Case Studies and Stories let you know how others are using Skype.

Hi, I'm Phil Wolff, Editor of Skype Journal.

We're spread thin covering the revolution. Can you help?

We're the romantics and the cynics, the engineers and the coolhunters. And we're building a publication with a large and loyal following. (681k pages served in September, and growing rapidly since we started in March 2005).

If you can find news and make sense of it, we need you.

If you can take the complex and make it seem obvious, we need you.

If you have a vision for the impact of Skype on technology, society, and business, we need you.

Specifically...

If these beats interest you, please email me: editor at skype journal dot com. Or Skype me at evanwolf.

• Skype Developer Guides - Help us top our famous Skype Journal Guide : Learning Skype’s Plug-In Architecture with updates, broader coverage of the Skype API and translations
  
• Skype product updates - latest releases and what they mean
  
• Skype business ecology - updates on companies building business on or with Skype
  
• Skype for mobile platforms - embedded, smartphones, wifi and other wireless environments
  
• The Skype APIs and anything affecting code warriors
  
• Regulatory affairs - especially now that Luxembourgian Skype is becoming owned by Californian eBay.
  
• Competitor watch - telecom, IM, and others
  
• Investor concerns - explain and uncover how Skype contributes to eBay's bottom line, or not
  
• Skype developer forums - buzz watch and advocate
  
• Ebay developer forums - buzz watch and advocate
  
• Skype software how-to's and tips - help users make the most of their Skype
  
• Skype/VoIP security beat - rigor is the login, public safety the password, and the public key is ... too long for this post
  
• Skype commerce/retailing - Dig up the best tools and techniques for selling more with better conversation
  
• Ebayification of Skype and the Skypification of Ebay - follow the changes to the products and companies as they continue to grow, to influence each other, and to create new kinds of value
  
• User stories - How people use Skype in the real world
  

Other roles:

• Editorial intern - Help us write a style guide, admin comments, and stay on top of our editorial calendar
  
• Newsletter editor - Round up each week's posts for our mailing list
  
• Foreign correspondents - Translate your blog posts into English for Skype Journal and Skype Journal posts into your language. Must have three correspondents to create a sister SJ site.
  
• Art/Design/Web director - Ongoing improvement to our designs and sites

Ebay

First off, Ebay finished buying Skype last week. Skype Technologies, S.A., is still a stand alone company, but Ebay owns all the stock. Just over a month from the announcement; speedy, neh?

Steve Dzemidzenka tips us to an ISP-Planet interview with a company that offers pay-per-call advertising on Ebay (vs. pay-per-click); a great read and with one or two insights into models Skype may enable. A related AP story: Online ads urge surfers to pick up the telephone.

Some folks don't like Skype

Skype is still banned on university campuses in France. (Thanks, Alain.) Verso is still selling a filter to block Skype traffic. (Thanks, Mr. Harvey.) Qatar is still blocking Skype software downloads and Skype purchases. (Thanks, Jeff) Can you suggest a reliable way to tell if my Skype traffic is blocked?

From the Skype Ecology

Ipevo launched a family of Skype Certified phones last week, shortly after Linksys and Skype announced a co-branded Skype-only mobile handset and base station. While Skype says the Linksys is certified (via SparkPR), you wouldn't know it by reading the Linksys product literature, the Skype news release, or the product page on Amazon. Everyone else pays dearly for the Skype Certification and brags about it mercilessly; why not Linksys?

Look2Skype, the Outlook plug-in, is upgraded.

Maintaining the key benefit of Look2Skype which is the minimal inteference with Outlook, whereby it doesn't cause it to crash, or slow it down. Some of the new features are:

1. Instant access to all skype contacts from Outlook.
2. Extract callto:// signatures from e-mail.
3. Auto-recognise of skype contacts from e-mails.
4. Free text entry of phone numbers or skype names for contacting. Stewart Bissett

Recovery 2.0

This disaster is in a war zone.

• Families in Kashmir prevailed upon Indian authorities' better natures to open up cross-border phone service, normally carefully scheduled and monitored for security reasons.
• Volunteers are setting up a QuakeHelp Relief Hotline using SMS. Skype was unable to help with a voice line this time (they helped in Katrina relief) because they don't have SkypeIn services in India. Good sources: QuakeHelp and the QuakeHelp blog.
• Pakistan banned public access to satellite imagery of the disaster zone. Security. In a fight-or-flight, clench or relax, response, one or the other response is better. Restricting geo information breaks the decentralized operation of the Internet. You want to open up resources and remove obstacles for the many thousands of online volunteers who can put that data to work. Fortunately, relief workers voices persuaded the UN to re-publish much of the imagery and data. A win for emergent organization.
• The term "Recovery 2.0" is a flexible set of online tools and behaviors that can help invidividuals and groups organize themselves around any crisis. I've proposed a few possible projects on the wiki (feel free to register and add your own):
  • Phone Bank Network; the telephone remains the dominant way people communicate. We need tools to deploy volunteer phone banks that scale rapidly and cheaply.
  • Emergent Relay Service; provide a framework for live interpretation for cross-language and cross-mode communications.
  • Wish I could take credit: Mesh-Networking Cellphones; Why aren't there ad-hoc battery-powered "cell towers in a barrel" that could be "bombed" or floated into disaster zones to turn the thousands of useless cell phones in people's pockets into a crisis mesh network?

