Hgcldtecetfacc Discussion Threads

[miata] 28/2/2008 09:30

Post your SKYPE name if you would like to discuss the FTSE.

[tenapen] 18/8/2007 13:09

For Information purpose Only. NO investment advice intended.




New Investment

We are pleased to announce that one of Skype's early contributors/investors Morten Lund, has taken an equity stake in our parent company Confabulate Limited. In the past couple of months Morten has discussed the shape of things to come with top advisors for Nicolas Sarkozy, Angelina Merkel and Hillary Clinton, so we are honored he found time for us.

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Get a voice, visit Loober.com

[waldron] 18/8/2007 11:11

Skype software glitch hits 220 million users
By Nic Fildes
Published: 18 August 2007
Skype, the popular computer-based phone service, has left 220 million customers around the world hanging on the line after a software glitch took down its network.

Skype, owned by the internet auction giant eBay, was at a loss as to why the problem had crashed its network and has struggled to resolve the issue. The fault left millions of Skype users around the world unable to log into the service.

The affair highlights the problem of giving up a fixed-line phone in favour of the cheaper internet-based phone services that have become popular over recent years. Skype, Vonage and a host of other telephony providers, including BT, have added millions of customers looking to make free on-net calls using VoIP - or voice over internet protocol - services. The technology was initially popular with people looking to cut down on the cost of international phone calls, but soon spread into the small business market.

Many small businesses that have become reliant on Skype after cancelling traditional fixed-line telephony packages have been hit by the fault. The service outage also highlights the problems for VoIP providers in ensuring customers have access to emergency services numbers, an issue Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, has started investigating.

Skype described the outage as "unique" and argued it was getting to grips with the problem although it could not say when the issue would be resolved. The glitch relates to a piece of software that connects users to the peer-to-peer-based network's servers. Skype said that the glitch has been dormant in its network since its customers started downloading the service in 2003 and did not immediately know why the problem had suddenly crashed its network.

On its blog, Skype told its customers: "It is still too early to call out anything definite yet we are now seeing signs of improvement, and we continue to monitor the situation through Europe waking up this morning."

[grupo guitarlumber] 29/3/2007 09:43

UK Ofcom launches new code for Voice over Internet Protocol service providers


LONDON (AFX) - The Office of Communications said it has launched a new
regulatory code for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers that
will ensure that consumers have access to important information about the
capabilities of their service.
All VoIP providers will be required to comply with the code from June 2007.
VoIP services offer consumers the prospect of cheaper calls - especially for
calls from one VoIP service to another - and new services such as call handling
and unified messaging.
The new code of practice requires VoIP providers to make clear whether or
not the service includes access to emergency services; the extent to which the
service depends on the user's home power supply; whether directory assistance,
directory listings, access to the operator or the itemisation of calls are
available; and whether consumers will be able to keep their telephone number if
they choose to switch providers at a later date.
A number of respondents to Ofcom's consultation expressed concern that a
lack of access to emergency services via VoIP services might be detrimental for
consumers.
For that reason, Ofcom said it intends to consult later this year on
whether, and if so how, certain VoIP services might be required to offer access
to emergency services.

[e-mail]
slm

[spymaster25] 17/1/2006 13:47

skype now offer video call service

[smallchange] 17/1/2006 13:45

hope you find the thread,

I use skype quite alot, especially when abroad, it cuts down telephone costs drastically and eventually I hope to get rid of my mobile when the world is
Wi-Fi enabled lol

[glennborthwick] 20/9/2005 09:11

Not sure how it works
but .......................

IPdrum Mobile Skype Cable
The IPdrum Mobile Skype Cable consists of a cable that connects between a mobilephone and a computer, and software. By leveraging the Skype program, the IPdrum enables a user to access the Skype service while using a mobile telephone!





The key to IPdrum is the connection between the mobile telephone and the computer. This "base station" mobile telephone will be the link between the Skype connection and the user's phone via a local call setup. Both incoming and outgoing calls can be handled by the system.



