Partner news and products

Skype’s CSO, Christopher S Dean, presented the keynote at this year’s VON and Channel Partners events – you can see the slides from his presentation above.

He outlined trends in the service partner landscape, discussing FMC, UC and changes in IT spending – and introduced Skype’s service partner strategy.

Lenovo and Skype have agreed to preload Skype for Windows software on millions of computers, beginning immediately. Every ThinkPad laptop and ThinkCentre desktop PC distributed worldwide will include Skype software.

If you buy a ThinkPad or ThinkCentre, you’ll be able to get up and running with Skype quickly and easily by locating the Skype icon in the Start menu.

Lenovo is a leading manufacturer of business-grade PCs, and so is an ideal partner for Skype for Business. By working together, we can bring Skype to many more businesses around the world, helping them to save time, save money and stay ahead.

If you’re fortunate enough to get your hands on a Lenovo ThinkPad or ThinkCentre for your home or office, be sure to keep an eye out for Skype.

The Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business has now been certified as interoperable with Skype for SIP.

If your organisation is already running a Cisco UC500, you can save money by directing your outbound calls to mobiles and landlines via Skype, and also receive inbound calls to your SIP-enabled PBX from Skype users.

We’re on a roll with the Skype for SIP beta programme, which has already announced interoperability with ShoreTel's unified communications (UC) system, SIPfoundry's sipXecs open source enterprise IP PBX unified communications solution and Nortel's Software Communication System (SCS). This is part of our effort to ensure that small and mid-sized businesses already running an IP PBX from one of the leading manufacturers can integrate Skype for SIP into their present communications solution.

For more information on Skype for SIP and to sign up for the Skype for SIP beta, please visit our business website. There's also a short video explaining how businesses can use Skype for SIP.

SIPfoundry's sipXecs open source enterprise IP PBX unified communications (UC) solution has now been certified as interoperable with Skype for SIP.

If your organisation is running a sipXecs IP PBX, you can save money by directing your outbound calls to mobiles and landlines via Skype, and also receive inbound calls to your SIP-enabled PBX from Skype users.

For more information on Skype for SIP and to sign up for the Skype for SIP beta, please visit our business website. There's also a short video explaining how businesses can use Skype for SIP.

This morning, Skype announced that ShoreTel has become the first OEM to secure interoperability between its Unified Communications (UC) system and Skype for SIP. This will allow roughly 11,000 Shoretel SIP enabled systems to register to try Skype for SIP in beta and to connect their UC system directly to Skype.

Skype for SIP allows businesses which have a SIP-enabled PBX to:

• Receive and manage inbound calls from more than 400 million registered Skype users worldwide at no additional cost to the Skype user through their existing PBX
• Also, when a business with the ShoreTel system places a Skype click-to-call button on their website, Skype users will be able to call that business directly for free
• Businesses may also complement their existing communications services and leverage Skype's very low rates by placing outbound calls to landlines and mobile phones worldwide via Skype for SIP
• Separately, businesses will be able to purchase Skype online numbers (aka SkypeIn) to enable callers to contact them from landlines and mobile phones. Skype online numbers are available in over 25 countries around the world
• ShoreTel users still enjoy the benefits of their ShoreTel UC system, including the use of the Call Manager application

For more information on Skype for SIP and to sign up for the Skype for SIP beta, please visit www.skypeforsip.com. There's also a short video explaining how businesses can use Skype for SIP.

Businesses around the world can take advantage of Skype’s low-cost calling to landlines and mobile phones and free calling to more than 400 million registered Skype users around the world using Skype for Asterisk.

If you already use an Asterisk-based phone system, you can add Skype as a complementary form of communications by downloading Skype for Asterisk, without additional costly hardware. If you’re an existing Skype user, you can benefit from the advanced call features of Asterisk, including call transfer, interactive voice response, automated call distribution, flexible call-routing and much more.

In addition, with Skype for Asterisk you can:

• Manage corporate Skype accounts with the Business Control Panel
• Get low Skype global rates on outbound calls and make it easy for customers to reach you with local Skype online numbers
• Route calls according to Skype profile fields, online status and privacy settings
• Streamline customer contact by allowing your website visitors to make free Skype calls directly to your business with global click-to-call buttons

What you need

Skype for Asterisk is compatible with:

• Asterisk 1.4
• Asterisk 1.6
• AsteriskNOW™
• Asterisk Business Edition™

and supports both G.711 and G.729a calling.