Skype at Work

Enterprise Skype isn't even vaporware, but the need is real. For example:

I was wondering if there exists a Skype Proxy server for enterprise use? Essentially, all Skype traffic would flow through this edge device, but would also allow for Skype-to-Skype traffic to stay internal to an organization without having to contact SuperNodes. HTTPS Proxies don't really provide any control of Skype traffic since they blindly pass all traffic since it's so volitile.

Also, is there a product that will allow multiple Skype clients to connect to a PBX simultaneously? Thus, be able to make calls from a Skype client to any phone on the PBX. I've seen some hardware solutions, but they seem primitive and only allow 1:1 communication. I'm looking for large scale many:many.

Thanks, Joe Schwendt

Another case:

Hi guys, I run a 450 person company's IT department. Yesterday Verizon had a man-hole fire and cut our lines completely, so we were phone-less for the whole day. We're a financial services company so you can imagine how freaked out everyone was.

What I was thinking last night is, what if Skype had a great enterprise version, that we could purchase 50 accounts for, and get them set up, distribute mics to our top 50 offices and have a back-up plan immediately in effect

Help Wanted:

We're always glad to post job listings of interest to the Skype Journal community.

Hi. We are currently looking for an Asterisk developer who has experience in integrating Skype to an Asterisk-powered IVR.

Skype me and I'll pass along your interest.

Deal done. Retail VOIP in the offing? Views later.

eBay has agreed to acquire Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA, the global Internet communications company, for approximately $2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock, plus potential performance-based consideration.

Skype generated approximately $7 million in revenues in 2004, and the company anticipates that it will generate an estimated $60 million in revenues in 2005 and more than $200 million in 2006. For Q4-05, eBay expects the acquisition to be dilutive to pro forma and GAAP earnings per share by $0.01 and $0.04 respectively. For the full year 2006, eBay expects the transaction to be dilutive to pro forma and GAAP earnings per share by $0.04 and $0.12 respectively, with breakeven on a pro forma basis expected in the fourth quarter of 2006. On a long-term basis, eBay expects Skype operating margins could be in the range of 20% to 25%.

The acquisition is subject to various closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2005.

eBay will host an investor conference call to discuss the announcement at 5 am Pacific Time today. A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed through the eBay's Investor Relations website at http://investor.eBay.com. An archive of the webcast will be accessible through the same link.

Full text of news release...

On Skype.com:

eBay to Acquire Skype

London, September 12, 2005 – eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY; www.eBay.com) has agreed to acquire Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA, the global Internet communications company, for approximately $2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock, plus potential performance-based consideration. The acquisition will strengthen eBay’s global marketplace and payments platform, while opening several new lines of business and creating significant new monetization opportunities for the company. The deal also represents a major opportunity for Skype to advance its leadership in Internet voice communications and offer people worldwide new ways to communicate in a global online era. Skype, eBay and PayPal will create an unparalleled ecommerce and communications engine for buyers and sellers around the world.

“Communications is at the heart of ecommerce and community,” said Meg Whitman, President and Chief Executive Officer of eBay. “By combining the two leading ecommerce franchises, eBay and PayPal, with the leader in Internet voice communications, we will create an extraordinarily powerful environment for business on the Net.”

Founded in 2002 by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, Skype offers high-quality voice communications to anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world. The Skype software is easy to download and install, and enables free calls between Skype users online. Skype’s premium services provide low-cost connectivity to traditional fixed and mobile telephones. Skype’s software also offers a robust set of features, including voicemail, instant messaging, call forwarding and conference calling. Upcoming product innovations include Skype video, expressive content such as avatars, and customized toolbars for Outlook and Internet Explorer.

One of the fastest growing companies on the Internet, Skype already has 54 million members in 225 countries and territories. Skype is currently adding approximately 150,000 users a day and has created a thriving ecosystem of products, services, developers, and affiliates. Skype is considered the market leader in virtually all countries in which it does business. In North America alone, Skype has more users and serves more voice minutes than any other Internet voice communications provider.

“Our vision for Skype has always been to build the world’s largest communications business and revolutionize the ease with which people can communicate through the Internet,” said Niklas Zennström, Skype CEO and co-founder. “We can’t think of any better platform to fulfill this vision to become the voice of the Internet than with eBay and PayPal.”

“We’re great admirers of how eBay and PayPal have simplified global ecommerce and payments,” said Janus Friis, Skype co-founder and senior vice president, strategy. “Together we feel we can really change the way that people communicate, shop and do business online.”

Zennström and Friis will remain in their current positions. Zennström will report to eBay CEO Whitman and join eBay’s senior executive team.

A Powerful Ecommerce and Communications Engine

Online shopping depends on a number of factors to function well. Communications, like payments and shipping, is a critical part of this process. Skype will streamline and improve communications between buyers and sellers as it is integrated into the eBay marketplace. Buyers will gain an easy way to talk to sellers quickly and get the information they need to buy, and sellers can more easily build relationships with customers and close sales. As a result, Skype can increase the velocity of trade on eBay, especially in categories that require more involved communications such as used cars, business and industrial equipment, and high-end collectibles.