The main features of the IPdrum Mobile Skype Cable including:



· Forwarding of incoming Skype calls to PSTN- or mobile phone

· Outgoing calls to Skype subscribers

· Outgoing calls to stationary and mobile telephones using the SkypeOut subscription service

· Synchronizing of contacts from mobile

· Synchronizing of contacts in Skype

· Connecting/Synchronizing contacts with Skype users



The IPdrum Mobile Skype Cable will be available to media from August 2005 onwards.



Price
IPdrum Mobile Skype Cable: USD 69,95 + shipping & local taxes, if applicable

[waldron] 08/9/2005 14:31

EBay Shares Drop 2.7% on Report It May Buy Skype (Update1)
Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of EBay Inc., the largest Internet marketplace, fell 2.7 percent after a report the company may spend as much as $3 billion to buy Web telephone operator Skype Technologies SA.

The Wall Street Journal reported today EBay is in talks to buy Luxembourg-based Skype, whose software allows Internet users to speak to each other for free. The acquisition would cost $2 billion to $3 billion, the paper said, citing people familiar with the talks.

EBay may be planning to use Skype's technology or the retailer may be attracted by Skype's growing customer base, said James Enck, a London-based analyst at Daiwa Securities SMBC Europe Ltd.

Shares of San Jose, California-based EBay dropped as much as $1.31, or 3.2 percent, to $39.15 at 8:28 a.m. New York time in trading before regular U.S. markets opened. The shares closed yesterday at $40.46 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.

Skype has held discussions with other potential purchasers including News Corp., Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp., the Journal said. The talks with EBay are at a sensitive stage and may still collapse, the newspaper said.

``If we're willing to accept reports that other major Internet brands have entered discussions, or even tabled bids, then why not the world's leading auction site?'' said Enck, who wrote the first report on Skype in September 2003. ``Maybe there's something EBay has seen that's more than cheap voice and messaging.''

IPO Is Possible

Skype, founded by two Swedish entrepreneurs two years ago, has more than 50 million users who have downloaded the company's software. While most ``Skypers'' chat or send instant messages for free over the Web, the company charges for calls from a computer to mobile phones or traditional fixed lines.

``There's absolutely no reason why EBay can't participate'' in the voice communication business ``if Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft can,'' said Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. analyst Scott Devitt, who's based in Baltimore and rates EBay shares ``buy.'' ``And Skype is the killer application in the sector.''

``The way I view the sector is Amazon, EBay, Google and Yahoo! are in the same business going after the same opportunities,'' Devitt said. ``So from my standpoint, strategically this makes a lot of sense.''

Devitt said he couldn't comment on a possible acquisition price until he has more information.

Skype is also considering an initial public offering and has hired Morgan Stanley as an adviser, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Kat James, a spokeswoman for Skype, declined to comment on the talks when contacted by Bloomberg News. Victoria Biggs, a spokeswoman for EBay in London, also declined to comment.

The Internet's major brands are now facing up to Skype. Last month, Google Inc., the most-used Web search engine, introduced software that lets people send instant messages and make phone calls with their computers.

The same month, Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, bought Internet telephone company Teleo Inc.

[grupo guitarlumber] 02/9/2005 04:43

Taking the battle online

Sep 1st 2005
From The Economist Global Agenda


Microsoft has become the latest big technology company to make a move into telephony over the internet. The low cost of calls is attracting customers in ever-greater numbers and robbing traditional phone companies of business. How worried should they be?








WHEN occasion permits, it is salutary to remind oneself how the conduct of business and leisure has changed since the advent of the internet. Gathering information, written contact (through e-mail) and other tasks have been speeded up immeasurably thanks to the forward march of technology. One is often pressed to remember how people got by before the internet became widespread. In fact, many of the tasks taken up by the web were conducted over the telephone. And if Voice over the Internet Protocol (VOIP), a new type of web-based telephony, continues to takes off, we may one day ask how we made phone calls before the internet took that strain too.

