Michael Robertson, founder of Gizmo5, which recently released a service that enables free calls to Skype called OpenSky, calls the new Skype-for SIP service vaporware.
It’s great to see Skype inching towards a more interoperable world with their Skype for SIP service. Even if this is complete vaporware at least their heart is in the right direction. Last year they announced Skype for Asterisk which is still not yet released and it’s unclear what the pricing will be. Skype For SIP is similar in that it is not yet available and pricing details are murky but both are steps in the right direction.
Hard to dismiss Michael’s argument, though one has to point out that Skype for SIP does impact his business. Fellow VoIP Blogger Tom Keating heard from a Skype spokesperson:
“The product is available now. It’s using the same Skype technology that has been tested & deployed for the last 5 years. He’s saying December 2009 – that’s not the case.”
(Head-to-head comparison between two services below the fold.)
| OpenSky vs Skype for SIP | ||
| OpenSky 2.0 (Gizmo5) | SkypeforSIP (ebay) | |
| Receive Skype calls on SIP software and hard= ware |
Yes | Yes |
| Place Skype calls to SIP devices | Yes | Yes |
| Answer/Call Skype from browser | Yes | No |
| Includes free voicemail | Yes | No |
| Free trial | Up to 5 minute calls to Skype | No |
| Single user cost | $20/per year | No |
| 50 User Pricing | $800/per year | $2499 purchase plus annual fee* |
| Per call PSTN connection fee | None | 3.9 cents |
| Availability | Now | Dec. 2009* |
| Supported codecs | g729, ilbc, pcmu/pcma, gsm, speex, and custom | g729 |
| * Estimated |
Tom Keating got some comments from a Skype representative on Michael’s claims. Some of Michael’s claims are BS.
read it here:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/skype/opensky-vs-skypeforsip.asp
John
thanks for the link. Of course, it is going to be a lot of “war of the words” which is going to spill over into the blogosphere.
Do thank my good friend Mark Ursino for coining the term “Vaporware”
I dont’ get it.
Can somebody please tell me how to receive Skype calls on my SIP address from Gizmo5?
I’ve read the OpenSky instructions 3 times. But they don’t tell, although Michael Robertson states that you can “receive Skype calls on SIP software and hardware”. That’s just not true. The only thing that you can do is to make Skypeout calls to the phone number which is associated to every Gizmo5 account. But that costs and probably it touches the PSTN. It’s not “receive Skype calls on SIP software and hardware”.
Can Michael or another expert please explain?
Maybe he should focus more on getting a decent business product offering and less on calling other people’s products vaporware. I have been waiting for over a year for them to get their act together on this matter… They take about 6 months to reply to tech support queries even for paid services. They were good out the door, with their DID coverage, and asterisk integration, since then they have been only disapointed.
How is it people paying for products can’t get any replies to emails but the head of the company can put down other products? Gizmo does good have a good product set that I personally use, however their attention to customer service for paying customers is severely lacking. They missed the boat on the backdoor calling, many people would have paid for the service, but they could not figure that out for some reason. They mentioned porting numbers through and I was even willing to pay for their very high porting fee of $40 but I never heard back about it and so I went on to Vitelity for porting. Their international rates could also use some adjustments too.
KieranMullen
http://360oregon.com
classic cat fight
Can somebody please tell me how to receive Skype calls on SIP software and hardware?
I’ve read the OpenSky manual 3 times but I didn’t find it. In fact it’s not possible.
The only way I see is to call the phone number that is associated to every Gizmo5 account via Skypeout. But this costs money and probably touches the PSTN. It’s not “receive Skype calls on SIP software and hardware” as Michael Robertson states.
Can Michael or another expert please explain?
Markus – you are correct – the OpenSky manual does NOT tell you how to do Skype to SIP calls!
As neither Skype nor Gizmo appear to be able to produce a complete solution then perhaps a good comprimise would be to use Skype for SIP to facilitate Skype -> SIP calls, and OpenSky to run SIP -> Skype!
Quick follow up:
Dameon (Phoneboy) details how to set up two-way Skype SIP Calling here: http://phoneboy.com/2952/opensky-opens-skype-but-does-it-work
Of course, if you have your own free Asterisk server, you can set up your own free Skype gateway in about 15 minutes and avoid the wait for any of the futureware. And what about performance? We set up a demo machine on a shared Comcast broadband connection so you can compare connection quality for yourself. Using any Skype phone, just call: nerdvittles. Better yet, read our recipe and install your own Skype gateway to Asterisk:
http://nerdvittles.com/index.php?p=587
Om, I think you may have misunderstood “even if this is vaporware” as “this is vaporware”. It’s not the same thing.
I’m not defending Michel or Gizmo, if he meant “this is vaporware” that’s a lame thing to say. However, the statement says (to me) “even if this never actually works, it’s still a good idea.” Does anyone not see Skype SIP interoperability as a Good Thing™ ?
Google bought Grand Central and how many years did it take to actually become Google Voice? Skype for Asterisk is out there in beta and I have tested it, it works very well. The larger beta is starting and it will eventually be out there.
I was wrong, I asked Michael if he meant SIP for Skype was vaporware and he said yes, so I’m the one that didn’t get it. You can listen to Michael’s comments on our last VoIP Users Conference.
http://sessions.voipusersconference.org
Digium is working on some very cool Skype stuff as well: http://www.digium.com
Most interesting is their Skype-Asterisk PBX plugin which is in private beta now.