How to get it

Skype for Asterisk is available to download now from Digium for $66 USD per concurrent call or from Digium Authorized Resellers and Distributors worldwide, and comes with 90 days of installation support from the time of purchase. No additional hardware is needed.

Have you seen small presence icons while browsing the web lately? If so, then you have probably experienced the Skype name recognition feature in action. With that feature enabled you will be able to see if your friends are online on Skype even when you are not actively using Skype. For example you will see the Skype presence in Facebook as in this video:

We didn't build this feature just for Facebook, though! You will see it on any web-page where people's names appear. Of course it works well in Salesforce (another video) and other online CRM systems, as well as in webmail and other social networking sites. You will only presence next to the names of people who's full name exactly match the full name in Skype. We don't do magic at Skype yet, so we will not be able to match if the name used in Facebook and in Skype are different. We hope you will find this feature useful.

David Tang is VoSKY’s vice president of global marketing. He has over 14 years of experience in telecoms and marketing, and oversees VoSKY’s product management and strategic business development.

VoSKY’s flagship product is VoSKY Exchange, a family of enterprise-grade VoIP gateways that optimise Skype for the business environment. All VoSKY products are fully Skype certified.

Some of the most revolutionary technologies are first introduced into businesses by individual users rather than IT departments. When others witness the benefits being enjoyed by the pioneers, the technology is quickly adopted company-wide. It happened this way with PC-based fax, email, and instant messaging, and now it’s happening with Skype.

Individuals were the first to embrace Skype as it offers free voice and video calls over the Internet. Now that it’s the world’s most popular and reliable internet communications software, with over 405 million registered users, it’s also an attractive infrastructure for business telephony applications.

What’s more, it complements the communications infrastructure that businesses already have in place, enabling them to make the most of the resources they already use. This is particularly compelling in the current business climate.

Here are five key reasons corporate IT managers should learn to embrace Skype within their organisation and how they can use and manage it effectively. If there’s someone in your organisation who needs to be ‘converted’, this should cover the basics:

It saves – and keeps on saving

Quite simply, Skype saves your business money on all call costs, whether national, international, inter-office or to mobiles.

With Skype managed centrally within your organisation via PBX-to-Skype gateways you can create global numbering plans, enabling employees to use extension dialling between offices. Site-to-site calls are free, and longer-distance calls are paid for using Skype Credit to reduce costs. The gateways also centralise Skype’s provisioning and management, giving IT managers’ full control and eliminating the need to install Skype on each PC. All Skype voice functions are delivered direct to users’ handsets.

The benefits can also extend to mobile users. With Skype installed on any smart mobile phone that can run the lite version of Skype, users’ call preferences can be set up centrally by the IT team, via the PBX gateway, for alternate routing to the mobile user’s Skype account. This is done via mobile broadband under the user’s mobile data plan, giving huge savings compared with even the cheapest international mobile tariffs.

It leverages your existing technology

These PBX-to-Skype application gateways can link any office phone system (whether traditional digital switch, or IP / SIP PBX) to Skype, for a low one-time upgrade cost without having to swap out or replace existing equipment. The gateways add anything from four to 30 Skype lines to the company PBX, so that Skype calls can be made and transferred between extensions as normal. Employees simply dial eight for Skype, or nine for an ordinary line.

None of your investments are made obsolete. You just make your existing assets work harder for your business and start saving money.

It’s easy to get started and to manage

The gateways can be installed, and Skype provisioned, in less than half a day, without the need for any changes to existing PBX equipment, phones, or PCs. The gateway ties the Skype online number to the business to enable Skype DID. It also simplifies configuration, management and support, putting Skype under the IT manager’s full control.

There’s no need to install Skype on each PC. Skype usage can be monitored by the business just like ordinary calls, and number schemes easily managed. You set it up and it’s under centralised management right away.

Skype is completely free of malware, adware and spyware

So it does not add another potential security threat, or attack vector to your network. How many other corporate networks can say the same?

Skype is encrypted

When Skype users connect, it’s over an AES-encrypted session, whether it’s via instant message, voice, video, or file transfer. Skype communications are secure providing Skype a significant advantage over conventional VoIP or voice VPNs.