Microsoft is the latest big technology firm to embrace VOIP. This week, the software giant announced that it had bought Teleo, an American VOIP-technology firm, for an undisclosed sum. Days earlier Google, a leading search engine, announced that it would launch Google Talk, an instant message and voice service, in competition with other leading web portals. In June, Yahoo! bought Dialpad, a firm offering the same sort of technology as Teleo.

Microsoft announces its purchase of Teleo. Google launches Google Talk. Yahoo! recently acquired Dialpad. See also Skype. America's Federal Communications Commission announces that VOIP providers must handle emergency calls and has news and general information on VOIP.

At the moment, the technology giants generally only allow computer-to-computer voice services. But they may soon extend their offerings to compete with the likes of Vonage, Skype, 8X8 and a host of other new firms that concentrate on providing VOIP services. These companies allow customers to plug their phone into a gadget connected to the internet. By offering this service they have shown they want to compete directly with traditional telecoms firms and the cable companies that have recently joined the fray.

However, VOIP differs from the usual phone services in that it sends calls as digital packets of information over data networks rather than relying on a dedicated circuit-switched network. As a result, calls are charged at a much cheaper rate: long-distance and international calls can be made for the price of a local call and a home broadband-internet connection. Furthermore, a VOIP user can keep his old fixed-line phone number, which will work not only at home but anywhere in the world where he chooses to use the device (as long as a broadband connection is available).

Not surprisingly, consumers have shown more than a little interest in the new technology. TeleGeography, a research firm, estimates that VOIP providers offering similar services to traditional telecoms firms in America had amassed over 1.8m subscribers by the first quarter of 2005. This number is set to grow to over 7m by the end of 2006 and 17.5m by 2010 (see chart). These figures do not take account of the growth of Skype, whose software permits free calls between computers. The Luxembourg-based firm says it already has 51m registered users and a further 2m that have signed up for paid services, such as voicemail and connections to landlines and mobile phones. Skype claims to carry 45% of all American VOIP traffic.

Despite the relatively modest size of the market for VOIP at present, its quick advances and potential for growth have forced traditional phone companies and cable firms on to the defensive. Fixed-line operators in America have suffered a torrid few years as cable firms and mobile operators have eaten away at their business. Revenues at America's fixed-line local and long-distance carriers have fallen back since peaking in 2000, and forecasts suggest that revenues will slip further over the next few years partly as VOIP providers grab their business. The number of fixed lines in America has been declining as consumers switch to mobile telephony. One estimate suggests that revenues at fixed-line firms may fall by another 25% between now and 2010.

The appearance of new VOIP providers in the past two years has come amid a battle for customers between traditional telecoms firms and cable operators. The latter have built fibre-optic networks across many countries and can offer not only telephones but broadband connections and television too. Many traditional telecoms firms are upgrading their lines to offer the same services and may also be in a position to add mobile telephony to the bundle. And both the telecoms firms and their cable rivals are aggressively, though somewhat reluctantly, offering VOIP telephony. Profits are slimmer for VOIP-the service yields up to $10 less monthly revenue per customer for traditional phone companies, according to some estimates. But telecoms firms reckon it is better to cannibalise revenues than to lose a customer altogether.



It is too soon to sound the death knell for traditional telephony, but the coming of VOIP will provide cheaper calls for customers and help to keep fixed-line prices down


Some analysts reckon that the inability of pure VOIP firms to offer the bundled services that telecoms and cable companies can provide (which include the all-important broadband link) may limit the appeal of internet telephony. Other problems also beset VOIP. America's Federal Communications Commission has insisted that some VOIP phones are made able to access America's emergency services. The expense of complying with this and the possible imposition of other regulations that govern traditional telecoms providers could add to the costs of VOIP firms and eat into their competitive advantage. And customers may balk at relying wholly on phones that are affected by power cuts, not to mention the viruses that trouble the internet.

