It recently acquired management and analytics reporting technology from Event Zero. For Microsoft, Event Zero’s technology plugs a gap in reporting and analytics for online audio, videoconferencing, and media streams - and buying that technology means it'll take less time to bring the functionality to enterprise buyers. Microsoft is thus acquiring companies for technology to do exactly that. They want to see even more in Skype for Business. The recent E5 plan announcements introduced an Office 365 plan that includes Skype for Business features such as PSTN Conferencing, PSTN Calling, Skype Meeting Broadcast, and Cloud PBX, all of which help Skype for Business work more like - or with - an enterprise digital phone system.Īlthough welcome, these new features aren't enough for some users. The online version? Not so much.īut that is steadily changing with time. In May, Skype plans to release an application for the BlackBerry as well.The on-premises version of Skype for Business (previously called Lync Server) is a fully functional enterprise-grade telephony replacement and VoIP product. Skype for the iPhone and iPod Touch is free, although the iPod requires a microphone add-on. The position of the iPhone’s camera, on the opposite side of the screen, makes two-way video chatting unfeasible. And third, the iPhone application doesn’t have all the features that the desktop version of Skype does, like text messaging and video chat. (The next upgrade of iPhone software may allow Skype calls to be pushed through even when the application isn’t actively running). Ideally, Skype would run in the background and incoming calls from Skype or the cellular network would look the same. Second, the phone-within-a-phone experience is unintuitive and may be confusing to some users. First, prolonged use of the Wi-Fi radio tends to suck battery power, so a Skype call will drain the battery faster than a cellular one. While the phone quality is good as long as the Wi-Fi signal is strong, there are a number of drawbacks to using Skype on the iPhone. Calls received using Skype will reach a computer or iPhone simultaneously, but in order for the iPhone to ring, the application must be open and running. It is easy to log on, and contacts are immediately loaded on the screen.Īs with the regular service, calling a non-Skype number within the U.S.–including another cell phone–costs two cents per minute. Instead of the cellular providers rushing to improve the signal coverage by adding more towers, says Chamberlain, they could just let the users supply and pay for their own Wi-Fi network to use VoIP.Ī quick test of the Skype iPhone application shows the call quality to be similar to that achieved using a laptop computer. “If you’ve got a device that you want to use indoors, then the operator doesn’t have to build a network that works there.” This is especially relevant for all those people whose cell-phone service drops off inside their homes. “It only works over Wi-Fi, and that’s a good thing,” he says. ![]() ![]() If Skype proves too popular, he speculates that service providers might be forced to take this route.Ĭhamberlain also suggests that mobile-phone carriers could actually benefit from customers using Skype. This way, Chamberlain says, voice traffic sent over the data network could be prioritized and slowed down en route, which would degrade the quality of the call. “If mobile operators decided that there is too much traffic on their network and they see a packet they don’t like, then they can reshape the traffic,” so that certain packets are reprioritized. In the future, a technology called deep-packet inspection could play a role in moderating how successful VoIP on mobile devices ultimately is, says David Chamberlain, analyst for research firm In-Stat, who is based in Arizona. It then charges these calls against a subscriber’s wireless minutes unless he or she has signed up for an additional plan that costs $10 a month. T-Mobile USA, for one, has modified handsets so that they can identify calls made using VoIP software and WiFi connections. But some cellular providers have been more proactive about protecting their voice revenue. ![]() ![]() AT&T would not comment on the Skype application specifically nor on mobile VoIP in general.
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