Thanks to Skype and Digium for their efforts!

This is important and long-awaited news. We will be discussing this on our weekly VoIP Users Conference every Friday at 12 Noon Eastern Time. To join this conference, please see http:/voipUsersConference.org and join the IRC channel #voip-user-conference on irc.Freenode.net

This is seriously the most stupid thing ever. Skype should just add proper SIP support (or maybe XMPP/Jingle) to their service and then all problems are solved instantly, not just with Asterisk.

Adding special support for just one VoIP provider is just tons of work with very little benefit.

(Posted using my old Skype account, which I haven't used for phoning in years cause of Skype's interoperability issues.)

You are too late. People are already doing this with programs like SipTheeSkype, Uplink and other skype gateways.

I just applied for beta program but I prefere using SIP Voip providers for two main reasons: interoperability and cost.

Skype gateways mentioned above are platform dependent and require running alongside a client. Skype for asterisk seems more like a low level api which is a better solution for integration into the asterisk pbx. I've signed in to the beta program with great anticipation but have received no answer. I hope they'll get things going soon.

Great news!

Can't wait for this solution. From the sounds of it no X server will be required. If so this will be the most effective way to connect skype with asterisk.

I would like to know if there are any resources available for non-technical people to help set up small enterprise applications using Skype which allow legacy PBX systems to interface with the Skype network and provide calling using the Skype service. I presently have two installations of Mitel SX 50 in lodging properties and I would like to offer the guests in these hotels and opportunity to make free unlimited long distance telephone calls as well as free local phone calls without having to invest in a new PBX system. I have seen many offshore companies offering gateways, I can't test the equipment in advance or put my hands on it. I am pretty good with the computer and I can certainly install software so I'm wondering if asterisk will support Skype trunk gateways of four, eight, or 16 ports.

If someone has a simple and cost-effective solution to provide Skype trunk capabilities for a Mitel PBX system please let me know more about it as I would like to learn as much as possible. I know many people who have this exact system who would benefit from this knowledge.

So what is up with Skype for Asterisk? Is this going forward or was it vaporware?

I got an email on 11/14/08 and haven't heard a word since. Is this still being worked on or is this like the previous commenter asked, is this now vaporware?

The email from 11/14/08:

Greetings,

Thanks again for your application to the Skype For Asterisk beta program. Since the announcement at AstriCon we've had nearly two thousand applications. We're very excited about Skype For Asterisk (SFA) and can't wait to see the kinds of Asterisk + Skype solutions you cook up.

You might have noticed that we've not yet sent out anything to test. When we did the demo at AstriCon we were optimistic that our proof of concept code could quickly be enhanced into a production-ready product. Unfortunately we uncovered a number of issues that have taken a bit longer to fix than we expected. Digium and Skype are committed to releasing a stable, scalable and feature-rich product
that can be used in a wide variety of scenarios, so while we regret the delay we're glad we found the bugs first.

The good news is that our engineering departments have had the opportunity to work together and to test the product thoroughly. We're planning on releasing the initial beta to a very small group in the next few weeks. If all goes well we will quickly expand the program. We really appreciate your continued patience. Keep an eye on your email for additional updates.

Cheers,

-S

Steven Sokol
Digium Product Manager
Skype For Asterisk

auctionadvocate, I am glad you brought up this issue.

To answer your question, IndustryDynamics (www.industrydynamics.ca) has developed a line of integrated Skype gateways for business. VoiceGear SkyBridge is an entry-level gateway specifically designed for small businesses, supporting up to 4 concurrent Skype calls. VoiceGear Connect is a high-end Skype gateway appliance targeted towards larger organizations with support for up to 60 concurrent Skype calls.

All VoiceGear gateways come with a user friendly Web interface for complete configuration and management. You can easily connect any VoiceGear gateway to Mitel SX-50 PBX using analog FXS/FXO ports (or PRI E1/T1 if available). There is no need to make any changes to your Mitel phone system or handsets.

You can visit www.industrydynamics.ca for more information.
Thank you!

what the current status of this project.

is it dead?

regards
sujon

@hsujon absolutely not – the beta is going strong at the moment

Seems to be practically dead as I applied over a week ago and have had no response back. We are implementing an Asterisk server on July 14th and wanted to install it with Skype. We have a new product comming out in September, the world's first 3-way video conferincing WiFi phone, and have several organizations that work with the deaf community we wanted to test with. Because of the lack of response we have decided to go with Gizmo5 who are SIP standards based and have a Skype bridge.

It's not dead... It's available for download in Beta and is free.

http://www.voiptechchat.com/voip/303/skype-for-asterisk-beta-limited-time-offer/