Despite these concerns, VOIP's rapid growth is set to continue for the foreseeable future. And mobile operators have as much to fear from it as fixed-line firms do, thanks to the roll-out of WiMax or other forms of wireless broadband delivered over the airwaves, which will offer mobile VOIP across many countries. As a result, the more established mobile operators, still trying to recoup the vast sums spent on third-generation (3G) licences, could see revenues fall.

It is too soon to sound the death knell for traditional fixed-line telephones. The ability of wires to deliver a variety of services, and the drawbacks of VOIP, should keep fixed-line firms in business for some time. But the coming of VOIP will provide cheaper calls for customers and help to keep fixed-line prices down. The consumer with a far-flung network of friends or business contacts may soon wonder how he paid the bills before the internet brought the cost of calls crashing down.

[grupo guitarlumber] 31/7/2005 17:39

well done glenn

[glennborthwick] 31/7/2005 15:58

its the end for phone companies

Ive downloaded it all for all of my agents in france, canada, usa etc - free worldwid ephone calls. Our phone bill has dropped 75%

[ariane] 28/6/2005 06:01

Ruling Could Limit Access to Net

By JESSE DRUCKER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
June 28, 2005; Page D2

The Supreme Court ruling allowing cable companies to keep rival Internet service providers off their networks could eventually limit consumers' access to some services and applications.

The so-called Brand X decision is likely to hurt competition in the market for high-speed Internet access from providers like EarthLink Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL. It also could restrict consumer access to Internet services from third parties, like Internet calling from companies like Vonage Holdings Corp.

In most markets, consumers now have a choice of high-speed Internet-service providers: from the local phone company, to a cable operator, to a third provider offering service over the phone company's network. Those third-party providers were hoping to force cable companies to open their networks and allow them to offer service to customers.

Yesterday's decision ensures that the cable companies won't be obliged to do that. The Supreme Court said it wasn't specifically addressing rules requiring phone companies to open their broadband networks to other providers. But the fact that decision went the way of the cable companies is likely to further encourage the Federal Communications Commission to overturn those rules.

Competition for high-speed Web access is fierce, as large phone and cable companies are using their marketing muscle to squeeze out other Internet providers. One way they do so is by bundling their Web service with phone and video and offering the package for less than all three would cost individually.

Tim Wu, a University of Virginia law professor, called the decision a "mixed bag for consumers." He says it could increase the temptation by cable and telephone providers to limit access to certain applications. He cited past efforts by cable companies to restrict customers' use of Wi-Fi devices and said new federal consumer-protection regulations are needed.

"The court's decision increases the pressure and the need for congressional network neutrality rules -- rules designed to ensure that consumers can reach any Internet content they want and use any application they want and attach any device they want," Prof. Wu says.

One area at risk: Internet calling, or VOIP, an increasingly common application that has the potential to take phone customers way from cable and phone companies. Earlier this year Internet phone company Vonage complained to the FCC that a rural phone company was blocking its customers from using its service. A Vonage spokeswoman said yesterday that the company isn't concerned about the Supreme Court decision. But she also contends that there needs to be some network neutrality rules.

Verizon Communications Inc. said that consumers will wind up with more choices because of the growth of alternative technologies, like Web access via cellular networks and power lines.

Separately, the court ruled that Internet file-sharing services like Grokster, could be sued if consumers use its software to swap songs and movies illegally.

[maywillow] 17/4/2005 13:31

Wireless: Only a matter of time till VOIP goes mobile
By Chris Oakes International Herald Tribune
Monday, April 18, 2005


PARIS With the global spread of voice over Internet protocol, or VOIP, cheaper Internet calling options are reaching a growing number of fixed-line customers. Some of them switch to VOIP service simply by plugging existing phones into a provider's Internet adapter box, and voilà: a new digital-age dial tone for the same telephone.

But can the same technology be adapted to cellphones?

