TMCnews Featured Article

Skype Puts Its Seal on VoIP Gateway (News - Alert) from VoSKY

 

Available in 28 languages and having more than 170 million users worldwide, Skype is hardly a secret. Indeed, what began as a consumer venture a little more than three and a half years ago, has now become the world’s most popular VoIP application, encompassing masses of consumers and business users, and Skype-Extras — third-party plug-ins written for Skype designed to enhance users Skype experiences — have been downloaded more than ten million times. Given these figures, it’s hardly surprising that eBay (News - Alert) opted to buy the Internet communications provider back in 2005.

 

Skype’s remarkable growth in both the consumer and business markets has prompted a host of third-party Skype-compatible and Skype certified products, like USB handsets, ATAs, and more. Among the vendors capitalizing on Skype’s successes is Actiontec Electronics (News - Alert), the parent company of VoSKY Technologies. VoSKY Technologies manufactures the VoSKY Exchange (for businesses) and VoSKY Call Center (for consumers) Skype gateways.

 

VoSKY Exchange is a rack-mountable, Skype certified PBX gateway designed to bring the benefits Skype offers to the SMB market. Not only has VoSKY Exchange been certified with Skype, but it also integrates seamlessly with existing phone systems, so that SMBs can enjoy Skype without major infrastructural changes or investment. The VoSKY appliance connects directly to an existing analog phone system or IP PBX (News - Alert), allowing every office extension, including remote users, to make Internet calls without having to replace handsets.

 

For customers in the UK and Ireland, the two companies have now taken the VoSKY Exchange a step further, announcing co-branded versions of the 9040 and 9140 models of VoSKY Exchange. Either model allows SMBs to add four Skype lines to their office PBX without any other changes to their existing systems. The VoSKY Exchange 9040 offers trunk-side (FXO) connectivity to the PBX, while the 9140 has FXS connectivity to enable extension dialing between offices.

 

In addition, businesses with multiple locations within the UK or across the globe can deploy multiple VoSKY units for free VoIP calls between offices, significantly lowering long distance and international calling charges. As always, calls to other Skype users are free, and calls to all other users are charged at SkypeOut rates, which are considerably lower than traditional calling rates.

 

In fact, because VoSKY Exchange can easily connect with almost any PBX system in existence today, it can easily be deployed by almost any business looking not only to save on telephony charges, but also to gain the benefits of VoIP calling. The only costs customers will incur are the cost of the Exchange hardware, and the recurring SkypeOUT charges, which they will find to be a fraction of what they are currently paying.

 

“The ability to offer Skype trunking through the company PBX is critical for business use, and VoSKY Exchange offers an inexpensive plug-and-play solution that integrates seamlessly with the office phone system,” said Alberto Lorente, Skype’s business development director for Europe. “It allows companies to make, receive and transfer Skype calls, while also making it easy for companies to deploy Skype to end users and track Skype-related spending.”

 

VoSKY Exchange is an viable solution for SMBs looking to enhance their communications environment without replacing their existing phone systems. It is also a complement for companies with multiple locations or remote employees. And the decision for Skype to co-brand the VoSKY product only underscores the demand for Skype’s services within the business community. It is fact, after all, that the majority of businesses in the world are SMBs — perhaps even small businesses — that do not have the capital required for a complete phone system overhaul, and this is reasonable solution for those small and mid-sized businesses to benefit from the Skype experience.