November 2007

A few days ago, I wrote about why Skype felt it had no choice but to recall and replace about 8,000 London-based 020 7 SkypeIn numbers. Our colleagues in customer support have pulled in extra resources and are totally focused on making the transition as smooth as possible.

Hardest hit were users who had subscribed to the affected SkypeIn numbers for 12 months. (SkypeIn subscriptions are available for 3 or 12 months). We know that small businesses are among them and that their trust and confidence is a precious, fragile thing. It’s with them that we’ll have to work the hardest to win back their confidence.

So here’s where things stand at the moment. Our customer support team has been working round the clock to assist everyone affected. At the moment, they’ve responded to over 75 percent of those who’ve required additional support. And we hope to sort out the remaining inquiries this week. (If there are any outstanding questions, please send an email to sichange@skype.net If you’d like to explore the possibility of retaining your number outside of your Skype account, please contact GCI Telecom on sales@geonum.co.uk).

Everything is being done to keep this from happening in the future. We’re no strangers to crises and major issues like this help us learn as a business. We’ll use the knowledge wisely. Have faith in us.

(Edited at 13.00 GMT, Nov. 23)

During the past couple of weeks, we’ve been talking to a number of SkypeIn users, asking them to change their London-based 020 7 SkypeIn number. We don’t like doing this any more than those who’ll be losing their number. But we hope this post will help explain why we’ve had to resort to these unpleasant measures.

As you may know, Skype obtains SkypeIn numbers from several telecoms operators. That’s because Skype itself is not a telecommunication company. We make software. So when it comes to things that involve the “plain old telephone system”, we are also someone else’s customers. Mostly, this works out without a hitch. We obtain rights to use the numbers and provide them to our users as a neat, inexpensive way to bridge the telephone-Skype divide through SkypeIn.

Sadly, this simple approach has been hit by a reality check. We spent months in discussions with a telecoms operator to see if we could keep the SkypeIn numbers we rented from them, confident that the issue could be resolved. Hence the somewhat late notice to our users — we never thought things would get this far, given the time and effort put into resolving the situation.

Obviously we know that asking to replace some 020 7 SkypeIn numbers causes our users a lot of grief. To make up for some of this, we’ve given all affected 020 7 SkypeIn users a new SkypeIn number. This number will be free for 12 months along with free voicemail.

We’re very sorry for the trouble and (perfectly justified) swearing that this has caused. Our people are doing their best to make sure that these kinds of unpleasant surprises won’t happen again.

If you have more questions or need help, please send an email to sichange -at- skype.net. Some questions may already have been addressed in the FAQ, so you may want to take a look there as well.

I've just been chatting to Paul Amery, who heads up Skype's Developer Program, about a new event called PlugLondon.

It aims to draw people's attention to London as a centre of software innovation (which it is), but mainly to bring developers and vendors (like Skype) together so they can share ideas and show off their work in a marketing-free environment.

Skype, Yahoo!, eBay and PayPal will all be represented at the event, which is happening in Skype's London offices on Saturday the 8th of December.

Perhaps it's best described by what it's not:

> Marketing, recruitment or death by PowerPoint; we want to give you a chance to meet up, ask questions and network without having to listen to any corporate presentations or getting pestered by business people who see a money opportunity without really understanding what you do.

There's more about it on Chris Heilmann's blog, or you can go straight to the PlugLondon wiki to sign up. If you'd like to give a 10-15 minute product demo, you can do that too, so just add your app to the list.

Full details

Date: Saturday, December 8, 2007

Time: 2pm – 5.30pm (includes beer and food), then pub

Venue: Skype's offices, 2 Stephen Street, London, W1T 1AN (Yahoo! Map / Google Map)

There's an event listing on Upcoming which summarises all of these details.

Lastly, the organisers are looking for a new logo — take a look at the Flickr group for the current options, and submit your own for a chance to win a tasty prize.

Over the last few weeks, Skype has been busy launching its new online shop in the UK. We hope you like the revamp, as the right bit of hardware can make your conversations even better — a webcam to make video calls, or a Bluetooth headset so that you're not wired to your computer.

Here’s what’s new:

• updated look and feel
• easier navigation
• bestsellers' list
• streamlined product list to help you find the right products
• new product pictures
• better help section

To celebrate the launch, we’re offering free delivery on some of the hottest hardware. Logitech’s Quickcam Pro for Notebooks supports High Quality Video calls from £69.99. And with a free headset and calling vouchers thrown in too, it’s everything a Skype user needs to get started in style.

It’s also worth taking a peek at the great value offers exclusive to the Skype Shop, which might help fill your Christmas shopping basket for a little less.

The Philips VOIP 841 is one popular phone—well reviewed here and elsewhere, it’s one of the best ways to combine Skype and landline calls in your home or office without the need for a computer. Now Philips is offering a new competition for buyers of the VOIP 841 in the UK. If you live purchase a VOIP 841 at the Skype Store between now and January 5, you’re automatically entered to win one of three snazzy Philips prizes.

First prize is a gorgeous Philips Aurea 42” 1080p LCD TV (check out the flash website here, PDF specs here) that’s worth £3000, second prize (2 available) is a 9” Philips digital photo frame worth £199 (PDF specs here), and third prize (2 available) is a Philips communication pack, with a phone, 2 extra handsets and 2 webcams (altogether worth £189).

Any of them could be a pretty nice bonus if you’re already in the market for a Philips VOIP 841, or want to give one as a gift to someone you’d like to talk to for free.

For more information (and links to purchase), check out the Philips Competition page.