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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.

We’re holding small focus group discussions with potential partners and businesses. If you’re intrigued as to how Skype could benefit your business, or interested in helping us refine our offerings for business customers, please get in touch through our marketing research partner Hawkeye.

Groups are this Thursday evening in London. There is limited seating, so please email Janese Evans with your contact information and, a few sentences about the size and focus of your business.

We’ll get back to you as soon as we can with a few questions and the details. If you qualify for a open position and participate in the discussions, you’ll be paid an honorarium to compensate you for your time.

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.

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.

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.

I'm pleased to announce some valuable new features have been added to the [Business Control Panel]( http://www.skype.com/intl/en/business/features/controlpanel/)

In case you are not already aware, the [Business Control Panel]( http://www.skype.com/intl/en/business/features/controlpanel/) is a free tool for managing Skype in your business. It is the easy way to purchase and manage [Skype Credit]( http://www.skype.com/intl/en/business/allfeatures/skypecredit/) and [SkypeIn numbers]( http://www.skype.com/intl/en/business/allfeatures/onlinenumber/) within your company. And now it also makes it easier for you to help set up the rest of your co-workers on Skype.

Based on feedback from our business community we have added the following features:

• Easily invite co-workers (using a company email list).


• Create a members directory so employees know who else belongs to the same company.


• View itemised call reports for your members.


• Purchase up to €1,000 of Skype Credit at once.


• Automatically top-up your Control Panel credit balance

Please read on to find out more about each of these....

Continue reading "New features added to the Business Control Panel" »