Skype adds new features to business package

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VoIP company Skype has added further functionality to its Skype for Business package with more tools for enterprises to use the VoIP software within their organisation.

The software now includes improved IT administration and central management as well as a host of extras. Among the improvements touted by the company was a native Windows installer (msi) package to allow administrators to roll out Skype in enterprises more easily.

Also unveiled was an online control panel enabling companies to allocate individual users with Skype credits that can be used to make cheap SkypeOut calls to traditional landline phones or mobiles. Scott Davison, marketing manager of Skype said the control panel provided a consolidated view of what is being spent by companies on calls through the service.

There is also an "Auto Top-up" feature that adds credits to individual user accounts should those credits fall below a certain level.

Talking at a presentation at one of its business customers, Davison said that 30 per cent of Skype users were business users and this was "a major opportunity for us".

He said that a recent survey taken by the company of its business users found that 95 per cent of business users had save money on calls through the service and 80 per cent claimed productivity improvements.

Workers at architect firm Lewis and Hickey started using Skype a couple of years as other instant messaging applications, such as MSN and AOL were blocked by it and its clients. Since using the business package the company has so far saved 7.6 per cent from its phone bill and is hoping to make savings in its total telephony expenditure of around 50 per cent in the next four years.

Ben Mareschal, Business Development director of Lewis and Hickey said that the company hopes to cut the number of landlines in its London office from 23 to 15. He said that in the company's other offices use of the software ranged between 50 and 100 per cent of all calls made.

"Call costs are around £70,000 a year and this should fall to under £40,000 in four years," said Mareschal.

Mareschal said that using the service has changed the way the company operates and communicates with its clients on projects the architects undertake.

"It means we can make quick decisions, it means we consult more and decisions are made with the other parties involved and that results in better efficiency and accuracy," he said.

He said that the company was looking to deploy wireless-enabled mobile phones in the future and that would allow the company to cut mobile bills too.

Mareschal said that the call quality was generally very good when using the software to connect to landlines and mobile phones, the only problem was with making some Skype-to-Skype calls, but Mareschal said these problems were normally down to bandwidth problems caused by slower network connections of other people involved.

"If the call's not that good then we hang up and dial again," he said.

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