Workspace Blog

Since its inception, Skype has been used by many businesses wanting to reduce communications costs by using a computer and Skype software. Our team’s goal is to further develop the Skype for Business products and provide solutions to continue to support businesses of all sizes and types. By doing this, we are seeking to help you improve the way you connect with your friends, colleagues, partners and customers around the globe, and ultimately help you improve your bottom line.

Today, we are proud to announce that Skype Connect (formerly Skype for SIP) is now officially out of beta. With Skype Connect, we’re delivering a solution that connects Skype to IP-enabled private branch exchange (PBX) or Unified Communications (UC) systems. Many of your businesses will already have IP-enabled PBX or UC systems installed to enable voice calling across your organizations.

By using Skype Connect with an existing PBX or UC system, your business can now:

• Make outbound calls from desktop phones to landlines and mobiles worldwide billed at Skype’s standard per-minute calling rates;
• Receive inbound calls from Skype connected users worldwide by placing Skype’s Click & Call buttons on their Web sites;
• Receive calls from landlines or mobile phones in the corporate PBX using Skype’s online numbers that have been purchased separately; and
• Manage Skype calls using your existing PBX or UC systems’ features such as call routing, automatic call distribution, conferencing, auto-attendant, voicemail, call recording and logging.

It is easy to get started and experience the benefits of Skype Connect. We have a set of tools and documentation to help you interface your IP-enabled PBX with Skype. Alternatively, we’d be glad to put you in touch with one of our competent certified Channel Partners.

Since the beta launch of Skype Connect in March 2009, we’ve accomplished the following:

• Skype Connect already has over 2,400 active global customers;
• Skype Connect is now certified to work with PBX and UC products from Avaya, Cisco, SIPfoundry, ShoreTel and other OEMs (see supported models here).
• Skype Connect also works with older TDM PBXs or Key Systems which can now add Skype calling capabilities through third-party IP gateways from AudioCodes, Grandstream and VoSKY (see supported models here).
• Launched Skype Manager, a simple web-based tool to centrally manage and control Skype usage in a company, and which enables a business to set-up Skype Connect;
• New dedicated customer support, including real-time chat, is now available for Skype Connect customers and Skype Manager administrators directly through Skype Manager;
• In addition, we’ve been enrolling VARs and system integrators in our new Skype Channel Partner Program and training them to support our business customers. We will share more details on this program soon.

To find out more about Skype Connect, check out the following video or visit us here.