Posts tagged Google Talk

The last couple of days rumors have it that something is brewing between Google and Ebay’s Skype. I am a frequent user of Skype and it is the solution that we have chosen for VoIP and video conferences at my faculty. But, I had problems with seeing how Skype could bigger money and what Ebay saw in Skype.

Skype’s two major problems have been that they had to make PC-to-PC calls free (to compete with MSN, Yahoo and Google Talk) and the second problem was to compete with traditional phones and mobile phones when you don’t have phone numbers for your customers. Other providers beat them on the last one, thousands of VoiP companies have been established the last 4-5 years. I have been using Telio and Phonzo and my parents for instance Phonzo and Tanet. All three companies delivering small VoIP adapters that you can bring with you on your travels and connected to a broadband connection. And why did these companies win, cause they could provide a traditional phone number and free calls through out Europe and Northern America. Why should Skype be alternative for them?

Skype managed to conquer their first problem. From day one Skype has been a hype, as the vendors managed to involve the users in translating their software (feeling ownership to the product) and to market their product. Heck, I was one of them! I didn’t just help out translating Skype to Norwegian and advocate the product, I also started using it at work to communicate with my scientific staff being abroad. But I guess most users are like me, they have paid 10 euros for house calls and 1,5 years later still have 9,5 euros left. This is what Epay should have seen, there is no money to be earned with Skype …

… and what seems to be worse, Epay didn’t know how to integrate Skype in to Epay and PayPal. Why did Epay buy Skype? You sit with the feeling that Epay suddenly got filthy rich and didn’t know what to buy, and instead of doing a bit of research and plans, they just said what is most hype and let us buy it! Of course, it was’t like that, but you may wonder?

What could Google gain from buying Skype? As the Techcrunch article lists up,  Google is beginning to dominate the voice space. They already have a VOIP service through Google Talk, a free 411 service and GrandCentral. The journalist forgets to include the aquision of Marratech (Swedish company) a video collaboration / e-meeting solution. My experiences with Marratech is that they are big in the education sector, especially at universities in Europe. By adding Skype Google gets a scalable technology and a proven platform in the VOIP, VOIP2POTS and P2P Video. And just as important, 100 billion VOIP minutes have been logged on Skype to date. At any given time there are 10 million simultaneous users on Skype. Skype might be their needed that can pull all the nascent Google products together. Google would then also be ready to compete with MSN/Yahoo.

Let us see what the next days bring us …