With a gateway at each office, you get secure voice VPN working over Skype without paying for expensive leased lines, or having to deploy IP PBXs from the same vendor at every office. That’s in addition to the benefits outlined earlier.

With the cost savings and functionality benefits available to you through Skype usage, what’s not to love about it?

At IBM Lotusphere 2009, we’re previewing a new tie-up between Skype and IBM. Over the coming months, we’ll be integrating Skype into IBM’s new cloud services, LotusLive, making it quicker and easier for LotusLive users to collaborate online.

If you’re a LotusLive user, you’ll be able to use Skype to make voice and video calls to your contacts by clicking their Skype names or phone numbers in LotusLive. Possible future features include the ability to import your Skype contacts into LotusLive to make getting in touch even easier.

This click-to-call functionality won’t just make life easier – it’ll help you save money. Don’t forget that all Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls are free, and calls to landlines and mobiles are at Skype’s low rates. You can buy and manage Skype Credit for your business using the Skype for Business Control Panel.

If you’re not already a LotusLive user, you can join the LotusLive Engage Beta on the LotusLive site – and for more about Lousphere 2009, check out Andy Donaldson’s excellent blog post.

One of our partners making great products for small business is called Onstate. Today they announced a new virtual PBX solution for Skype. What this basically means is you can use Skype just like a normal switchboard within your company. Because it is a software based solution, it can reduce your set-up costs and remove the need for expensive PBX equipment.

The Virtual PBX for Skype includes the following features:

• No Hardware - 100% web-based, you do not need to install anything
• Device Independent - utilize any mix of Skype, mobile or traditional phone lines
• Local and Toll-Free - numbers available from 40+ countries
• Direct Numbers and Extension Dialing - combine DID/DDI dialing with auto-attendant
• Intelligent Call Routing - Presence-based routing sends calls to where you are
• VeMail - voicemail messages are sent to your integrated email inbox
• Personal Call Queue - callers can wait in your personal queue if you are busy - no more callbacks!
• CRM Integration - works with Salesforce.com, Google, and other applications
• Reporting - complete reporting on all routed calls.
• Call Recording - calls can be recorded and stored on our centralized servers.
• Video and Chat Support - works with Skype video and chat capabilities.
• Call Center -easily add call center features.

The Virtual PBX for Skype is available immediately. Pricing and details can be found at www.on-state.com

Salesforce.com is an easy-to-use Web-based CRM solution for sales, service, marketing, and call centre operations. It is used by thousands of small and medium businesses, as well as larger enterprises. Now you can easily use Skype to click-to-call all your contacts from directly within salesforce.com. This can save lots of time and make your life a whole lot easier. See the image below for an example of how this works.

To see a more detailed demonstration of Skype and salesforce.com, watch this short video tutorial.

If you are an existing salesforce.com user and already using Skype, you should automatically be able to use this feature. It works in both Internet Explorer and Firefox.

For those who are not using Salesforce.com and would like to find out more, visit the salesforce.com app exchange

The announcement was made today at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco.

There are plenty of online directories available for travellers looking to book a hotel room. But the difference with [Voiceoverhotel.com]( http://www.voiceoverhotel.com/) is that all the hotels listed include their Skype Name, so you can make a [free Skype to Skype call]( http://www.skype.com/intl/en/business/allfeatures/skypetoskypecall/) or start a [Skype chat]( http://www.skype.com/intl/en/business/allfeatures/instantmessage/) and speak to the hotel directly before you make your booking.

* Customers can call or chat with the hotel via Skype.

For businesses looking to differentiate themselves from the competition or any business that wants to make it easier for customers to contact them, adding a Skype Name or [Skype Button](http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/share/buttons/ ) to your website and email signature, means your customers can contact you for free at the click of a button.

With over 260million registered users around the world, some of your customers and potential customers are bound to be using Skype, so why not give them the option to contact you for free?

[PrettyMay](http://www.prettymay.net) Call Center for Skype (PMCCS) is a 100% software-based call center solution for Skype. It allows small or medium sized businesses to quickly and affordably implement a Skype PBX (aka PABX) system with auto-attendant, interactive voice response (IVR), extension transferring, call recording and personalized voicemail capabilities - and a lot more as well.

How does PMCCS work?

Your customers contact you by calling your Skype Name, a [Skype Button](http://www.skype.com/share/buttons/) displayed on your website, or a [SkypeIn number]( http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/onlinenumber/) , PMCCS automatically answers the call, and leads the caller into the built-in IVR system, then transfers the call to the appropriate agent or staff member depending on the button the caller pressed.

