In beta since March of last year, Skype Connect (formerly Skype for SIP) is now officially launched. The purpose of Skype Connect is to allow companies to connect corporate phone systems to Skype, letting customers who use Skype contact the company via an IP call, and allowing the company to take advantage of Skype’s cheap outbound calling rates to make outbound calls. According to Skype, some 2400 companies have been using the beta since last year.
We have been using Skype Connect to allow customers to connect to Calliflower conference calls via Skype Connect since late 2009. Four reasons we use it:
- The service is solid, and the voice quality is excellent (it’s Skype, after all).
- Skype Connect allows us to service customers in countries where we simply can’t obtain local phone numbers – China and India for example.
- The price is excellent. At $6.95/mo for unlimited calling, per channel, it’s very affordable.
- Skype Connect is a flat rate price per channel, like Calliflower’s flat rate pricing. It’s affordable, low risk, and easily forecast.
- Our customers love it! Since introducing Skype calling to our customers in January, usage has steadily ramped. Today, Skype callers represent 11% of our volume, growing by an average of 16% every month.
Oops… that’s five reasons!
Interested in finding out how good Skype Connect really is? Click here to call Calliflower from your Skype client. You’ll be suprised.
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Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
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