Linksys SPA-932 Sidecar for SPA-94X Phones It is always fun to see what you can find on the internet with just a Google search. Here is a first look at the Linksys SPA-932 sidecar for Linksys SPA-94X phones. SPA932 Features: 32 Button Attendant Console (Sidecar) Tri Color Programmable LEDs Up to Two Consoles Can Be Attached For a Total of 64 Buttons Support for Broadsoft Busy Lamp Field Powered by SPA962 No Power Supply Required SPA-932 First Impressions: It does not seem that the Linksys SPA-932 sidecar is set to have an LCD screen which is disappointing. Most of the sidecars coming out have LCD screens, so Linksys probably omitted this with costs savings in mind. Additionally, it is not yet know if the BLF will work with platforms other then the Linksys LVS-9000.
Written by Smith On VoIP - Garrett Smith's Insights on VoIP P on January 25th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Uncategorized.
Phil and I listened in on the eBay conference call this afternoon; obviously announcing a successful quarter and year for eBay as a company and by several measures for Skype.. Some of the highlights, especially with respect to Skype:
- If we heard it once, we heard it multiple times: the number one challenge for Skype is monetization and the associated drive to develop new sources of revenue. The one Q4-06 "downer" was the lower than expected monetization of Skype. For the full year Skype brought in $192MM revenue (against what has been thought to be a target of $200MM).
- eBay CEO Meg Whitman expressed as the major achievement for Skype during the quarter the market share lead they had built up within the VoIP competitive space and how the gap between Skype and the others was growing.
- Notice within those numbers how the quarter-to-quarter SkypeOut usage doubled in Q4 to 400 million minutes from the 200 million minute growth of the previous three quarters. Was some of this the full impact of free SkypeOut in North America resulting from increased North American subscriptions?
- They feel that SkypeMe buttons are showing success both through increased conversion rates by eBay sellers who use SkypeMe and increased SkypeMe availability for over 150 categories in 20 markets. Basically they are letting eBay sellers determine if and when they introduce SkypeMe and letting the viral feedback from successful outcomes drive adoption.
- One of eBay's overall priorities for 2007 is to improve the user experience. To this end they transferred an executive from Germany to manage the auction business. One of his goals is to increase the fun and excitement of the auction business; including "experimenting with Skype". (In my second post tomorrow on an eBay-Skype viral opportunity I'll be including one recommendation.)
- Over 25% of Skype's payments are now coming through PayPal. As an aside, in response to a question about Google CheckOut's impact, Meg mentioned how the publicity for Goolge CheckOut had actually given a bump to market leader PayPal in both users and transactions. She also mentioned how PayPal has many more ways to make payments than Google CheckOut which she described as a wrapper for Visa and MasterCard.
- In response to one question on Skype's incorporation into Google Pack, Meg described how Google had taken an agnostic view of the best features of the web in coming up with an introductory package of products and services for "newbies' to get acquainted with what one can do on the web.
Overall 2007 goals for eBay included:
- improving the user experience through a better integrated experience, simplified sites for buyers and improved ease-of-use and voice quality for Skype
- extending their leadership position in all businesses
- continue to innovate
- apply financial discipline
Two indications of eBay's financial health and confidence in the business were (i) increased guidance to investors for 2007 and (ii) expanding their share buyback program to double its initial goal of $2 billion.
Now if they would just eat their own dog food and do their next quarterly conference call using Skypecast or one of their partner's conferencing services!
Powered by Qumana
Written by Skype Journal on January 25th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Uncategorized.
Parsing Skype parent eBay's 4Q and 2006 earnings reports today, we learn that:
Skype net revenues totaled $66 million in Q4-06, a growth rate of 164% over the $25 million reported in Q4-05. The Q4-05 revenue amount represented the operations of Skype from the acquisition date of October 14, 2005 through the end of Q4-05.
Skype [...]
Written by Russell Shaw on January 25th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Skype and News and General.
Per the pre-conference call, Skype:
164% YOY growth net revenues
- Q4-2006 $66 million (91 days)
- Q4-2005 $25 million (75 days of operations - from the acquisition date of October 14, 2005 through end of Q4-05)
129% YOY growth registered users: More than 380 thousand new users every day in Q4.
- Q4-2006 171 million, 35 million new accounts in the quarter
- Q4-2005 75 million users
Other highlights
- 32 billion minutes of Skype conversation in 2006. [Correction: an earlier version of this post read "2005" instead of "2006". 2006 is correct.]
- China growth high; try-before-you-buy promotions a hit.
- Working to improve the quality, so bought Sonorit.
- 2007 Skype goals: more users, more partners, expanding the product, ease of use, voice quality.
- eBay-wide goals: better user experience. improving security.
- Skype Me buttons now in 150 categories and in most countries. Positive feedback from sellers on sales conversion rates.
Technorati tags: skype, stats, statistics, financials, ebay, ebayinc, skypejournal, chart, minutes
Written by Skype Journal on January 25th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Business.