The acquisition also enables eBay and Skype to pursue entirely new lines of business. For example, in addition to eBay’s current transaction-based fees, ecommerce communications could be monetized on a pay-per-call basis through Skype. Pay-per-call communications opens up new categories of ecommerce, especially for those sectors that depend on a lead-generation model such as personal and business services, travel, new cars, and real estate. eBay’s other shopping websites — Shopping.com, Rent.com, Marktplaats.nl and Kijiji – can also benefit from the integration of Skype.

PayPal and Skype also make a powerful combination. For example, a PayPal wallet associated with each Skype account could make it much easier for users to pay for Skype fee-based services, adding to the number of PayPal accounts and increasing payment volume.

In addition, Skype can help expand the eBay and PayPal global footprint by providing buyers and sellers in emerging ecommerce markets, such as China, India, and Russia, with a more personal way to communicate online. And consumers in markets where eBay currently has a limited presence, such as Japan and Scandinavia, can learn about eBay and PayPal through Skype. Skype can also help streamline cross-border trading and communications.

With its rapidly expanding network of users, the Skype business complements the eBay and PayPal platforms. Each business is self-reinforcing, organically bringing greater returns with each new user or transaction. The three services can also reinforce and accelerate the growth of one another, thereby increasing the value of the combined businesses. Working together, they can create an unparalleled engine for ecommerce and communications around the world.

Transaction and Financial Information

eBay will acquire all of the outstanding shares of privately-held Skype for a total up-front consideration of approximately €2.1 billion, or approximately $2.6 billion, which is comprised of $1.3 billion in cash and the value of 32.4 million shares of eBay stock, which are subject to certain restrictions on resale.

The maximum amount potentially payable under the performance-based earn-out is approximately €1.2 billion, or approximately $1.5 billion, and would be payable in cash or eBay stock, at eBay’s discretion, with an expected payment date in 2008 or 2009. Skype shareholders were offered the choice between several consideration options for their shares. Shareholders representing approximately 40% of the Skype shares chose to receive a single payment in cash and eBay stock at the close of the transaction. Shareholders representing the remaining 60% of the Skype shares chose to receive a reduced up-front payment in cash and eBay stock at the close plus potential future earn-out payments which are based on performance-based goals for active users, gross profit and revenue.

The above-mentioned dollar and eBay share amounts are approximate, based on the Euro-Dollar exchange rate and eBay’s stock price as of September 9, 2005. The final value of the stock component of the consideration may vary significantly from this estimate based on the value of eBay stock at closing.

Skype generated approximately $7 million in revenues in 2004, and the company anticipates that it will generate an estimated $60 million in revenues in 2005 and more than $200 million in 2006. For Q4-05, eBay expects the acquisition to be dilutive to pro forma and GAAP earnings per share by $0.01 and $0.04 respectively. For the full year 2006, eBay expects the transaction to be dilutive to pro forma and GAAP earnings per share by $0.04 and $0.12 respectively, with breakeven on a pro forma basis expected in the fourth quarter of 2006. On a long-term basis, eBay expects Skype operating margins could be in the range of 20% to 25%.

The acquisition is subject to various closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2005.
About eBay Inc.

Founded in 1995, eBay pioneers communities built on commerce, sustained by trust, and inspired by opportunity. eBay enables ecommerce on a local, national and international basis with an array of websites – including the eBay Marketplace, PayPal, Kijiji, Rent.com and Shopping.com – that bring together millions of buyers and sellers every day.

About Skype Technologies SA

Skype, the Global Internet Communications Company™, allows people everywhere to make free, unlimited, superior quality voice calls via its award-winning innovative peer-to-peer software for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Pocket PC platforms. Skype is available in 27 languages and is the fastest growing voice communications offering worldwide. Since its launch in August 2003, Skype has been downloaded more than 163 million times in 225 countries and territories. Fifty-four million people are registered to use Skype’s free services, with over 3 million simultaneous users on the network at any one time. Skype Technologies SA is headquartered in Luxembourg and is growing its offices in London and Estonia.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements regarding Skype and the expected impact of the acquisition of Skype on eBay’s financial results. Those statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those discussed. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the timing of the closing of the transaction, the possibility that the transaction may not close, the reaction of the users of Skype’s services, the future growth of Skype’s user base and public acceptance of Internet voice communication services, rapid technological changes in the Internet voice communications sector, the reaction of competitors to the transaction, global developments in the regulation of Internet voice communication services including those provided by Skype, the possibility that integration of Skype’s offerings following the transaction may be more difficult than expected, and the possibility that entry by Skype and eBay into potential new lines of business will not be successful. More information about potential factors which could affect eBay’s business and financial results is included in eBay’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, the company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to eBay on the date hereof, and eBay assumes no obligation to update such statements.

The eBay announcement:

***A New Way to Communicate***

I’m excited to let you know that eBay plans to acquire Skype, the leader in online voice communications.

Skype has set a new standard in online voice communications with
outstanding sound quality and unmatched ease of use. And like eBay,
Skype has a fast-growing community -- some 54 million Skype users
around the world already use their PCs to talk with one another.

