[asterisk-biz] Skype

[Peter Beckman]

On Mon, 18 Dec 2006, Mike Hammett wrote:

> I don't use Skype, nor do I intend to.  However, does anyone know of any
> gotchas in addition to general Skype behavior of the new $30 annual
> unlimited plan?  How can a $25 or $30 a month unlimited plan compete with
> that?

  Skype is heavily tied to a PC.  The PC has to be running all the time in
  order for you to receive calls.  For some, that's no problem, since they
  spend most of their time in front of their computer.  There are products
  that allow you to distribute the Skype signal throughout your house
  wiring, such as the $60-ish VoSky.

  If one could port their number to Skype, it might be worth it.  I do think
  though that losing phone service when your PC breaks or gets a virus won't
  be acceptable to most, yet.  If someone builds an affordable box that runs
  Windows+Skype in a small, hardware/flash system (embedded Skype
  effectively), that will compete directly with Vonage.

  A solution:
      * Port your current home number to TossableDigits.com (shameless plug)
      * Forward your number to your SkypeIn number
      * Buy a VoSky   http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/818a/
      * Run Skype on your PC with Windows (dunno of VoSky works on Mac)

  Poof.  Now you pay $35.88/year + 8c/min incoming for your home number,
  plus $40/year for a SkypeIn number, plus $30/year ($15/year before Feb 1,
  2007) for all US/Canada calling.  Clearly if you could port your number to
  Skype you'd save the cost of Tossable Digits, but at this time you cannot.

  So instead of the $300+tax ($350/year est.) for Vonage, you're paying
  $90.88 (assuming you sign up with Skype before 2/1/07) plus 8c/min
  incoming.  If you can avoid TD and run your own SIP channel forwarding to
  your SkypeIn number, or use the chanSkype service, you'll pay even less.

  Still, you are ultimately responsible for all technical support, upgrades,
  firmware updates, software maintence, etc, and Vonage has been pretty
  solid for stability for the last year or two.  There needs to be a few
  more changes to service, such as Skype able to port numbers and Skype
  being able to be embedded into hardware without a PC tether before it will
  be cost effective AND low maintenance.

Beckman
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Peter Beckman                                                  Internet Guy
beckman at purplecow.com                             http://www.purplecow.com/
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