May 2009

Our user experience research team needs the help of UK businesses to shape the future of our business products and features.

In their continual drive to improve our products they’d like to visit your premises for half a day and conduct interviews with a selection of Skype users and decision makers, and observe how Skype is used in your business. Data collected will be strictly confidential and not shared or used for any purposes other than improving Skype for Business.

Your feedback has the potential to influence design changes, new features and product offerings. We’ll also offer compensation of €200 of Skype Credit (or equivalent in Pounds Sterling) for your time.

If you’re interested in participating please complete this form.

I spoke earlier at Interop Las Vegas about the future of modern business communications. Read on for an summary of my presentation.

IT is consumerizing – over the last 5 years, we’ve seen

• consumer-grade technologies becoming robust enough
• enterprises shift their stance on acquisition, management and deployment of consumer technologies
• IT responsibilities divided into a centrally controlled (enterprise-owned) model and a market-driven, user-selected model

driven primarily by these factors:

• Economy: 43% percent of knowledge workers in US enterprises with 500 or more employees already use non-company-owned equipment on enterprise networks and systems.
• Connectivity: We live in a world with an increasingly ubiquitous, pervasive and affordable communications infrastructure, which encourages new acquisition and delivery models, especially those using the web.
• New technology: A combination of affordable devices, low-cost communications, widespread ownership means that access to and acceptance of new technologies is growing.
• Employees: Employees bring their experiences and expectations from the ‘real world’ into the work environment – this is particularly relevant when considering an increasing population of digital natives in the workforce.

Skype is a great example – we started out as a consumer product, but now 35% of our users say they use Skype for business purposes. *

The key, however, is that saving money is just the start – you can use Skype to save time, and most importantly, stay ahead.

The Skype for SIP and Skype for Asterisk betas let you make really low-cost calls to landlines and mobiles around the world from your PBX system, and video calling, IM and presence make for richer conversations, enhancing collaboration and improving efficiency. Plus, Skype’s increasing availability on mobile phones and other mobile devices means you can use it while on the go.

And the proof, as they say, is in the pudding:

• 20% of our users make Skype video calls for business purposes †
• 95% say they are saving money *
• 62% say they communicate better with customers using Skype *
• 70% say they are using it while traveling on business *
• 80% say they are seeing increased productivity *

Thousands of companies are already using Skype for Business – how about you?

* Source: Skype user study of 4,000 users in the US, UK and China conducted in March 2008
† Source: Results from a December 2008 online survey of 2452 active Skype users in the US and UK

Watch Stefan Öberg live from Las Vegas at 09:30 Pacific time – and don’t forget to track #interop on Twitter for up-to-the-minute commentary.

Thanks to Jim Courtney at Voice on the Web for his comprehensive coverage of two incredible Skype case studies - featuring a psychiatrist and a plastic surgeon whose practices have been transformed by Skype.

In an ABC news report, Dr Spero Thodorou, a plastic surgeon from New York, and Dr Loren Olson, a psychiatrist from Iowa, shared their views (Dr Olsen on a Skype video call) about how Skype has changed the way they work.

Jim Courtney says:

Psychiatrist Dr Loren Olson had started using Skype for calls to his grandchildren and then realized that he could use it (i) for routine follow up 'med-check' visits with both urban and rural patients and (ii) for clinical consultations with a team of medical providers in a rural area. Amongst his points in the interview:

• The need [for using Skype] in the cities relates to getting the 50% of mentally ill patients who do not have access to medical services to simply interact with a medical professional.
• While his calls do not have the intimacy of an office visit, there's often a question of 'this visit' vs. 'no visit'.
• Patients can become so totally absorbed and relaxed in the discussion such that the technology literally melts away. In one case a patient asked for a glass of water (says something about the realism provided by Skype's High Quality Video).
• One paranoid schizophrenic patient actually preferred using Skype for his doctor calls.

Bottom line: With the ongoing debate over rising healthcare costs, can Skype video calling contribute to solutions that not only reduce both patient and practitioner costs but also shrink travel requirements, accelerate remedial procedures and, most importantly, cut the time spent reading six-month-old magazines in the doctor's waiting room?

We'd like to think so

Got a story to share?
Tell us and win prizes for your business

Tens of thousands of businesses around the world use Skype to save time, save money and stay ahead – and yours is probably one of them. We’re celebrating the new look for Skype for Business by offering you the opportunity to share your story with the world and win prizes for your business.

Do you have a Skype story to tell?

We’re looking for businesses like yours to share their experiences with us at Skype. We’re looking for creativity and originality – companies which use Skype in innovative ways around the world to save time, save money or stay ahead, and preferably a combination of the three.

If that sounds like your business, then we want to hear from you.

For the best stories, we’ll be awarding first, second and third prizes in three regions – EMEA, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. The prizes are as follows:

• First: Wins a Skype for Business consultancy service with a Skype for Business employee offering a bespoke solution for their business. The package will include a Business Control Panel account and Skype products up to the value of €1000. Products on offer will include Skype Credit to purchase any pay as you go features, online numbers or subscriptions in addition to Skype Certified hardware products.
• Second: A Business Control Panel account with €200 of Skype Credit and up to €300 of Skype Certified hardware products.
• Third: A Business Control Panel account with €100 of Skype Credit and up to €100 of Skype Certified hardware products.

What do I need to do?

Head over to the entry form and fill in your details – our panel of judges will review your submissions and pick three winners from each region.

Despite the demure appearance of the entry form, it’s your opportunity to go wild – add links to photos and videos to bring your story to life, and show us how Skype helps your business save time, save money and stay ahead.

Your entry must be received before the 15th June 2009 UK time, so get creative – and don’t forget that we’re here to answer any questions you might have. Just add a comment below and we’ll do our best to respond as soon as we can.