Skype Connect: VoIP for Business

Skype just released a new service made just for their business users. Called Skype Connect, this service allows businesses to integrate VoIP with their current PBX systems. Aside from making outgoing calls from desktop phones using Skype’s low rates, Skype Connect also allows business users to receive calls from Skype users, mobile phones, landline phones, and other phones on the corporate PBX. Skype Connect can also be configured to send calls to mobile numbers. The biggest downside of the service is that the pricing plan is a little confusing. Rather than offering payment plans with minutes or extensions, Skype Connect charges users by the minute and by “channels” – the number of concurrent calls you make or receive at once. Skype’s standard rates of 2.1 cents per minute apply for outgoing calls, but users need to pay $6.95/month for each channel. So for instance, you have five different extensions that are all being used at once, you pay $34.75.

Check out Skype Connect in action under the cut.

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Google Voice VoIP to Come to Android Phones?

Skype is currently working on apps for Android phones (such as the app for Verizon’s Droid), but it looks like a Google Voice widget for Android is currently on the works, according to androinica.com. The Android fan site just released a YouTube video that shows an unreleased preview version of the T-Mobile G2, the provider’s first Android device in two years. The video shows off an embedded interface with a phone icon with a label $2.86. This probably indicates Google Voice credits, as suggested by the words “International calls only” on an unmistakable Google Voice interface. No official announcement from Google and T-Mobile has been made about the Google Voice service for Android, but it definitely shows that mobile VoIP is making huge waves this year.

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Google Adds VoIP Calls to Gmail

For loyal Google users, Gmail has everything they could ever need – simple access to email, reminders about appointments and events, a convenient chat feature, and more. It didn’t take long for Google to realize that their users do like VoIP because it’s cheap and virtually free so today, they added a VoIP client that lest you make phone calls directly from your Gmail account.

The new VoIP client is different from Google Voice because it allows you to call phones directly from your web browser, rather than users in front of their desks. All you need to do is look at the lefthand side of your Gmail, where your contacts appear, and you’ll be able to call your contacts. Calls within the USA and Canada will be free for 2010 while rates for international calls start at $.02 a minute. That’s really cheap! The service gets even better for users of Google Voice because your number gets displayed as the outbound caller ID when you call from Gmail, allowing everyone in your contact list to know who’ll be calling them next. You can also receive calls to your Gmail account through your Google Voice number.

Unfortunately, this service is only available to US-based users, which means we from the Philippines will have to wait a bit longer before we can use this nifty feature. Still, Google says they’re working to make this service more available elsewhere.

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Logitech Releases Wireless Headset for VoIP

Wireless headsets for VoIP calls is becoming a hot commodity these days. Bose, Sennheiser, and Sony just released their own wireless headset, and now Logitech unveiled the H760 for VoIP calls. The wireless H760 is supposed to have a 6-hour battery life and takes two and a half hours to charge through the USB. It has a built-in equalizer for crisp, clear calls, and you can step as far as 40 feet without getting disconnected. The device seems designed for comfortable use too – it has sculpted, pivoting ear pads and the headband can be adjusted. You can also move the microphone boom away from your mouth when you’re not taking a call. When you do so, the noise-cancelling mic mutes itself automatically.

Of course, just because the wireless H760 was made for VoIP, it doesn’t mean that its usage is limited to VoIP. You can also use this handy device to watch movies or listen to music while moving around the room comfortably.

The Logitech H760 is not out yet, but you can pre-order it for around $99.99.

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Truphone Gives iPad VoIP over 3G

I didn’t know that you could make VoIP calls using the iPad, but apparently you can thanks to Truphone’s new VoIP app. Truphone’s VoIP apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad allows users to call other Truphone users, Google Talk users, and Skype users. There’s also instant messaging support for Truphone, Skype, MSN, Google Talk, and Facebook. With theTruphone for iPad 2.0 app, iPad users can make full VoIP calls over 3g, search using the Truphone Directory, import their TruFriends and IM listing, and send and receive SMS. Some calling features may require the purchase of Truphone credits thouhg. In any case, you can download Truphone at the App Store.

VoIP Aims for HD Mobile Video Calls

First there was HD voice, and now VoIP is aiming for HD video calls. At his CommunicAsia 2010 keynote, Skype CEO Josh Silverman pointed out that video calls accounts for 34% of Skype-to-Skype calls in 2009. Skype is expanding to other frontiers with their Skype Mobile Video app for the Nokia N900, which allows Skype video calls over 3G or WiFi to other PCs or N900 devices. There are also some flatscreen TV models with embedded Skype clients. And just as Skype and other video clients pioneered HD voice calls, they are likely to do the same for video telephony if mobile VoIP goes well. Since video already makes up one third of Skype calls, more people want to have HD video calls, especially since the experience between standard video and HD video will be more dramatic.

VoIP providers will be watching their customers closely as they explore mobile video. Depending on how they use it and how different it is from the way they use desktop video, Skype and other VoIP players will deliver customers the experience they want.

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Vonage Gives Free VoIP Calls to Facebook Users

Android and iPhone users – did you know that you can make free VoIP cals via Facebook? Vonage just released the Vonage Mobile App, which allows you to make free mobile calls to any Facebook friends who also have the app installed, no matter where they are in the world! The app is available for iPhone and Android platforms, works on WiFi and 3G, and requires a Facebook account.

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Skype for iPhone Allows VOIP Calls Over 3G

Free Skype-to-Skype calls on the iPhone is not a new development; the Skype app allows users to make internet voice calls on the iPhone since the device came out on the market. The only limitation is that the VoIP calls could only be made over a WiFi connection. With the release of the Skype 2.0 update, however, iPhone users can make Skype-to-Skype VoIP calls for free! Well, until August 2010, when the company will start charging a monthly fee for this service. Other features include faster start-up times, near CD-quality audio, and easy access to the in-app dial pad.

So if you want to avoid using your minutes on AT&T or Globe, the Skype 2.0 app is free for download at the Appstore.

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a New iPhone App Makes VoIP Calls Over 3G

Peter Sisson, the founder and chief executive officer of Toktumi, a San Francisco-based VoIP startup, is elated. He was jumping with joy when I spoke with him earlier today. Why? Because Apple just approved the latest version (2.0) of his company’s mobile VoIP app, Line2. The app, which costs 99 cents, allows you to call and receive phone calls over both 3G and Wi-Fi networks.

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Google Buys Gizmo5 for Google Voice

Looks like Gizmo and Google Voice users have a new service to look forward to. This month, Google acquired Gizmo5 for $30M after negotiations with a Skype merger fell through. It looks like the two services are a great fit for each other’s products. For instance, Google Voice is a great phone identity and VoIP service, but they have no endpoint for calls. Gizmo5 already integrates with Google Voice as a softphone for Google Voice users. This means you can make and receive calls to your Google Voice Number from your PC.

Although there’s no news as to what new product the two companies will release, it looks like Gizmo5 will allow Google Voice and Google Talk to become a single product, giving Skype and traditional phone companies a run for their money.

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