Most everyone loves value but businesses also love value-added. I am always willing to try (and sometimes try and try and even try again) a service or product. Several weeks ago I had a discussion with Barry Castle, Product Marketing Manager of Skype and Barry asked about my past experiences with Skype that admittedly are dated.
When Skype launched their Skype-for-SIP business effort late in 2009, security was a concern even after Skype announced their first deployment of Acme Packet. I still doubted that Skype would be easily secured from issues such as the Trojan.Peskyspy--"Listening in on your conversations" as noted by Symantec.
Skype Connect now offers Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure RTP (SRTP) protocols for encrypting SIP messages and RTP (media streams) between a compatible IP-PBX, Media Gateway, or UC (Unified Communications) platform and Skype Connect. The addition of the two protocols provide increased protection from "man in the middle" attacks that include eavesdropping, wiretapping, or threats to the security or privacy of Skype Connect.
Skype Connect is a no-frills play to compete with SIP trunking providers. Skype Connect is $6.95 per concurrent call session (CCS or channel) and scales from 1 to 300 channels. Billing is set to your credit card via PayPal until you are approved for credit card payment (1-2 days). Usage is billed either as pay-as-you-go, or you can purchase bundles of minutes. Pay-as-you-go allows you to set an automatic recharge once the balance dips below your set threshold, enabling you to have a perpetual account.
DID numbers (consecutive POTS numbers) are also possible, but I think limited availability. No number porting that I could find.
Skype Connect lists IP-PBXs and a couple of gateways that are compatible with their service; our IP-PBX (Panasonic NCP100) was not listed. I created a Skype Manager account first, sent $10 via PayPal to Skype to load Skype credit and then set up a SIP profile. Programming the IP-PBX took about 5 minutes and I was placing calls. An optional $6.95 per month nets an online number that I didn’t opt for.
Once Skype verifies your business (which takes up to two weeks) you receive a registration number that upon entering opens up a menu in the Skype Manager to allow you to associate your MBTN (main billed telephone number to Skype outbound CLID (calling line ID). The advantage to this is avoiding buying Skype online numbers ($6.95 each) and using Skype Connect for outbound calling. Skype click-to-call buttons are downloadable for web pages, enabling the Skype users to call your company (Skype to Skype).
I attempted to manipulate the CLID headers and normal tricks, and unlike many SIP providers, Skype Connect would immediately stop functioning until I removed the changes. The same day I purposely added Skype Connect for all our outbound calls on our office IP-PBX (still unregistered with Skype) and the call quality (MOS) on all calls remained "good." One call lasted over 125 minutes with no call degradation. Skype also permits first and second choice codecs and I opted for G729 (compressed; 8 kbps) and then G711 (uncompressed, 64 kbps). Skype Manager provides online usage reports and I placed toll free calls, and none of them were improperly billed and all were shown in the traffic report as free calls. Of course there is no 911 or E911 service on Skype. Local and long distance including cell calls were all acceptable.
Skype Connect for our IP-PBX thus far works really well and I can place calls as an un-verified customer and receive Skype calls from Skype users. The $6.95 per channel is very competitive and Skype call rates on the fly are cheaper than many SIP trunk providers. The same 125-minute call placed using my existing SIP trunk provider would cost $2.50, but Skype was only $1.005 using just pay-as-you-go rates. A savings of nearly 60% over our existing SIP trunk call rates isn’t something you ignore.
There are no contracts with Skype Connect. The 2-week verification process seems painfully long for a US company since Dunn & Bradstreet takes a few minutes online to check and verify a company.
What I wouldn't do is use Skype online numbers for DID, because the available number ranges are limited and at $6.95 per number monthly, most SIP providers are offering DID numbers at lower rates per number and an inventory of number ranges to choose from. Skype is unsupportive of credit card and most modem traffic, and as mentioned, there is no 911 or E911 calling.
Leveraging Skype as an alternative provider I think is another good move, and buying a bundle of minutes can further reduce the cost per call minute along with packing one or more channels with outbound traffic.
While the folks at Skype aren't revealing a roadmap of what's ahead, Skype is certainly visible on low cost calling along with enhanced security for qualifying (Skype Certified) gear. Some SIP trunk providers have been busy disclaiming liability for unauthorized international calling from customer locations, citing the IP-PBX as the security risk, but Skype is busy providing call completion globally and seemingly for half the cost. So for customers with Skype Certified hardware, the security offered by Skype Connect is a value add.
The worst experience I had dealing with Skype Connect isn't installation or setup or even call quality but the company website. As convoluted and misguiding as it is, I was still able to find what I needed, install Skype Connect and explore Skype services further.
Tier I carriers should see Skype Connect as a competitive threat and I’ve mentioned previously in, Text that's linkedBe Afraid, Very Afraid: Skype & Lync Could Disrupt You that, "Whatever Microsoft does with Skype and or Lync, take note. Skype and Lync can disrupt your revenues whether you are selling carrier services, hosted and managed services or PBXs."
Next time, "Has the Sears Model Resurfaced?"
Key Skype Documents (Skype Connect; PDFs)
* IT Administrators Guide
* Skype Connect Quick Start Guide
* Skype Connect Troubleshooting Guide
* Skype Connect User Guide
* TLS and SRTP for Skype Connect
