MARCH 23, 2009 Skype Targets Businesses to Ring Up New Revenue
By GEOFFREY A. FOWLER Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123776338990608661.html#mod=testMod EBay Inc.'s Skype Internet phone unit, on the hunt for new sources of revenue, is making a push into the corporate market. On Monday, Skype plans to announce a version of its Internet calling software that connects to corporate phone systems. The new software is expected to allow employees to make domestic and international calls using regular office telephones, instead of a headset plugged into a personal computer. Initially, the company will charge about 2.1 cents per minute for calls to cellphones and fixed lines, but calls from computers to phone systems using the Skype software will be free, similar to what it now charges for its consumer service. The company is known for allowing users to make free voice and video calls between computers, using a technology called VOIP, for voice over Internet protocol. Though the majority of users are consumers, the company says about 35% of its customers already use the service for business purposes. Now the company is hoping to appeal more directly to small and medium-sized businesses, which may be particularly receptive to lowering their phone bills during the recession. "Businesses want more than what we have been able to offer so far," said Stefan Oberg, the general manager of Skype for business. Its new product is called Skype for SIP. The acronym stands for Session Initiation Protocol, a technology used by many business phone networks. Skype plans to begin a test with a limited number of companies Monday, with the service available commercially later this year. The company is also planning to start a program to certify third parties to sell and service Skype offerings for businesses, but didn't offer further details. Skype's announcement comes as parent company eBay -- which bought Skype for $2.6 billion in cash and stock in 2005 -- faces pressure from investors to make more money from Skype or sell it. The company brought in $550 million in revenue last year, mostly from services such as paid calls to regular phone lines and voicemail. Its new effort faces plenty of competition in what some analysts estimate is a $200 billion business communications market. Traditional phone companies have many offerings for businesses, using conventional technology as well as VOIP. Rivals include Microsoft Corp., which offers software that connects phone calls to its Office suite. Google Inc. earlier this month unveiled a revised version of software that lets users link multiple phones to a single phone number and access voicemails online. Skype argues that its 405 million users give it a leg up in the business market. It points to customers like Steve Mandel, founder of a management training and consulting company in Capitola, Calif, who says his 65 employees use Skype to keep in touch with each other and with clients. "If Skype didn't exist, our phone bills would be I'm guessing 50% to 100% higher than they are now," he said. Skype has been controversial with some technology managers. Though the service seems to be free, Gartner analyst Lawrence Orans warns that mitigating potential security risks posed by the software, since it involves the Internet and often requires software updates, "involves operational and support costs." Skype insists that its software is secure, and has developed tools to make sure all the computers at a company are using the same version of its program. As part of the move to attract business users, the company is trying to change its image -- including its logo, which used to feature a guitar and rainbow. "Customers told us, 'How can we take you seriously when you look like an Abba album from 1976?'" said Mr. Oberg. "A lot of the features that we have sold to consumers in a certain way need to be sold to business in another way." ================================================= George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923 Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927 Political Science Internet: antunes at uh dot edu University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-3011 *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