And best of all, conversations between Skype users via PC are free. You
can get up and running on Skype in just a few minutes. Just go to http://www.skype.com/go/x.home to learn more and download the free Skype software application. Try it – it’s fun!

Over time, we intend to make voice communications a part of the eBay
marketplace – a huge step forward in making transactions faster and
easier, as well as bringing even more interactivity and humanity to the
eBay Community.

You can include your Skype ID in your About Me page. For now, however,
Skype links may not appear in View Item pages. We’ll be working with
you, our Community, over the next few weeks to thoughtfully work out
the details of how eBay and Skype will interact, including any policy
changes that may be required.

We expect this acquisition to be finalized soon. In the meantime, you can learn more about our Skype plans in the news release we issued just a few minutes ago.

Working together, eBay, PayPal and Skype will redefine online trade and
community. I hope you’ll join us in this exciting new chapter in eBay’s
history.

Sincerely,

Meg

Japanese logistics hub TraBox is encouraging its members to use Skype to save money on phone bills and to improve collaboration.

「日経産業新聞」1面掲載
ネット電話で通話料節約
トラボックス
運送会社にスカイプ配布

This is a great example of a strong and healthy social network migrating to a new channel. It's no fun if you're the only one with a fax machine, right?

Had a late night call (late for me, anyway) with Jan Geirnaert, an entrepreneurial sysadmin who blogs about Skype from Malaysia. Jan is helping companies deploy Skype internally. Once upon a time he'd ask, what's your fax bill? Then sell email. Now he asks: what's your phone bill? Skype follows naturally.

Torie created a wall mural over three days. For the three hours she painted the mural plan, she was on Skype with a friend. Skype as intercom helping artists to flourish.

Jan also tipped me to Malaysia's TMnet e-voice, an Internet softphone. Are we at the point that every ISP must offer a Skype competitor?

Eamonn Sullivan wrote a great tutorial on using Skype to stay in touch with family. Four of a series on keeping your family together over the Internet.

On another blog, Andrew tries various ways to call Sherry transatlantically, finally settling on SkypeOut on a PowerBook with a Bluetooth headset. Experiments in telecom.

Vincent Oberle: Going to work at Skype! and his two-week update.

by Jan Geirnaert, an IT/Internet Business Consultant in Malaysia.

I have worked here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as the IT manager and network administrator for a small non-IT business. One of the many things I did is cutting the cost of the phone bill by implementing Skype as a VoIP solution. These thoughts are not purely IT/technical. My wage was paid by the cost-savings on the telecom-bill.

Here are some issues to be taken into account before implementing Skype. What you read below is how I did it, these are my personal experiences. The standard setup-recommendations can be found on the Skype web site.

Make your case gently and with numbers

Explain properly to all involved management levels and teams (especially Finance and higher management-levels) what the solutions consist off. Don’t go too much into IT-technical issues. Focus on the advantages and the low cost (only your time and skill are important here). Take into account that VoIP (Skype included) is something new and a low-level entry is better than no entry at all. If you make things sound complicated, it just won’t work.

Do not be aversive or aggressive towards existing technologies that have been put in place. Introducing a new technology in real life situations has to be done by focusing on the advantages of the technology for the existing users. Today and now. If you start comparing with existing solutions based on older but valid (operationally speaking) technology you will be seen as an evangelist. In the end the customer will choose for things that work. Being right or wrong is not an issue here. Making something work and pinpointing the cost is.

The advantage of having chosen Skype is that the implementation took only some upgrading of the security layers in the existing Windows XP network and adding more bandwidth to the existing ADSL-Internet connection. [Ed: As opposed to investing in an entirely new telephone system, with digital PBX, cabling, and phones.]

It is advisable to check the security settings and activate bandwidth monitoring, software-firewall on the systems that are going to use the Skype solution.

Creating a basic user-policy is useful too.

An easy way to get the project going could be to ask for the existing phone bill and spread it out over 4 quarters (Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4). Put this in a spreadsheet. Make a quick analysis of the current recurrent phone bill on fixed phones, mobile phones (actually anything that goes out via the traditional PABX system). The reasoning to apply here: by conducting phone traffic via the Internet, the phone bill of the existing PSTN-traffic will go down. Keep track of this. After one year you will be able to see what the effect of a Skype implementation is on the telecom bill.

Configuration and Deployment

At the time of implementation there were no USB-link-boxes or super de luxe devices available. So I choose simple headsets (0.5 euro each). Installation was very simple. Plug in the headset, install Skype and off you go. Once you save some money (or you could do it from the start), you can put devices in place that link your Skype via USB to your existing phone. Nobody likes to sit with a headset on... But this topic is the topic of using the external hardware devices (so many options here). Make sure you test the hardware solution first.

Once Skype is activated you will encounter the problem of the naming convention. People will always try to do what they want if options are given to choose. So preventing a wild spread of all kind of names (resulting in not knowing who is who) I applied this rule on the naming: (company-abbreviation)-(country-iso-code)-surname. If you have those annoying users who still want their own nickname instead of company related names, well the surname could be replaced by the nickname. In order to avoid this you can simply create all user names before the users start making them. Creating the user names for your population will also avoid wide-spread of the passwords. Do enter an email-address in the Skype program during installation and fill in the full name.

