I and others in my company use Skype internally and are pleased with the quality of voice and ease of use it offers. There are often times, in fact, that we use Skype instead of our SIP/VoIP phones when voice quality takes a dive on the latter. Because of this, we're keeping a close eye on what develops with Skype's business offerings and waiting for the day we'll be able to cut over to a completely Skype solution.

To date we cannot realistically commit more to Skype than we currently use, as core business offerings just don't exist.

I'd love to hear from someone AT Skype about what the plan for business offerings is. To give you some examples, a future plan we'd love to see come to fruition would deal with slick options for call routing and logistics:
* Ring Groups
* Auto Attendant
* Inbound number porting
* Truely "unlimited" plans (even if they cost more than they do now).
* Real People™ for customer service
* Etc

I think Skype is in a great place to offer some real hard-hitting business solutions (e.g., PBX replacement), but the lack of staff involvement here in this forum and the reflected lack of a well thought-out customer service plan make things a bit foggy.

Can someone invested in the business platform at Skype comment on what we "might" see in the future? Help us help you monetize, please. :)

Hi there,

Skype in combination with a PBX can provide the Ring groups and autoattendant features that you mentioned. Skype, itself, is a one-to-one tool. But when it is coupled with a third-party tool, it can replace an entire telephony solution at a much lower cost.

We use a 3CX PBX with Skype gateway and it performs all of our telephony needs.

The solutions are out there, you just have to know where to look.

As far as live customer support, I don't think that is going to happen. That is why Skype has enlisted Service Partners to deal directly with business customers.

If you are seeking a end-to-end Skype solution, let me know and I can provide some advice.

I think you should look at why you have service dips with your VOIP services. I build trading floors and their IT Infrastructure. We've set up multi-line VOIP based telephony for places where there are 100+ traders. Believe me that these are very demanding people when it comes to voice quality and services. Failures are just not tolerated.

I like Skype and use it for business a a secondary telecoms, but there is so much of the system that is out of your control. For example the Skype to Public Telephone gateways can give what is politely described as variable performance.

Take a look at Skype Business PBX from PrettyMay, it offers all the features that you need in a PBX system.

I am a small start-up business with sizeable growth in remote staff happening.

I am looking to keep Skype (as I currently use and love it) for business and have been looking at how to "move it up a gear".

Not being a telephones/IP expert could you tell me in patronising terms how 3CX could help us achieve this?

Any help much appreciated!