CES 2009: TV, cell phones, business = Ubiquitous Skype

A Skype button on your TV set? Pre-loaded Skype on cell phones? Skype faxing? Fierce caught up with Skype COO Scott Durchslag in Las Vegas for a wide ranging discussion of the company's vision for Skype everywhere, some big-big appreciation of the VAR/channel partner space, and why the company is hiring in the midst of the current economic downturn.

"What consumers want to be able to do, is to be able take their communications with them, independent of any device, to communicate anywhere, anytime," said Durchslag. Skype is working on taking out the "constraints" in hardware and networking to make things simple enough for anyone to use Skype anywhere from the living room to the corporate boardroom.

"Web enabled LCD-TVs are here," said Durchslag. "It's one small step for a camera and microphone. Put a Skype button on the remote to make it easy to use... Interacting with the TV is much different than what you're doing with your PC."

Manufacturers will have an incentive of receiving subscription revenues in exchange for plugging Skype into their Internet TV's, but it's a challenging sell. "Some have two percent profit margins," he said. "If [Skype calling] isn't simple, it's going to flop."

Video is where communications is headed, and it's the reason why the 2008 Skype 4.0 release put video capability front and center. Putting video in the family living room is a logical step, given some of the statistics the company has collected. Around 24 percent of calls made with Skype are video calls, but on Christmas, 42 percent of all calls used video, and on New Year's Day, 47 percent of the calls did.

Looking to capture share in emerging markets like India and Pakistan, Skype is working on getting its application pre-loaded and up front on cell phones. Exposing customers to the Skype experience is good for Skype and independent phone retailers looking to differentiate their offerings. Skype brings an international brand and a large established community of users to the table.

The current economic turmoil is providing opportunities for Skype both in the consumer and business space. "The bad economy is forcing consumers to make the change [to cheaper services], it is more a necessity rather than choice," said Durchslag. "It's interesting seeing that on the business side as well. [Businesses and enterprises] are under pressure to find saving and are approaching us."

Satisfying the business community will require a different approach than Skype's existing model for consumers. "We need to deliver a more tailored view, from managing credits, security, offering a tiered service capability," Durchslag said. Customer care would have to be more involved, and Skype will have to build a network of VARs that are a "phone call away" to deliver services and assist businesses with integration.

"We're finding VARs have a lot of interest," Durschlag said. "Skype gives them a thing to talk about. About 30 percent of calls on Skype are business calls, and it's going up... We also have to develop other skills. How do you train a channel? We don't have that today. We're finding interest from larger enterprises. [That interest] probably implies a relationship with a systems integrator [to install Skype on the corporate LAN]."

Hiring more people for building out business and VAR support is only a part of 2009's personnel requirements. "We are hiring more aggressively this year than in any year of our history," stated Durschlag. "We need to gear up in mobile, business, do more in Mac, do more on to web, and take [Skype] into a whole set of TVs and other devices."