What is missing in the Skype-ID-fields now are 3 fields : company-name, department, function/position of the user. Now thinking further on this matter of “who is who,” integration with LDAP servers would be nice. These would be like LDAP integration with Outlook. But not having access to all that technology I used a simple trick: installing Plaxo 2.0. (www.plaxo.com). In the IM field you can then mention the Skype ID. Works and it keeps the costs down. This is ideal in an environment that has no central email-LDAP-address book. Remember I am talking about a solution for companies that have multiple locations, external partners who are connected to each other only via some computers, and ADSL Internet connections.

Actually spreading the name list is quite simple. Set up one central account, support@ (for example), and add the new users to the office list. Then send around an email (anybody can setup account, externals included, which is kind of confusing) stating that this or that has been added/deleted. Ask people to add / authorise the user to their list.

After having done the implementation, try to make the users add their picture or company logo. This adds to the security features of Skype too, since Skype seems to allow you to login twice or more with the same account. I assume that the picture will not appear if somebody else but yourself logs in (since the picture resides on your hard disk). Your voice and your face are unique, you better get this done quickly.

I never engage in a talk with external sources without having heard their voice. P2P solutions have the advantage you can quickly connect to "everybody," and it can be everybody. Avoid leaking of valuable information. With some luck you will be able to use Skype for the voice traffic in no time. On top of that, it has an interesting instant messenging feature and let's you send around files in no time.

Once the users are happy with the existing Skype-functionality, get back to Finance and Management and show that the Skype system can be used to make calls to mobile and fixed phones. You can then start setting up a general company billing account (SkypeOut) for the fixed computers. For some users you will have to setup individual accounts. Be careful not to compromise the credit card info of multiple users. It might be more useful to use a company credit card that has some web protection. You can actually "top up" user accounts by using one credit card, which has the advantage of centralised financial control.

I guess that is about it (for now). After implementation you should provide the user with a basic "how to setup and use" manual. Let them get used to the system and take it from there. Keep track of the support requests. You will learn a lot from those questions.

Open issues...

Some problems and open questions remain.

• How to get centralised control on the number of calls generated on a "company account"?
• Can the concept of a mail server be applied on Skype?
• How to keep track of the files and information sent via Skype?
• How to get rid of Skype spammers and SPIT?

If you want to give me your ideas and thoughts on this, just callto:tropicaljantie.

Reprinted by permission from Jan in Malaysia.

I don't know what is wrong with people...
i put my status skype me, and in my profile i say: I am on air on the radio.. if u wanna listen ok.. i can't answer calls!
They made my PC freeze!
I swear!
People calling..., asking if i liked sex, even after i told them i was on air on my radio... i swear... people sending weird invitations!
In my profile is nothing that gives the idea of me having cyber sex...
Please guys... try to be more respectful to girls!
A female is not only for sex, try to like her for her mind, thoughts and ideas... not her "being female".
I AM MAD....

This comment, among many others, from one angry lady in the Skype Forums spurred me to experiment with and explore this area some more. I switched on SkypeMe at my profile, and waited. In the short span of 10 minutes, I got 4 requests for authorisation, had 4 calls, and 3 chats. With guys mainly from Africa and Asia. All getting personal real quick, some wanting me to move over to MSN, asking for photos and webcams, pretty much all after my body. In fact, I ended up interviewing one caller and he told me he was at the office, and usually spent half an hour from 9.30- 10 am looking for female company. He had made many women friends in China and Vietnam. Most of the calls however terminated when I told them I was merely interested in researching this area!

It felt a bit like hanging out in a chatroom - except that I didn't get pinged by bots. As a medium too, I felt less in control, as I couldnot lurk or watch others.

In contrast, Stuart who was experimenting with me, got 1 authorisation request from a male conference call with doctors in England, within the time.

Makes me wonder whether the SkypeMe indicator tag attached to a 'female' profile somehow suggests a new form of phone sex. The discussion at the forum indicates this.

I also did a search for females with SkypeMe turned on, and it was interesting to see just 4 profiles with this. Female India Skypeme showed up no women at all. Still, I got flooded with calls and messages. I don't really know whether its a slow directory or is the "Hit on me" stigma preventing women from switching it on?

How do I currently cope being a woman on Skype? I'm usually always in an 'away' mode or 'not available'. This is done with a purpose - to keep away intrusions. Friends and colleagues are aware of it and call me anyway. I have allowed calls only from my contact list, but I didn't want to restrict the chats, so that's open. I have tried to put off the 'red-hot-huge' types by a note in my profile that reads : "I'd appreciate it if you sent me a brief message before asking for an authorization, tell me a little bit about you, and your interest in talking to me." Still, on an average day, I get at least 6 requests for authorisation, and several chat messages. I ignore all that do not indicate an interest in some specific area of my work or blog. If they persist more than once, I block them. I try to gauge from the Skype name and profile more about the person trying to contact me - if the person has a blog I tend to start a conversation but RedHotHuge is a definite no-no.

So what does all of this mean for women on Skype? Does it limit our freedom to connect? Are we restricting people who can contact us and sometimes filtering out people who we may find interesting? Does that reduce our reach and potential in communication? How do other women feel - is it a problem, or just a nuisance? Does it prevent them from sharing video capabilities too?