While the wireless aspect of cellphones means a jump to VOIP is not as simple as switching phone jacks, there are signs that mobile VOIP connectivity may eventually match that of its fixed-line counterpart.

Alex Slawsby, analyst for the research firm International Data Corp., said that while mobile VOIP remains "bleeding edge" in the short term, he expects these early experiments to lead to a gradual industrywide switch in wireless calling to voice over IP technology.

"I think we'll start to see it expanding in both enterprise and consumer world," Slawsby said.

Analysts are watching the popular computer-based VOIP service Skype to see whether its popularity among consumers can facilitate a broader jump to the mobile world.

Skype, which operates a VOIP service for home and laptop computer users, has been credited with shuttling the bulk of VOIP telephony on the Internet today. The service says it has 33.7 million registered users worldwide.

Last year, it began offering a version of its software for Wi-Fi-enabled smart phones and personal digital assistants. The software uses Wi-Fi to connect Skype software at the wireless "hot spots" that are increasingly common in homes, offices and public places like libraries and cafés.

"Skype has more than 160,000 new users per day, many of which are benefiting from free wireless Skype voice calls using Wi-Fi laptops, Pocket PCs and handsets," the Skype chief executive, Niklas Zennstrom, said by e-mail.

This year, the company announced an alliance with the cellphone maker Motorola, raising the possibility that Skype might edge toward mainstream phones.

Zennstrom said he expected Motorola Wi-Fi devices with Skype by the end of the year, aimed first at Europe and Asia.

But a Motorola executive was not as specific about future plans, addressing in general terms the convergence of VOIP and conventional cellular networks based on GSM and CDMA cellular standards.

"What we see in Skype is a lot of traction in the marketplace," said Greg Fern, Motorola's director of business development for seamless mobility. "We see the opportunity through our seamless mobility vision to merge the interests of what's going on in that space with what's going on in GSM and CDMA."

Motorola is due to ship this year one of the few niche examples of cellular handsets that double as VOIP phones. The Motorola CN620 phone will be sold to the high-end corporate market through Avaya, a major distributor of office phone systems.

The phone will provide cellular GSM service as usual. But in the vicinity of a company's network, built-in Wi-Fi connectivity is used to connect a call via VOIP instead of GSM.

NTT DoCoMo of Japan began offering a similar VOIP-enabled handset, the N900iL, to corporate customers last autumn.

While some see mobile operators building VOIP into their networks, some expect them to treat VOIP mainly as a threat to mobile revenue. But Motorola, which needed a partner wireless operator to support the coming VOIP phone, reported that VOIP's potential advantages were apparent enough to cellular providers.

Fern said a key point in favor of the dual-mode phone was that users were likely to use both modes of connection - GSM and VOIP - more often so they could roam in and out of company settings without changing phones.

[waldron] 26/3/2005 06:40

Online for free and easy calls

ANDREW COLLIER


OVER the last two decades or so, the cost of making telephone calls has crashed. Yet the Holy Grail of telephony - being able to phone anywhere in the world for as long as you like for free - remains elusive.

Now we are on the edge of achieving this dream, not by the use of ordinary telephone lines, but by using our computers and the internet to carry calls.

When the internet was first launched, most of us accessed it through our ordinary telephone lines. Now, particularly with the advent of broadband, the technology has been reversed: the bandwidth and technology exists to make our telephone calls via the internet.

The idea of using what is known as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is not new. What is new is its accessibility. Cheap or free downloadable software allows computer users to call each other directly from their PCs, using either speakers and microphone or plug-in headsets.

Both Messenger and Yahoo! can be used to communicate in this way. But it is a relatively new service - Skype - which is changing everything.

Skype is a company which allows computer users to make calls over the internet using peer-to-peer technology. It is astonishingly simple to use and extremely effective. So far, Skype has attracted nearly ten million users globally, all of whom can chat to each other for as long as they like for free.

