Skype takes business service out of beta

 

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By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 31 Aug 2010 at 15:46

Skype’s business service has left beta, as the VoIP company looks for new ways to make revenue.

Skype Connect – previously called Skype for SIP – lets businesses use the VoIP platform with their IP-enabled PBX or unified communications systems.

Skype usually offers a cheaper call rate than standard services, with free calls between Skype numbers. Businesses can also let customers call them directly via their PC and set up local phone numbers so customers don't need to pay international rates.

While Skype is generally seen as a free service, companies using the business version will need to pay a monthly subscription of $6.95 for each "channel", which supports either one incoming or outgoing call at any given time.

Since the beta launched last year, 2,400 companies are actively using the service, Skype said.

While Skype boasts 124 million users who connect each month, it has only 8.1 million paying users. In the first half of this year, it pulled in $406 million in revenue and £13 million in profit.

The release comes as rumours suggest Cisco is about to make a bid for Skype, ahead of the VoIP firm's IPO, in which it intends to sell off shares to raise up to $100 million.

Skype was spun off last year from eBay, with its founders buying back part of the firm after the online auction giant paid $2.6 billion for it in 2005.

Google threat

While Skype has remained the dominant consumer VoIP company for years, it now faces a threat from Google, which launched its own service last week – kicking it off with free calls to mobiles and landlines.

“Google VoIP directly threatens Skype because it copies its service - initiating and receiving free or cheap calls over IP," said IDC analyst Irene Berlinsky. "But it also leapfrogs Skype by offering free calls to US mobile phones and landlines.”

“Notably, the freebie may not be around forever: Google does not guarantee calls to landlines and mobile phones will always be free. It has to pay interconnection fees to US telecom carriers to route the calls, which makes VoIP a loss leader.”

Google said the free calls may only continue until the end of this year. “Google may have to start charging unless it finds other ways to monetise VoIP,” noted Berlinksy. “By way of comparison, Skype reports that termination costs make up the largest portion of its cost of net revenues - 65% in 2009.”