You can have up to 30 simultaneous Skype or SkypeIn lines supported with the PrettyMay Call Center for Skype. The diagram below shows how the system works for inbound calling.

Pretty May can also be used to route outbound calls via Skype. Find out more [here]( http://www.prettymay.net/callcenter/index.htm)

You can follow these [step by step instructions]( http://www.prettymay.net/callcenter_faq/Index.php?sid=94789&lang=en&action=artikel&cat=8&id=24&artlang=en) to see how to set up and install Pretty May Call Center for Skype.

You can find out more by visiting the [Pretty May Website](http://www.prettymay.net/)

Convenos Meeting Center is an easy and intuitive solution for web conferencing and collaboration. They have designed a Skype Extra which is designed to work seamlessly with Skype.

You can access Convenos Meeting Center through the “Do More” menu on Skype or [in the online extras gallery](https://extras.skype.com/784/view) to share presentations, files, applications or your desktop while on a Skype call.

Key Benefits:

• Easy to use collaboration platform
  
• File, application and desktop sharing
  
• Flat-fee subscription pricing
  
• Free integrated audio options including Skype
  

Skype Extra highlights:

• 3-click access from Skype Contacts
  
• Instantly share presentations, applications or desktop
  
• Eliminate audio conferencing costs
  
• Create scheduled meetings
  
• Maintain permanent workspaces
  

Visit [Convenos](http://www.convenos.com/solutions_skypeextra.html) for additional details or [start your 30 day free trial here](https://extras.skype.com/784/view).

How to use the Convenos Meeting center Extra for Business:

1) From your tools menu in Skype; go to “Do More”.

2) Select “Get Extras”

3) Click on “Business” then find “Convenos Meeting Center Extra”

Visit [Convenos](http://www.convenos.com/solutions_skypeextra.html) for additional details or [start your 30 day free trial here](https://extras.skype.com/784/view).

One of the most popular business features on Skype is our free [conference calling]( http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/allfeatures/conferencecall/).

With Skype it is really simple to set up a conference call with up to ten people at once. You can invite other Skype users for free and also include people using phones and mobiles into the conference at standard [SkypeOut rates]( http://www.skype.com/prices/callrates/). Check out our [user guide](http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/help/guides/makeconferencecall_windows/) to see how to start a free conference call.

But some users want additional features, and this is where our partner [Highspeedconferencing.com](http://secure.highspeedconferencing.com/hsc2/?utm_source=Skype&utm_medium=link&utm_content=Skype%2BBusiness&utm_campaign=Skype%2BBusiness) can help. They have developed a great solution which takes conference calling to the next level.

Additional features you get with Highspeedconferencing.com include:

• You can have up to 500 people on a HighSpeed Conferencing call (including Skype users and non-Skype users)
  
• A bridge number for others to phone to join the conference call.
  
  
  
  • Local dial in access provided in 6 countries. (USA + EU)
    
  • Toll-free access provided in 8 countries
    
  
  
• Call Recording
  
• Hand Raising – run a Q&A/Seminar session without needing an operator
  
• Invite by email non-Skype users to join
  

HighSpeed Conferencing is the only audio conferencing service available to Skype users that offers high-definition (HD) voice quality. There’s no degradation of audio quality, no matter how many Skype users participate in a conference call. And with unlimited usage during a conference call, you can talk as much as you want. Some people stay on the conference bridge all day.

The HighSpeed Conferencing plug-in is available from the ‘Do More/Get Extras’ section of the Skype ‘Tools’ menu. There is a free 30-day trial of the HighSpeed Conferencing premium service. Visit [Highspeedconferencing.com](http://secure.highspeedconferencing.com/hsc2/?utm_source=Skype&utm_medium=link&utm_content=Skype%2BBusiness&utm_campaign=Skype%2BBusiness) to find out more.

[Onstate CallCenter](http://www.on-state.com) is a Skype for Business Extra that allows SMEs to create a simple, low-cost, and scalable call center and customer contact management solution using Skype.

This week they have announced the availability of North American toll-free numbers which can be connected to any OnState agent, anywhere in the world. The service will be expanded in the future to include European toll-free numbers.