Setting up could not be easier. You just enter the other person's one-word Skype name, click connect, and they answer. Provided you are using broadband, the sound quality is often quite astonishing - as clear as FM radio. Even if the person at the other end is in the darkest reaches of Indonesia, it can sound as if they are standing next to you. Some users do, though, report inconsistency, with poor quality calls at times.

Skype offers other benefits, such as conference calling, the ability to swap large files and instant messaging. The main problem is that in its basic form, it can really only be used if you are actually sitting at your computer. This obviously restricts its usefulness.

Being free, it offers an ideal solution for, say, families spread across the world who want to contact each other, or small businesses who have agents worldwide. But it depends on both parties being near a PC, or pre-arranging their calls, if it is to work properly.

Where Skype really scores, though, is that it can also be used to access the ordinary telephone network. Using another part of the download package called SkypeOut, you can dial any telephone number in the world and connect. The other person will answer in the normal way.

The sound quality isn't as good as Skype-to-Skype calls, though it's still up to the standard of an ordinary phone call. It also isn't free - as you're using the conventional telephone network, the call is partly carried by conventional phone companies and so a cost is involved.

In general, the calls are cost effective, with the price depending on where you're calling to, rather than calling from. Under the company's pricing structure, making a call to any landline in the UK costs just over 1p a minute - cheaper than many UK companies offer.

The same charge applies to most western European countries and the USA, making calling there an absolute bargain. But you do have to be careful - it can work out slightly more expensive than conventional carriers, for instance, if you are calling a UK mobile.

You have to pay for the calls in advance, in euros and using a credit card. The whole transaction takes place online, and the system warns you when your credit is running low and it is time to top up.

Skype is now addressing the problem of receiving incoming calls. It is running a public beta test on a system called SkypeIn which allows users to do this. They pay €30 a year to be allocated an ordinary UK telephone number (at present only 020 London numbers are on offer) which can then be dialled in the normal way. Voicemail is also offered if you are away from your computer.

Skype has now attracted nearly 28 million users worldwide, and is determined to consolidate its market position. It has, for instance, reached an agreement with the wireless provider Broadreach, which will allow users to make calls over the net via wi-fi connections. Other future options are likely to include videoconferencing and sending text messages to mobile phones via the service.

We may not yet quite be able to throw away the conventional telephone handset. But the global telephony companies must surely have alerted their research and development departments to what could turn out to be very worrying competition.

[grupo] 25/3/2005 15:22

Skype Lauches Windows Version 1.2
Posted Mar 25, 2005 Print Version Page 1 of 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skype, an Internet telephony company, has launched Skype for Windows version 1.2 (v 1.2) with enhanced user benefits including a centralized Contacts list, which allows users access to their list of contacts from multiple devices from wherever they connect to Skype, and a new 'Getting Started Wizard,' which is designed to make finding friends, importing contacts and making test calls easier.

Find the content management system that matches your skill set and budget. Click here to download a FREE CMS RFI.
Skype for Windows v 1.2 offers several features requested by Skype users, including remote access to contacts from any Internet-connected PC or other Skype client in the world. In earlier versions of Skype, the contacts lists was stored locally; the new central contacts list expands user options and allow one to Skype with their existing contacts from multiple locations and platforms. The latest version also allows users to import contacts from other desktop services and applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, MSN Messenger and Opera.

The latest version enhancements are intended to make downloading and using Skype even simpler for new users. The 'Getting Started Wizard' appears as soon as the client launches and acts as a one-click launch pad to Skype's frequently-used functions, such as importing contacts, searching Skype's global user directory, editing personal profiles, configuring privacy settings, making test calls, and accessing online help. Skype has simultaneously launched a new 'Help' section on the company Web site to increase the ability of users to find information online and access email-based support. Additional new benefits in Skype for Windows v1.2 include multiple file transfer, updated sounds, and more customizable settings. Skype continues to provide chat, conference calling for up to 5 participants, cross-platform communications, and presence and personalization features.