Do men also get hit-on when they are on SkypeMe?

Would love to hear your views on this.

I would like to keep SkypeMe as my default setting - as a person, I am greedy for conversations with people all over the world. It could potentially be such a neat conversation-research-marketing-sales tool, whatever your interest may be. Imagine if a car salesman puts up a small note - best bargains for Toyota Corolla in India against the SkypeMe button, you enter the discussion if you are interested and its potentially much more rewarding than a cold advertisement. Or someone is initiating a discussion on Julia Cameron's the Artist's Way and sets up a chat topic where you could just click and join and share how you are using the book to unleash your creative juices. Or I am researching MTV promos on air in India or how Skype is changing the way we communicate - and I add this shows up in my SkypeMe profile, with a button to join the discussion. 24/7 global group discussions for free :).

However, for now, its off, as the intrusions are far greater than meaningful conversations. Some issues I hope Skype will address that might help me keep this channel open :

- can we have layered profiling, where I could display different levels of profile to different people - for instance, I am willing to share my photo and contact details with my buddylist, whereas for callers outside of my contact list, I'd rather not.

- is there any way of filtering out and blocking keywords in the text function and the authorisation requests?

Please drop in your suggestions too!

Last week in a place far from home I heard a wonderful Skype story of one upmanship. Folks I'm sorry to tell you that 35000 Ft Skype calls to grounded companions is now passe. Two Skypers whose names rang true when this VC told me the story (nameless unless they want to come forward) were some of the first to Skype plane to plane. Now that's putting new meaning and use to aerial hotspots.

What happens when planes are full of web cam enabled Skypers? Will they  want social networking services that connect people while flying to a destination so they can connect as soon as they land? Combine it all and we'll have matching long haul destinations and Skype voyerism....  Another one of those un intended consequences.

If you've Skyped plane to plane let us know. Now I'm just waiting for five planes to be connected in a head in the clouds conference. How long will it take? Our thanks to Boeing Connexion and Skype for making it all possible.

Living the Skype Life

Does anyone know Roxy's Skype name?

engadget: Use DittyBot and Skype to access your iTunes collection from any cellphone (Mac). It works, but Om says you can buy an iPod for the same price as the added mobile minutes. DittyBot (cute name, cuter character) is another example of the willingness of customers to make their own features.

Russell Shaw explains 15 common Skype error messages.

For your inner Quant

The latest Skype stats:

• Total Skype Downloads: 122,320,159
• Users Online Now: 3,014,635
• Total Minutes Served: 9,947,864,820 (should roll over)

For contrast: 64 million Firefox users

Researcher Sandvine says Skype users rule North America.

• Skype users account for 35.8 percent of individual callers on North American networks.
• Skype calls account for 46.2 percent of minutes used.

also...

• Cape shows Skype now synonymous with voip, at least in the blogosphere. Poor Vonage.
• Skype is filling the void left by broken email.
• Xandros is adding German and French desktop Linux versions (with Skype inside). Skype's also shipping with the English and Spanish versions. When Skype is bundled with the operating system...

vSkype multiuser video chat free Beta release shipping now. See Bill Campbell's product review and exclusive interviews.

IPdrum promises a bridge between net and mobile phones later this summer. "Patent-pending technology to connect traditional mobile systems with Skype." Wholesale service or retail? via Engadget.

Skype voicemail came out of beta. New feature: Voicemail customers can leave voicemail for any Skypers.

Security? Om Malik re-voices concern about Skype crossing firewalls.

Skypes To The Editor: Online publication MSmobiles.com uses Skype for reader feedback. Leave a voicemail with your comments.

What's Your Skype Strategy? Blast from three months ago.

Coming this week:

• Supernova 2005 Conference. San Francisco. Stuart Henshall and I will see you there.
• Philadelphia Metro Telecommunications Enthusiasts Group Meetup. First meeting.
• CPSN'05 - The 2005 International Conference on Computers for People with Special Needs. Las Vegas.
• Internet Law 2005. The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• Gnomedex 5.0. Seattle.

Sociologists keep trying to explain that phones are a rich medium for research. My Social Fabric is a tool for helping you visualize, analyze, and manage your own contacts, associates, friends, and family. When was the last time you called your mother? Can't wait for the Skype plug-in. via the We make money not art blog, via Emily on Smartmobs. Visualizes the state of your relationships, including how often you contact people and how.

In the media...

Skype Me! (The Book), is coming out soon. By Markus Daehne of the German Skype forums.

BusinessWeek cover package for June 20, 2005: The Power of Us: Mass collaboration on the Internet is shaking up business.

The 35 employees at Meiosys Inc., a software firm in Palo Alto, Calif., didn't know they were joining a gang of telecom-industry marauders. They just wanted to save a few bucks. Last year they began using Skype, a program that lets them make free calls over the Internet, with better sound quality than regular phones, using headsets connected to their PCs. Callers simply click on a name in their Skype contact lists, and if the person is there, they connect and talk just like on a regular phone call. "Better quality at no cost," exults Meiosys Chief Executive Jason Donahue. Poof! Almost 90% of his firm's $2,000 monthly long-distance phone bill has vanished. With 41 million people now using Skype, plus 150,000 more each day, it's no wonder AT&T (T ) and MCI Inc. (MCIP ) are hanging it up.