The [Onstate CallCenter](http://www.on-state.com) for Skype, which starts at $30 per month, per agent, enables businesses to create a customer contact solution that includes:

• Management-free Infrastructure
  
• Skills-Based Routing
  
• Performance Reporting
  
• Live Business Chat
  
• Click-to-Call Web Integration
  
• Voicemail
  
• Global Local Phone Numbers
  
• Call Recording and QA
  
• Workforce Management
  

You can access Onstate CallCentre from within Skype, by going to ‘tools’, ‘do more’ and selecting ‘Get Extras’. You will find it under ‘business’. Or you can read more and download it online in the [Skype Extras Gallery](https://extras.skype.com/564/view).

There is a lot of excitement in the industry today about the announcement of a [new Skypephone from mobile operator 3.](http://www.skype.com/3skypephone)

Why is there so much excitement? Because for the first time ever, a mobile operator is allowing Skype users to make free Skype-to-Skype calls and send free Skype instant messages directly from a mobile phone.

If you are already using Skype for business, or considering Skype as a way to reduce your company’s phone bills, the 3 Skypephone provides complete flexibility. Whether you are in the office or on the road, you can continue to stay in touch using Skype.

So, where can you get it and what’s the cost? The 3 Skypephone will be available this year in the UK, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Macau and Sweden. Skype-to-Skype calls are free from your 3 Skypephone as long as you are on contract or your pay-as-you-go 3 credit is topped up monthly. In the UK the 3 Skypephone is £49.99 on a pay-as-you-go tariff or free on a contract.

If you have a number of people in the company who use Skype, then providing each of them with a 3 Skypephone means you need never pay for internal company calls, they can be completely free from anywhere; the office, the home or on the road. Now that must be good for business.

See the [press release](http://about.skype.com/2007/10/3_skypephone_delivers_free_sky.html) for more details.

Here is a special offer on a Skype Extra for Business users. It’s from a company called [Skylook](http://www.skylook.biz), who make a great product that can help you get organised and make you more productive.

One of the most popular features of Skylook is call recording and archiving in to Outllook. This means you can record important business calls or conference calls and save them for later use. You can also attach them to an email and send to others.

Special offer for our readers:

Skylook are offering a special 20% discount off the RRP of Skylook ($USD 99.95) to Skype business users. To claim your discount use this coupon when purchasing Skylook: SKYLOOK4B2007 (offer expires 31/08/07) For help on how to use this coupon see [skylook.biz/coupon](http://www.skylook.biz/coupon)

How to record and archive calls using Skyplook

1. Download and install Skylook from www.skylook.biz.

2. Start Microsoft Outlook. If you are running Skylook for the first time, you will see the Skylook licensing wizard and the Skylook Welcome wizard. Configuring Skylook to record and archive your Skype calls is easy - when you see the pages below, fill them out as shown:

3. Start a call from Microsoft Outlook or directly from the Skype application. (Skylook will still record calls that you do not start from within Microsoft Outlook). (NOTE: Recording this way also works for incoming calls and for conference calls started directly from the Skype application).

4. Recording will start automatically, as indicated by the Skylook call window, which will appear at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen:

5. You can see more detail about the recording by clicking the “Show Details” button:

6. In Microsoft Outlook, click on the “Skylook Conversations” folder. Your conversation, with the attached MP3 is listed as an item in the folder.

7. To listen to the recording, click on the item. A “Play” button appears in the toolbar:

8. Click the Skylook play button to listen to the recording.

[Salesforce.com](http://www.salesforce.com) is a market leading CRM applications, which allows you to manage and share all of your sales, support, marketing and partner information on-demand. We now offer tools to integrate Skype with the salesforce.com application.

Skype for Salesforce provides seamless Skype integration into salesforce.com and aims to improve workforce productivity and communication by voice-enabling the CRM process. Besides saving money on telephone bills, this will also enable salesforce.com users to build stronger relationships and improve the way they manage their contact with colleagues, customers and prospects.

Skype for Salesforce enables users to easily make and receive Skype calls or initiate text chats directly with other people whose Skype contact names and presence indicators can now be added manually or imported automatically into salesforce.com. SkypeOut™ calls can also be initiated with a single click. Conference calls of up to 10 participants can now be conducted using Skype for Salesforce and can accommodate any combination of Skype and non-Skype users.

