With the launching of its Skype-for-Business service, Luxembourg-based VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) provider Skype Technologies is allowing small businesses to leverage voice-mail and off-network calling and to link multiple accounts through a control panel, reports CMP Media's VARBusiness.

The feature "Got Skype?" which appears in the April 17, 2006, issue of the biweekly magazine that covers the business of technology integration, notes that nearly 300 million people now are calling one another anywhere in the world for free, without a microphone and speakers or a headset connected to a computer, by using the provider. Skype could have a huge impact by further driving down the cost of phone service and by easing the integration of telephones and its network via new wares.



Skype executives admit to VARBusiness Senior Editor Jeffrey Schwartz that they're now targeting small businesses with fewer than 10 employees, but that they foresee big business in the corporate sector. According to its own subscriber survey, 25 percent use Skype's service for business. Of those, 63 percent conduct business abroad, 25 percent operate more than three locations and 75 percent have fewer than 50 employees.

D-Link, ClearOne Communications and Polycom offer Skype-compatible products. Phones from Linksys, TrendNet and USRobotics connect to a PC's USB port and then function effectively as cell phones, using Skype.

In addition to appearing in the April 17, 2006, issue, "Got Skype?" will be posted to the web at www.varbusiness.com.