Skype to tout enterprise features
Skype on Thursday plans to tout the control functionality for businesses built into the latest release of its popular Internet telephony software, CNET News.com has learned.
The company in a news release plans to call attention to features in Skype 3.0 that let organizations control use of the software in a corporate environment. Skype 3.0 was actually launched on December 13, but the company so far hasn't called much attention to the enterprise features.
Skype has caused headaches for many IT administrators because it can find ways to make a Net connection despite strong firewall controls on corporate networks. Also, until Skype 3.0, there had been little administrators could do to control use of individual features in the Skype client, such as chat and file sharing.
That's changed with the latest Skype release. An updated guide for network administrators--which Skype plans to call attention to on Thursday--includes instructions for setting up group policies and a list of registry keys that allow for control of the application inside a corporate environment. (Click for PDF of the Skype network admin guide.)
"A lot of administrators have objected to users coming in and installing Skype on a desktop," Skype Chief Security Officer Kurt Sauer told CNET News.com in a recent interview. "That's what the most recent copy of our network administrator guide and Skype 3.0 is all about. It's trying to provide controls that let IT administrators run their networks the way that they want to."
