Microsoft buys Skype
- Thread starter Arwin
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They get 25 million online users (as i am writing this) in one go, and has access to a platform that is widespread, they can integrate it into Messenger, XBOX Live, Windows Live and Windows Phones.
Skype can live on and they can attach other services to it, there by adding strength to the "microsoft only" products. Google should have bought it and done the same.
Google would have bought it and done the same.
Then how do people call you back?
Obviously we don't want that! We want to be in control of communications!
Nah, they can just call us on our regular phone lines, which we still also have. There are only advantages for us calling out to customers using Skype, or when both parties have Skype. But in our next office, we'll likely only have VOiP and mobile.I suspect a lot of telco's have percentage deals with Skype.
Here in the UK, you can get a free sim card with 3. Without paying a cent, it gives you unlimited skype usage and doesn't deactivate. There is no way a deal like that could work without skype sharing their revenue with 3. I use this to call my parents' landline in New Zealand.
So basically; I'm paying around £4 to make 5-6 hours of international calls each month. On a cell phone
why ? Google and Apple have both been on buying sprees (sp?) hell andriod isn't even googles doing , they bought it.
Google was looking to buy skype and ms beat them to it , i think its a good thing , its not like apple or google are hurting for cash anymore they all have alot of money so it should work out fine in the end
Given Microsofts history that Shifty so nicely pointed out Google would have been the best choice since Apple is actually way worse than Microsoft when it comes to being self centered
Yes, that's the point I'm raising! To get the Skype benefit of free VOIP calls, you need Skype on both ends of the connections. Otherwise it's just a normal phone, and if everyone has a normal phone already, why buy a Skype phone? To get the free calls, of course. Which you won't get unless the person your calling also has a Skype phone. Why would they get a Skype phone when they already have a phone? To get the free calls of course! Except only calling someone with a Skype phone...
So no-one's likely to buy a replacement Skype phone until such time as it'll have a tangible benefit, which isn't likely to happen without something causing the install base to grow. And if it did, and everyone used Skype, they'd have to change their model because the carriers wouldn't be getting paid for traffic.
My emphasis.
Today, Skype bridge calls from Skype endpoints to regular phones. There is no reason why they couldn't bridge calls to other VOIP networks and thus end up with very low tariffs for calls.
Stock tip: short telcos. Telcos are going to be reduced to bandwidth providers.
Cheers
Today, Skype bridge calls from Skype endpoints to regular phones. There is no reason why they couldn't bridge calls to other VOIP networks and thus end up with very low tariffs for calls.
Stock tip: short telcos. Telcos are going to be reduced to bandwidth providers.
Cheers
Who would that tariff go to? As an example, I got an offer from BT the other day offering all inclusive BB and phone. In the small print was a requirement for two non-free calls a month or else a charge of £1.50 is made. Calls falling outside the call plan (evening and weekend IIRC) are charged at something like 10p a minute + 10p minimum charge, and 50p a minute to London numbers. 50p!!! Clearly a Skype phone at both ends would be great, but if the connection breaks somewhere along the line and you end up making an ordinary landline call, even a short hop, I can see someone somewhere charging significant fees for this.
Skype of course. They provide the service.
The main point is, going from regular mobile calls to VOIP is going to reduce charges by a decimal order of magnitude.
You only pay local charge for the Skype phone-in service. Bridging VOIP is going to be even cheaper. Microsoft is setting themselves up to be a world-wide phone service provider. Yes, Microsoft is going to make money on this, but at a fraction of the cost consumers pay now.
And yeah, call plans are rape in daylight.
Cheers
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No, it is a much cheaper way to make international calls to standard (land line or cell) phones.
History is history. It is more important to look t what they are doing now. i.e. the stuff they are doing with IE9 and going down the standards and compliance approach is very different from previously. The Microsoft of now are also the Microsoft that has a very active participation on the iPod app store with numerous apps that will connect to office/skydrive.Given Microsofts history that Shifty so nicely pointed out Google would have been the best choice since Apple is actually way worse than Microsoft when it comes to being self centered
Obviously we don't want that! We want to be in control of communications!
I think VOIP is beyond mature nowadays. The question that make people hesitant has always been "what do you do when the Internet is down?". But cellular connection is fast enough as a backup that it's less of a worry.
I'm actually somewhat surprised that the media coverage of the deal largely overlooks Skype's telephone services. There's still a lot of money to be make in that area, especially on the business side. Microsoft brings both a strong brand and ownership of core business software that Skype's services can plug into. I already mentioned Outlook integration. One of biggest potential draws is management of a company phone usage through Group Policy. An IT administrator could set limits whereby only so and so can make long-distance calls, while so and so are blocked from making outward calls at all. Together with Internet access management software, that gives the admin total control over a company's communication with the outside world.
If that's true, Skype do a lousy job of marketing that (in the UK anyhow). I know Skype for party chat on PC and nothing else. I know it gives the option to call a landline, but I haven't been told its economical to do so. Also, with the Skype I've experienced, the landline call will be higher quality and I wouldn't pick Skype over that all else being equal. Also with BT's 'line rental' fees there's a huge uniform service tax on everyone still using a landline, so if anyone on cable could forgo a copper telephone line and use VOIP, that'd save a bundle.
Just out of curiosity I dialed a NHS hotline. My account was docked $0.21 for the 1 minute call. That's pricey. My last call to the US went for two and a half hours and it cost a little over a dollar.
It is on the frontpage of their website.
We know it for video chat for our families which are now distributed around the globe (the international call thing is really to phone up and say "Oi, go and turn the computer on"). From my perspective XBOX has been screaming for a Skype client, because it'll be great to just sit on the sofa and allow the people we're taliing to to get a wider view of us all; now the deal looks like we're going to get exactly that.
Call quality can be affected by you own LAN connections and traffic and also, more importantly, your internet bandwidth and what activity you have going on at that time. Outside of that, I'd wager that any international calling mechanism get levelled in terms of quality.
Possibly. However, MS already have the ability to do that with Windows Live Messenger integration, yet a PC user cannot video-chat with an Xbox/Kinect user.
Are you sure about that? I'm almost positive it was in at least two/three Kinect videos? I normally turn messenger off on the xbox but I can definitely give this a shot later.
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