Skype partners with Facetime to make Enterprise control even easier
[FaceTime Communications](http://www.facetime.com/), recently [announced](http://www.facetime.com/pr/pr070206.aspx) a new partnership with Skype to deliver end-to-end security, management and control of Skype within a corporate network.
FaceTime’s managed Skype solution provides IT and network administrators with the ability to manage the use of Skype on their network with granular controls to choose which elements of Skype software its employees can use. For example, a company may allow voice services but not file sharing or supernode capabilities.
This follows on from the launch of [Skype 3.0 for Windows – Business version]( http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/business.html), which we released in December 06. The business version of Skype comes with MSI installer making it easy to deploy in a corporate network. The Facetime solution now makes it easier to control the features of Skype which effect it’s behavior within your network.
Using the Skype IT Management Framework, FaceTime offers new IT-oriented controls to manage Skype in an enterprise environment, as part of FaceTime Internet Security Edition. Centralized policies can easily be set and controlled at the systems administration level and applied transparently to each employee’s desktop so that his or her Skype experience adheres to IT policy. For example, IT managers can choose to allow or disallow various Skype elements for the entire company, for groups or departments, or on an individual basis, including file transfer, voice calling, video calling, voicemail and voice recording.
In addition, proxy settings and listen port settings can be calibrated and turned on or off for users. Administrators can also prevent users from broadcasting their presence online. Web presence settings can also be enabled or disabled, to prevent users from exposing their availability to potentially malicious users. IT can set parameters to deny users from becoming supernodes or relay nodes, and a real-time bandwidth usage indicator provides a constant measure for IT to determine Skype’s impact on network traffic.
For more information on using Skype in a corporate network, see our [Business Security Section]( http://www.skype.com/security/business/) and download the [Network Administrators Guide]( http://www.skype.com/security/guide-for-network-admins-30beta.pdf)
This is a step in the right direction for corporate and business users, and further legitimizes the use of Skype in a corporate setting. I’d like to see further developments with the business user in mind…
Chanie Pritchard
Sage Media Corporate Design
We are a business user of Skype. We would like to use it more, but the customer support side of Skype is very poor at the moment; Substantially more professionalism is necessary. For example, we have been waiting for TWO days for a credit to be cleared and we get no response to queries to customer support
I’m a new business user to Skype. While I have yet to have any experience with Skype’s customer service, it does have a broad reputation for being abyssmal, at best.
My guess is that users aren’t following Skype’s proceedures when logging tickets, which shows a flaw in Skype’s ticketing system, rather than faulting the customers.
If Skype were to improve its customer service, and thusly its reputation in that area, I think they’d provide a serious threat to VOIP and traditional carriers….
Hello to all other commentors above. I have no choice but to periodically scan these discussions (after all it IS my primary job here at Skip2PBX in Italy.) Skype, when used in a highly efficient and professionally configured way within a business environment is INDEED a serious contender and “threat” to the VoIP and “traditional” carriers as noted. The “further developments with the business user in mind” cited by viewer #1 above have certaily and precisely been addressed by the product we have developed here at Skip2PBX (http:www.skip2pbx.com)
Here we have a “gateway” which interfaces with the applications you need to make and receive Skype calls, functions with FXO, FXS, ISDN and now even SIP and has the concerns regarding quality of the call and network security completely covered!
Thanks for your attention.
Caristopher Arkin
Skip2PBX