How can a tiny European upstart like Skype Technologies S.A. do a number on a trillion-dollar industry? By dialing up a vast, hidden resource: its own users. Skype, the newest creation from the same folks whose popular file-sharing software Kazaa freaked out record execs, also lets people share their resources -- legally. When users fire up Skype, they automatically allow their spare computing power and Net connections to be borrowed by the Skype network, which uses that collective resource to route others' calls. The result: a self-sustaining phone system that requires no central capital investment -- just the willingness of its users to share. Says Skype CEO Niklas Zennström: "It's almost like an organism."

WaPo letter to the editor: Someone Pays for That 'Free' Phone Call

Regardless of whether one finds Niklas Zennstrom's unusual business ventures right or wrong ["File-Sharing Pioneer Turns to Free Internet Calling," front page, June 4], it is important to note that his "free" Internet file- exchange and "free" phone services are not actually free and require a complex infrastructure that is maintained and paid for by someone.

Jonathan Krim's article on Skype Technologies SA made it seem as though the lack of a traditional telephone network, with poles and wires and technicians, somehow means that Skype does not require any infrastructure to operate. While the service may be free to the public, the Internet on which it depends is a complex hardware and software network that is maintained by an assortment of private and public entities. This doesn't come free, which is why Internet users must generally pay a service provider for access and why many useful Web sites are festooned with advertising.

If Mr. Zennstrom had to pay for even a micro-fraction of the infrastructure that make his "free" ventures work, he would have been out of business before he started.

ERIC WENOCUR, Silver Spring

Skype makes friends...

Distribution agreements in time for summer... Mobile phone distributor Brightpoint, strong in retail and college markets, will promote Skype through its channels. In a similar arrangement, Intel will bundle Skype.

"Intel will revamp a heap of its software utilities and bits and bobs in the second half of this year. ... It will also introduce a series of promotions in the second half of this year, including Premium Video, Digital Media Adaptor, Remote Control - a Logitech Harmony remote - and a VoIP Skype offer as bundles."

In the world of products, a little irony: Packet conditioner and policy manager supports Skype. The same system blocks KaZaA.

Popular Telephony announces they're shipping what I call a "Something-Skype Right Now Product": PeerioBiz with Gateway for Skype Peer-To-Peer VoIP System for SoHo. This leverages Skype's hotness and user base, fitting Peerio's decentralized architecture. More telephony vendors will follow.

Another meaning for mobile: Skype on a USB memory stick from U3. Just made for the millions who use Internet cafes. And the rest of us who want to keep their personal Skype voice mail, contacts, and call logs off a company computer.

Someonenew.com launches the German version of their dating site.

I'm presenting tomorrow at Reboot on "What's your presence strategy?" and been collecting stories and illustrations. This babysitting monitor solution is one I identified with. Here two industious couples who combined laptops into a fun solution!

We checked if the baby monitor would work, but the distance from the room to the hall is too far. Another couple was in a similar situation, though they had two rooms, one for them and another for their boys. We came up with a great solution. Their room was within range of our baby monitor, and naturally their two rooms were adjacent. So, after all the children were asleep, we put the receivers for their monitor and our monitor in their (the other couple's) room. Then, we put our laptop next to those baby monitors. Fortunately, the hotel as free WiFi, something all hotels should have. We installed Skype on our laptop and theirs. We then made a call with Skype from our laptop to theirs, and all the adults went down to the gaming hall with their laptop which could "hear" any noise coming from either room. It worked great.... Matthew Gray

Just another example of the uses people put new technologies to and a "presence" aspect that's important --- baby on "do not disturb" --- is not quite it...

Dina Mehta is talking about Social Tools. She's begun with a moving set of pictures, where she's been working in the field using blogs, wiki's, Skype etc. Dina's shared via some posts on the Skype Journal her desire to apply more of these tools to enhancing the research process. To get her research stories face to face, (even though Skype has enabled us to collaborate on both research projects and client blogs) brings it all together in a practical manner.

What I enjoyed about listening is the message about having empathy. I think it's something that many bloggers share and identify in each other.

It's also something that Skype helps to enable.

These tools illustrated by the Tsunami blog demonstrate what an outpouring of emotion can do. A crisis is a powerful motivator. It's also demonstrates what happens when there are very low barriers to entry, when the tools are elegant and simple. Her examples of the Tsunami blog and for client implementations makes it easy to see that this is not really about technology. Rather uptake happens when human needs are catered to and barriers to participation are low.

See also:

• Dina's own notes on her presentation
• Mentalized's Points Summary
• Gunnar Langemark's blog
• Frederik's post: "Technology with Heart"
• CPH127
• Allan Jenkins comments that the Tsunami case proves "We don't have the tools is OUT as an excuse"
  
• melo: "The most interesting point for me is that the reason she thinks it worked was that people were helping out in the fields of expertise they had. Each person felt the pressure of responsibility and that made them keep on their respective fields but with a will to share."

Mindmapping by yourself is slow, hard work. But talk with others and the ideas and organization just flow. In Japanese or with Google translation to English. More on brainstorming. Does Skype open up your creative juices?

