Internet calling provider Skype is courting small businesses.
On Thursday, the company announced Skype for Business, which consists of new hardware, improvements to programs and a Web site dedicated to small businesses.
Skype has traditionally been thought of as a consumer application. But the company says that 30 percent of its 75 million subscribers use the software for business. Most of these businesses are small--about half of them have fewer than 10 employees, Skype said. For the past year, the company has been targeting business users.
Skype for Business is designed for these users, who are too small to invest in building their own Internet Protocol telephony networks or to subscribe to expensive managed services from a telephone carrier.
The new Web site, Skype.biz, serves as a centerpiece designed to provide information and downloads that make using Skype easier. Some of the features offered include integrating Skype with the Microsoft Outlook toolbar and a new auto-management tool that enables group administrators to purchase Skype credits for one account and then distribute them to employees, who can use them for Skype premium services such as SkypeIn, SkypeOut, voice mail and third-party conference calling.
Skype has also announced new Skype-ready hardware including a Plantronics Voyager 510 Bluetooth headset, a Linksys cordless Internet phone, and an Internet speakerphone from U.S. Robotics.
Skype has also partnered with several third-party software providers, such as Salesforce.com and WebDialogs, to integrate their applications with Skype.
Skype isn't the only voice over IP provider going after the small-business market. Vonage has two small-business plans starting at $39.99 per month. Web portals America Online and Yahoo have introduced voice and file-sharing capabilities with their instant messaging clients. Yahoo has integrated its client with Microsoft's Live Communications Server. And AOL plans to add more features designed for business users to its IM client later this year.
I am scared about the idea of requesting Skype services for my entreprise. As i know from Skype, all the data are travelling from computer to another and also through all firewall configuration.
I am scared about the idea of requesting Skype services for my entreprise. As i know from Skype, all the data are travelling from computer to another and also through all firewall configuration.
The two telecom carriers will carry a next-generation iPad running on the fast, next-generation wireless technology, sources tell The Wall Street Journal.
Google creates an animated doodle that features a boy, a girl, Google's search engine, and a jump rope. But might there be darker, more analytical, more troubling interpretations to this tale?
The Silicon Valley online payments startup grew by 1,000 percent last year and is hopeful it can repeat that level of growth this year. To do that, it's had to move away from its early friends-and-family roots and embrace small businesses.
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
As i know from Skype, all the data are travelling from computer to another and also through all firewall configuration.
Rgds
As i know from Skype, all the data are travelling from computer to another and also through all firewall configuration.
Rgds