Telepocalypse

Skype for small (and tall) business

On my wish list is a Skype bundle extension for small biz people like me. I'd gladly pay some up-front fee and a regular subscription for the following features:

• Immediate delivery of IMs, no delays ever.
• Ability to support multiple PCs, with all messages relayed to all registered personal devices.
• Two included SkypeIn numbers.
• Skype fax service. Cut'n'paste my signature image into each NDA or contract to be sent, click "Send to -> Skype fax" and done!
• Automatic top-up of SkypeOut balance. Love that free cash flow...
• A cool USB conference call speaker phone to stick in your laptop bag included.
• Ability to have separate "work" and "home" modes; in "home" mode only designated friends and family can see when you're online. Potentially an automatic thing based on time of day and the LAN into which you're plugged.
• Automatic Outlook address book sync.
• SMS notification of voicemails (plus general SMS support from within the client).

I could probably dream up a dozen more items. Most of the bits are out there already, just not packaged up. The SoHo/small biz market is one of Skype's growth drivers, and presents a real opportunity that many of Skype's consumer or big biz VoIP competitors aren't ready to seize.

I've used Skype Groups, the business payment service, to pay my Skype dues VAT-free. Seems to work well, although the user experience wasn't that great on the first go (too lazy to blog about it -- if you work for Skype and want to know what's broken, call me). Now all I need is for the rest of the product set to catch up...

Any reader sugestions for what you'd like to see in the Skype for Small Biz bundled package?

Oh, and MAKE THE DAMN SETTINGS FOR USB HEADSETS WORK, so it doesn't keep resetting to "Windows Default" every time I unplug my laptop. Please!

Posted by Martin Geddes at 4:36 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.telepocalypse.net/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/mgeddes/MT/mt-tb.cgi/703