A Conversation on the Future of Telephony What’s Your Skype Strategy? Stuart Henshall May 10, 2005

150,000 new Skypers Yesterday (May 9, 2005) 35 million Skype users so far 3m concurrent users almost 1.2m SkypeOut Users 1.5 billions minutes in April 1-2% of broadband users % of global international call 100m user target by ????

Michael Powell "I knew it was over when I downloaded Skype. When the inventors are distributing for free a little program that you can use to talk to anybody else, and the quality is fantastic, and it's free - it's over. The world will change now inevitably."

Peter Cochrane “Here's one change I've noticed. Because VoIP calls cost nothing, or almost nothing, they become a connection and not a call. I just open up a channel and use it much like an intercom or a casual conference call. And because of the voice quality, there is great intimacy and connection. It seems to re-enable those emotional bits normally thrown away by the restricted bandwidth of the old telephone”

Verb: to Skype / SkypeMe

Skype: “stuart_henshall” Early Adopter Evangelist Collaboration Communication Conversation Real-Time Accelerated Learning Behavior Work Methods Easy to use software Voice centric / quality Ad-hoc Conferences Presence Connectivity Security Embedded Brand Community

Von & Skype Business needs a voice strategy. Not just Skype -- - broader context of VON…. VON (“Voice”) alone not enough, convergence, connectivity, presence, economics changing user behavior in a real-time online world telecom call is no longer an arbitrage play

P2P Telephony NAT’s Just Works Accounts Billing System No Marketing Dollars Easy to Use Interface Voice Mail Free Calling File Sharing Audio Quality SkypeOut PSTN Multi- User Accounts Cheap Global Calling Text Messaging SIP Inter- Connect Limited Presence Video Messaging Cross Platform Global Nomads Mobility Wi-Fi Pocket PC SkypeAPI Developers G.729 connect User Directory SkypeIn Web Enabled solutions Corporate Directory Centralized Contacts Limited Presence Projection Embedded Skype products Voice Activated recognition Skype Anywhere 50 Person Chat Skype Social Networking Callout Center Purchase Account Hardware Voice Messaging Skype to SMS Video Conferen- cing Web Store Call forwarding Extensions Roll-overs Location Connect? Embedded Linux Symbian Skype Work Groups Skype Work Groups Push to Talk Web IM, directories Post-its to the Future Always On Skype Mobile Groups

Jeff Pulver “As Skype continues to evolve as an internet application, it will be real interesting to watch how extensions to Skype based presence starts to evolve and the kinds of additional connectivity which becomes available as a result of the advent of Skype.”Oct 2003 “Skype is the iPod of VoIP” April 2005

Redefining the Experience FROM Call Voice Mail Number Dialing Hardware Physical Handset TO Skyping Voice Message Name / profile Clicking Software Mobile Headset

Personal Presence Servers

New Applications SkypeAPI Mobile carriers? Amazon or Flickr Answer Machines Podcasting Call Centers Skype to Blog Smart Dialers Desktop Management SkypeBots Distributed Chat Presence Servers Location

Some Questions Fight Skype? Co-opt Skype? Kill Skype? SIP – IMS – Mobile vs. Wireline Innovation Speed - Software Regulation vs. Community Skype and “Freedom” to Connect – Global Trust (Identity, Accounts) Network Facilitator

So What’s Your Skype Strategy? Personal Business Social Client’s Telecoms Portals - Chat rooms Social Networking Services Mobility - Devices Presence Identity Consumer Power