Skype for Windows v1.2 is available immediately for download. Skype for Windows v 1.2 enables SkypeIn and Skype Voicemail services - both presently in beta testing. Skype for Windows v 1.2 works on Windows 2000/XP PCs with a 400 MHz processor, and requires a headset, Skype compatible phone, or a microphone and speakers.
(www.skype.com)

[maywillow] 21/3/2005 16:24

Webwatch: Where talk is cheap online ...

by Geoff Neville

21 March 2005 Imagine setting up a website offering a particular service and then finding that, 18 months later, you had 80 million users around the world.

That's a stunning result by anyone's standards. Remarkably it has been achieved by Skype (www.skype.com).

But then Skype fulfils the three key requirements of a successful website - it provides something that is not available elsewhere, it makes it available to anyone in the world, and it makes it simple to obtain.

What Skype does is allow you to talk to someone on the other side of the globe for nothing. Like sending an e-mail, telephony over the internet is free once you have paid your internet service provider.

Most people use it with the help of a microphone and speakers attached to their computers. But Skype is smarter than that. Its subscription service allows you to talk to someone on an ordinary phone, thus doing away with the cumbersome (and not so private) speaker-and-microphone combination.

A while ago internet telephony, or Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), was not an attractive proposition. Talking to someone on the other side of the world was like speaking to a resident of a newly-discovered alien planet. If both people spoke at the same time the system had a virtual panic attack.

Broadband - and especially the increasingly fast broadband that is entering the marketplace now - has changed all that.

If you are new to this subject How Stuff Works (www.howstuffworks.com/ip-telephony.htm) explains all.

VoIP promises to revolutionise global communication. More and more businesses are installing VoIP systems for both internal and external calls. The Forrester Research Group (www.forrester.com) reckons around five million households in the US will have internet telephony by the end of next year.

The system has endless - and novel - uses. Rumours are rife that the world's biggest search engine, Google (www.google.com), plans to enter the market with its own downloadable VoIP client.

The attraction is obvious. Imagine you are searching for a company that sells a particular item, clothing for example.

You reach the firm's site via Google only to find that the item you want is out of stock. More supplies may be expected tomorrow, but you have no way of knowing that, so you move to another site instead. Result: lost business for the original company.

With a VoIP system operated by the search engine, on the other hand, a single click on a voice link would connect you by phone to the company in question to obtain the information. Result: happiness all round and more money in the bank for the search engine, which would charge the company a sponsorship fee for each voice connection.

Other web-based companies are keen to move into this expanding new telephony market. At the Voice on the Net conference in California a couple of weeks ago AOL (www.aol.com) announced a new easy-to-use voice application aimed at the average householder. It is likely that Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) and MSN (www.msn.com) will follow suit pretty soon.

But the great thing about internet telephony is not just the low cost: it is the flexibility. The broadband phone company Vonage (www.vonage.com) boasts that you can take your fixed line number with you to any other country - and back home again.

Say, for example, that you are on a business trip to France or Spain. The company points out that all you have to do is take your telephone adapter with you and plug it into any broadband connection. You can then make and receive phone calls as if you were in the UK, with no long-distance charge for phoning the office.

The Vonage system, however, is not free. You have to pay a monthly subscription.

The shift in the telephony market has major implications for the traditional telecom companies. The Dutch provider KPN (www.kpn.com) is planning to cut jobs because it believes VoIP competition will slash its income.

In Poland, where people have long complained about high phone costs, Skype has seen more people sign up with it than in any other country except the US.

In Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa internet telephony has cut business phone bills by 70%.

To read more detailed information on the subject of VoIP, visit or www.commweb.com.

Aside from the technology, can there be any more astonishing business success story than that of Skype? In the time it took me to write this column its number of customers went from 86,195,122 to 86,204,311. If you care to visit now, I'll guarantee that the figure is much higher still.



Geoff Neville is group managing director of Sx3, the IT services and outsourcing specialists (www.sx3.com).