Their statement: Restrictions on running Skype P2P software at CERN. Because Skype clients help each other find others on the net (acting as supernodes), basically behaving too much like KaZaA. via physics professor Jacques Distler's thoughtful blog post.

The stated reason seems a little shaky to me. Aside from the unsavoury nature of its cousins, the P2P filesharing programs, I don’t see why skype supernodes would pose an undue burden on the CERN network. It seems to be more of an “It’s the principle of the thing!” issue, than an actual concern about bandwidth or network performance.

Does your IT organization have a Skype policy? What makes an informed, useful, and effective policy? What concerns should it address?

Blogged by Jordon Kalilich, 15, in Deerfield Beach, Florida, USA.

The other day I got a call on Skype from what sounded like a group of Hungarian students. At first, when the Skype Answering Machine (SAM) took over the call, I heard them speaking in Hungarian. I took control of the call and asked if they spoke English, and to my surprise, I heard a "Yes." They sounded like they were in their teens; there were at least two girls and a guy. They went on to ask me some questions about myself, and after each reply, there was some Hungarian jabbering as if they were trying to translate what I had said and figure out how to reply.

continued...

One of the girls asked, "What is she doing?" I asked what she meant, and she corrected herself: "What are you doing?" I said I was doing my homework. They asked me if I liked, basketball. I said I didn't, and that I wasn't into sports much. Their reply: "Do you no esport man? I don't like you." (Joking, obviously.) They asked me if I had any hobbies. I said I played the guitar. The guy said, "You are rock star!" I replied, "I wish." Then the guy asked, "Have good girl?" "Uh, no," I said. He replied, "This is horrible!"

It's horrible enough that I don't, but when people in Europe have to rub it in my face...

At that point one of the girls chimed in. "The Hungarian girls is very pretty woman." The other girl, who seemed to have a better grasp of the language, asked me if I had a Commodore (?). I think they wanted an e-mail address or an instant messenger screen name. Later, the guy said, "We are going to a disco tonight, goodbye." At the time it was 10:45 P.M. in Hungary (I looked it up), but I shrugged off that fact and said goodbye. At least they had someone to practice their English with. I'd talk to them again; they were a charming bunch.

First off, let's look at writing. The American Management Association wants writing interns to write a book on making deals online. Has Skype helped you make a deal? If not, the you may want to swing by the World Association of Newspapers conference in Seoul. 29 May - 1 June. If blogging is journalism, what is skyping? The next day another conference, TrendTag (Trend Day) in Hamburg looks like a great time for quants and futurists. 2 June. For more events I find interesting, see my list on evdb.com, including The 8th Asia Pacific IP Telephony, Singapore, the Wireless Community Conference, Monterey, California, INBOX, San Jose, California (where I want to learn more about spam over IP telephony), and SUPERCOMM Chicago.

We all want more from Skype. A million Apple fiends are all goosepimply with excitement that Spymac is adding Skype, maybe to become SkypeMac? This popular Macintosh portal adds SkypeMe to its user profiles, forums, to push realtime conversation on news and user posts. I wonder what Skype video will do to portals and online communities? Or to libraries: 26 steps for effective web presence in libraries includes Skype.

Martin Geddes is craving a long list of Skype client features. He ain't alone. Jan's Tech Blog says Skype's SkypeOut Dialing Wizard helps you sort out international numbers before you spend those SkypeOut minutes. Build it into the next release, please.

I'm fascinated by Consumer Casting Conversations (fr) who are using Skypecasting for market research. via Franck Dumesnil. Reminds me of Sparkcasts' beercasting. Gregory Narain, are you listening?

Skype's shaking people up.
  Some band together: the Internet Telephony Services Providers’ Association is trying to make the world safe for Skype and Skypers and others of our ilk.
  Others resort to force, as Hello Estonia sees it: Next call for Net phoning : Regulation. The idea of using Skype for emergency calls is beyond belief, per Richard Cobbett. "What wonderful, idyllic, crime-free world does he see in the morning, where technology is reliable and the internet doesn’t die on a daily basis?" Read Richard's "He’s got a gnu!" for a serious chuckle. All the fear mongering could lead to an Online Dating Patriot Act sponsored by True.

If you take comfort in your toolkit, Make your own Skype phone. Not for the faint of screwdriver.

One's just lonely, two's company, three's a crowd. Some bloggers are dropping other IM products for Skype. Is this a stampede? Myself? I turned on my Trillian a couple of times in the last few weeks. Only to get to someone who I haven't yet converted. My buddy list keeps growing. While I want to organize it renaming buddies kills the extra details (timezones, locations etc.) that my buddies keep updating.

My colleagues Jeremy and Tris are ditching their old instant messaging (IM) clients like MSN and so am I. I'm sick of having multiple instant messaging IM clients, especially now that I have one that works so damn well. WillPate May 15

I’ve decided to stop using MSN Messenger, as well as every other IM client out there. I now use Skype exclusively Jeremy Wright April 18

I was thinking, "yeah I prefer Skype too..." [end thought]. This morning I realized that just about all the folks I IM with on a regular basis are on Skype. So, why, pray tell, am I running a multi-protocal app to be available on MSN, Y!, and AIM? Tris Hussey April 20

I use Skype everyday, and quite a lot during the