Skype for Salesforce can be downloaded for free and installed through a simple four-step process from [salesforce.com’s AppExchange](http://www.salesforce.com/appexchange)

[FaceTime Communications](http://www.facetime.com/), recently [announced](http://www.facetime.com/pr/pr070206.aspx) a new partnership with Skype to deliver end-to-end security, management and control of Skype within a corporate network.

FaceTime’s managed Skype solution provides IT and network administrators with the ability to manage the use of Skype on their network with granular controls to choose which elements of Skype software its employees can use. For example, a company may allow voice services but not file sharing or supernode capabilities.

This follows on from the launch of [Skype 3.0 for Windows – Business version]( http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/business.html), which we released in December 06. The business version of Skype comes with MSI installer making it easy to deploy in a corporate network. The Facetime solution now makes it easier to control the features of Skype which effect it’s behavior within your network.

Using the Skype IT Management Framework, FaceTime offers new IT-oriented controls to manage Skype in an enterprise environment, as part of FaceTime Internet Security Edition. Centralized policies can easily be set and controlled at the systems administration level and applied transparently to each employee’s desktop so that his or her Skype experience adheres to IT policy. For example, IT managers can choose to allow or disallow various Skype elements for the entire company, for groups or departments, or on an individual basis, including file transfer, voice calling, video calling, voicemail and voice recording.

In addition, proxy settings and listen port settings can be calibrated and turned on or off for users. Administrators can also prevent users from broadcasting their presence online. Web presence settings can also be enabled or disabled, to prevent users from exposing their availability to potentially malicious users. IT can set parameters to deny users from becoming supernodes or relay nodes, and a real-time bandwidth usage indicator provides a constant measure for IT to determine Skype’s impact on network traffic.

For more information on using Skype in a corporate network, see our [Business Security Section]( http://www.skype.com/security/business/) and download the [Network Administrators Guide]( http://www.skype.com/security/guide-for-network-admins-30beta.pdf)

&

Symantec and Skype have partnered to deliver PC security solutions to small office and home office Skype users for a secure PC environment. Skype business users can benefit from a 30% discount on the Norton Internet Security and other Symantec Norton branded products at store: [www.symantecstore.com/skype](http://www.symantecstore.com/skype).

Symantec’s Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus 2007 products, which are suitable for both home users and small offices, have been Skype Certified™. This confirms that Symantec’s Norton line of security products meet Skype’s strict standards for security, quality and usability.

Here is a new hardware bundle which will be of interest to many business users. Skype, [SMC](http://www.smc.com/) and [Fon](http://www.fon.com/) have put together a package that includes Skype credit, a wifi phone and a wifi router for [£99]( http://accessories.skype.com/item?SID=0e2f7f481106813de21b1ab3958f84c1472:4580&sku=WSKP100PROMO) / [€139]( http://us.accessories.skype.com/direct/skypeusa/itemdetl.jsp?prod=3394) / [$159.99]( $159.99):

You can read more about this package on the [Skype Gear blog]( http://share.skype.com/sites/skypegear/2006/11/the_new_skype_bundle_wifi_phon.html), including full reviews of each device.

Wifi phones such as this one are great business tools as you no longer need to be tied to your PC in order to make and receive Skype calls. Wifi phones look like a mobile phone and can be used wherever you have a wifi connection, be that at home, at the office, or at the airport.

VistaPrint Limited, the leading online supplier of high-quality graphic design services and customized printed products to small businesses and consumers, has partnered with Skype to provide business cards to Skype users at no charge. The cards high-quality, full-color and include space for a Skype name so all your colleagues, family and friends will know to contact you for free on Skype. Great combination, free business cards and free calls with Skype!

The good folks at VistaPrint will also give all Skype users a 25% discount on all other products in their store. The Skype - Vistaprint store can be found here

Polycom and Skype just [announced a new USB speakerphone](http://www.polycom.com/investor_relations/0,1434,pw-180-15432,FF.html). We often say that the hardware being used can have a tremendous effect on the call quality, and Polycom devices are optimized for high-quality calls.

Rich Tehrani offers some comments from a business perspective.

> Initially this announcement will be a huge legitimizer for Skype in the enterprise. More enterprise customers will consider Skype since Polycom has indirectly put a seal of approval on its software. Virtually all corporations have Polycom speakerphones (Polycom has over 90% of speakerphone market share) so they may now be more comfortable using Skype service.