Skype enters the corporate market

Skype , which gives rest to many telecommunications companies, by providing its users with the program for organizing chat and ip telephony with the opportunity to make free or very cheap calls around the world and exchange messages, is still an independent company. In 2005, eBay acquired a service that is gaining popularity, but relations with companies did not work out and most of Skype was sold for $ 2 billion. Now, new owners are trying to add to the company the seriousness inherent in the business community in order to capture part of the corporate data transmission market.

There is information that Skype is negotiating the sale of its software through Cisco Systems and ShoreTel, which develop and sell telephony systems. Skype also doubles sales and support group numbers to enter the corporate sales market, and respond faster if technical problems arise.

Skype has become a household name for more than half a billion consumers around the world who use it to make calls and video chats. According to a report from the investment bank Thomas Weisel Partners, the company's revenue last year amounted to $ 705 million, up 28% from 2008. The corporate market, estimated at 203 billion dollars, is a tasty morsel in the matter of obtaining additional profits.

But to convince the company to abandon the usual telephony will not be easy. There are several serious barriers to large corporate space. One of the main factors is the ability to provide IT companies with more control. In many industries, such as healthcare or the financial sector, companies require the ability to track and monitor calls — something that is now impossible with Skype. Also, Skype will have to convince potential customers that their service, which from time to time is criticized for its poor quality, is reliable and reasonably safe when used in corporate telephone conversations.
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This year, as part of the company's reorientation, CEO Josh Silverman replaced five executives and closed several third-party projects, in particular the development of a three-dimensional chess program, in order to free up staff for new needs. The head of the Skype business unit, David Gerl, explained that the company is serious about the corporate market and promised to provide future partners from the corporate sector with all the necessary tools and functions they need.

Skype is not the only option for companies looking to cut costs by redirecting calls over the Internet. AT & T, a group of British Telecom and other telephone companies already offer telephone systems based on the use of the global network. Skype is currently developing a ShreTel and Cisco reward program, offering commissions or revenue sharing, to recommend using Skype solutions. This should definitely help the company to promote a new market for itself, but to fight to attract attention to itself has yet to fight, since it is not the only one, but only one of several.

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek