Two news items of note around Skype and my take.
First is this Skype calling interoperability by 28Tel called Mobile 2 Skype. It sounds a lot like what former client TalkPlus attempted to do and didn’t do with Skype, though not due their own efforts. It also reads really like what iSkoot has done by working via the network layer, but without network cooperation, creating a call through capability that reduces calling costs and enables calls to Skype buddies. Client Mobivox offers the same capabilities and a lot more and their voice platform could add so much to 28Tel’s offering. Hmmm..I’m not sure if Skype has blessed off on this or not though…Could be interesting if they didn’t.
Then there’s this “lower priced” calling deal out of the Ukraine via a bank called PrivatBank, with a co-branded service for teh banks customers. Unfortunately, there’s no business to business play revealed her yet where Skype customers can easily call their bank via a Skype to Skype call. Imagine one part client Fonolo and another part On-State here at work. To see why this makes sense, give a read of Jim Courtney’s Web Worker Daily story of a few weeks ago and his update in SkypeJournal yesterday.
Skype should look at these two plays, pull them together with their co-branded corporate efforts and offer up an all in one solution with Fonolo and On-State. It would be a win win for everyone.