract business users with money to spend on training and consulting.

Watch this space tomorrow for reviews of two new products representing these two product categories.

How would you like a multi-line 800 number? Just about for free. Maybe multiple 800 numbers placed in strategic geographical places around the globe for your customers to call you for free and you pay all most nothing.

If you have a SkypeIn account and the latest Skype 4 Windows beta with Call Forwarding then you already have that 800 number! 1.4.0.56 (get it here)
Yes, you read correctly... one SkypeIn number handles multiple concurrent callers!

And since you can now use Skype’s Call Forward function, these additional calls (up to three) can be handed off to other Skype Clients or devices: mobile phones, landlines or to your businesses PBX .

You will pay SkypeOut rates for calls forwarded to non-Skype IDs. Tomorrow I will show how these 4 to 8 of these calls can be passed for free to your company’s PBX.

This has some neat possibilities! Once connected to your PBX you can handle unlimited calls at no cost per call.