The PayPal team outlined their approach to micro payements focusing on a new cost structure 5% + 5cents. They were the only eBay/Skype presence at ETel.

(Note, this was recorded on my iPod with iTalk, it is not meant to be IT Conversations. In a few weeks I'm sure many of these will be available there)

I just got off of a call with Angelo (awake for 90 hours in Bahrain), Dina Mehta (from Mumbai and of Skype Journal), and Anna Lisa (Amsterdam) about setting up the KatrinaHelp Team's phone service. They are working with the Saturn ham radio operators to queue and relay calls for help from around Tulane. So they're setting up a local SkypeIn number and buying some SkypeOut time, about 20 euro for now. The volunteers, many of whom are alumni of Tsunami relief efforts, will follow the sun, handing off the account as they change shifts.

Two unresolved problems so far.

SMS. They need to receive and send SMS. Text will often get through to a mobile phone where voice calls fail. And these are life and death calls for help. The volume is low, fifty to a few hundred messages a day for the next few weeks. If you can help, Skype me (evanwolf) or Skype KatrinaHelp.

Payment. The other problem is that Skype still binds each account to just one payment option, typically a credit card. So the same person who pays for this account now is responsible for topping up the account for the life of the project. This could end up being a lot of money for one person. Right now we're assuming sponsors could reimburse our volunteer, but it would be better if others could buy SkypeOut minutes and transfer them to KatrinaHelp.

This is just one project. Grassroots. Independent. More to come.

UPDATE: See the KatrinaHelp home page if you want to join in.

UPDATE: Thanks to Jaanus Kaase, the official Share Skype blogger, for SkypeOut vouchers. Nice job, Jaanus. Blog on.

UPDATE: The volunteers:

• updated their Skype installs to the latest non-beta version,
• completed their purchase of SkypeIn and SkypeOut,
• set HotKeys so they can answer calls quickly,
• recorded voice mail messages,
• worked out that they couldn't have two people logged in with the same Skype name at the same time, and used SkypeOut to call the Tulane number. It worked!

The local phone system is swamped. Calls to the number sometimes produce "Due to the hurricane in the area you are calling, your call cannot be completed at this time. Please try your call again later." In the nicest voice. Callers will have to persist.

UPDATE: Jaanus Kaase: "We have eased the payment limits on KatrinaHelp account so you should have no issues making further payments."

UPDATE: Connectotel's Marcus Williamson is setting up a Skype-to-SMS bridge for KatrinaHelp.

I've been buying SkypeOut minutes since June 2004. There have been many complaints about billing, not being able to pay etc. Yet the call quality is obviously much improved. The problem is the billing system. It sucks.

Skype has had problems with credit card fraud. They are apparently not alone. At different times different payment methods have been available to us in the US. Because of this I've used two credit cards and one paypal account to buy SkypeOut minutes on my everyday Skype account.

However, sharing my Skype with others in the family for SkypeOut calls can stop one from working --- even when the other party is on a cordless. Over the weekend I tried to buy minutes for my wife on her credit card on our shared Visa account. This was the result.

So let me see. I've spent Euros 135+ with them since June 2004. Not a huge sum, and 60 Euros relates to two SkypeIn numbers. So now I try and extend accounts. They won't let me have multiple names on one account and they refuse to take my money to open additional accounts. I know I am not alone.

So, add another simple criteria to beating Skype. Provide a billing and account system that works, and provides easy access, multiple accounts, multiple ID's, and remembers who you are. Even allows you to link accounts together. I've noted before that no-one else has done this on a truly global basis. Still that is tomorrow's business. To exist in this global world and provide a billing and accounting system that we can also use for other transactions could be magic.

Could the original accounting and billing structure have been such a poor choice that it is an achilles heal until fixed? Could Om be proven right?

I simply don't buy these policies and instructions as an acceptable solution for a protecting against fraud. I'd suggest Skype is turning many dollars away with such policies. Do they have any idea how much?

In order to protect our users we do not permit this.

Similar to other Internet merchants, we have a restriction that only allows you to use your credit card to fund one Skype name. If you attempt to fund two Skype names with the same credit card all orders placed to the second Skype name will be reversed and listed as "Cancelled" in your account summary. The money will be sent back to your credit card and you will not be charged. Click here for more information on Reversed orders.

We understand that this might be an inconvenience for some people, but it is a necessary step we must take in order to reduce fraudulent transactions.
Skype Help

If you receive the message that your account has been restricted to Moneybookers only it is because you have activated one of our internal fraud checks. We limit the number of purchases and purchase attempts in a specific time period for all customers, if you exceed that limit your account is restricted to Moneybookers only because it is a secure payment method.

The length of the restriction varies depending on a number of factors. Sometimes it is a day, or a week or potentially longer. We can't tell you exactly when it will be lifted because that gives fraudsters too much information and defeats the purpose of the restriction.

We apologize .....
Skype Forum

See Skype Knowledge Base.