Ever since eBay's acquisition of Skype sixteen months ago, speculation has abounded on why the acquisition and, more importantly, what synergies exist for integrating eBay, (PayPal) and Skype. While we have seen stabs at eBay "SkypeMe" buttons for premium auctions and a PayPal button in the Skype Outlook Toolbar, nothing has really taken hold virally with eBay users. In fact, Ken Camp has taken issue with eBay's entire Skype strategy, stating that Skype has become just another phone company, questioning the entire deal. On the other hand I am seeing the number of Users Online, Skype's most telling statistic, increase -- to the point where this morning (EST) over 8.8 million users were online. (We should have some further guidance on North American usage from eBay's quarterly report due out this afternoon.)
At Skype's CES press conference, in response to my question about building North American awareness for Skype, Don Albert, Skype's North American General Manager, responded to the effect that Skype North America would largely be relying on "viral" activity to build out awareness:
- Will enough users tell their friends about a service that provides toll-free North American long distance for $14.95 ($29.95 effective next Thursday, Feb. 1) per year -- not month?
- Does Skype have any strategy for building usage amongst its North American eBay and/or PayPal user base?
- I do see that X10, infamous for its ongoing banner ads and daily newsletters, now offers Skype as an option for customer service; will Skype build partnerships or even awareness with other vendors that encourage the use of Skype for customer service and support?
- How will Skype make users aware that Skype is more than simply voice communications, incorporating other real time communications such as Text Chat, SMS Messaging, File Transfer and, via the Extras, Desktop Sharing (Unyte).
One direction where we thought Skype and eBay were working together was reported by Phil last June just after the eBay/Skype Developers Conference. Check out the post "Skype Gets eBay Tab; Catches up with Microsoft, Google and Yahoo". At the time I felt that, given how many eBay members track their activity in real time on mobile devices, incorporating an eBay Tab into Skype would also have the potential to drive viral adoption, given that auction activity can have a high requirement for "real time" information, especially as the end of an auction approaches.
As a result of some of my conversations at CES two weeks ago I came home and tried out Skype with an eBay tab. Don't bother trying it even though it has been upgraded to work with Skype 3.0 (but lacks the Skypecast Tab). From what I can learn it appears this "Tab" was developed somewhere within eBay U.S. by a team that obviously has little knowledge or understanding of Skype, let alone having a "gut feel" for a user interface that drives viral adoption. Succinctly put, its operation is an embarrassment to Skype (and eBay).
My career has involved many experiences involving user testing and beta testing of software. I often measure a company's ability to manage a software-based business not only on the quality of the software but also by observing their process for quality assurance. We certainly know, as reinforced by the experience with Skype 3.0 Beta, that Skype appears to have not only well above average Quality Assurance processes and, again from experience -- I was a beta tester for the Skype Email and Skype Web Toolbars -- that Skype seeks out a positive, simple customer experience. Unfortunately it appears that eBay brings a different QA culture to the table, at least when building Skype mashups. Here is what I found:
The initial screen on the Tab has no obvious way to do a user login; in addition, one of the graphics simply will not come up.(Also note that the eBay logo is not appropriately sized and positioned within the Tab itself.) And I am certainly not "new to eBay"; having used eBay several times over the past five years. But there is a Search bar so let's try it; I am interested in the Canon Rebel series SLR cameras so I enter a Search request. I do get the listing page within the eBay tab but it all goes downhill from here. If I click on View Item, it opens the relevant eBay page in my default web browser (Firefox 2 in my case), not in the eBay Tab; If I ask to "Watch" the item I am asked (in the web browser) to log in and the item is added to my eBay Watch List. Then I can click on "Watching" in the eBay Tab to see the item. Other circumstances may bring up the Login screen in the eBay Tab.
However, it gets interesting when I am logged in and trigger a new Search. In this instance I have now asked for another Canon camera but I simply get "0 items found ...." as shown on the right; check on the eBay via a web browser and it finds the requested item. No matter what I search for I get the same result. Sort of defeats the whole purpose of the Tab in that if I am logged into eBay I cannot do a search. If I log out and do a search I can get a result. Recall that graphic in the initial screen above: it fails to come up beyond a place holder in any of the Bidding, Won or Selling sub-tabs.
Bottom Line: this version of an eBay Tab in Skype is not going to drive any viral adoption of Skype by eBay members. If anything, it will be a discouragement to try out Skype (even though Skype had little, if any, control over its development).
But at CES I learned that there is a solution available for accessing eBay through the Skype client; in fact, eBay members in Germany, France and, soon, the U.K. have access to it. More to come in a post Friday. But, most importantly, they have a solution that will help drive viral adoption of Skype amongst eBay members.
Powered by Qumana
Written by Skype Journal on January 25th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Uncategorized.
I'm at the IP Telephony show in Fort Lauderdale. Tomorrow I am on a panel, after which I'll catch keynotes from key execs from Vonage and Cisco. And of course I will report.
Not a bad place for a conference. I awoke this morning to the scene of yachts and smaller pleasure craft literally 10 feet [...]
Written by Russell Shaw on January 25th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Vonage and General.