I finally got around to installing Skype recently. Skype’s a voice over IP (VOIP) system for various computer systems, kind of like MSN Messenger on the PC, except they’re putting voice first and text second, and it’s positioned as a replacement for the plain old telephone service (POTS), complete with bridges out to allow calls to regular phones for about 2 cents a minute. This isn’t a new idea, and there are other services out there, but since computer to computer calls on Skype are free, it seemed like an easy way to check it out.
I’ve only tried one connection so far (Mac to Mac), and performance seemed on par with iChat (you can “Skype me” if you want, my id is ThrustLabs). Later this week I’ll buy some credits and try the land line options out.
Obviously, the key to getting this to work is to get as many people signed up as possible. Unlike VOIP solutions that cost $20/month, you don’t get a phone number with this system, so the only way that people can reach you is from a PC. With broadband adoption and PC proximity being what it is these days, it’s about the right time for something like this to take flight, but there might be a few more casualties before it catches on. Will Skype survive? Beats me. They seem to have some good ideas, and they’re making some effort to build a community and provide developer APIs, but it still has some ways to go.
What would a call centre with a Skype interface look like? Unlike traditional systems, you’d have a much higher technology base to work from (no more “please stay on the line if you have a rotary phone!”) I had a rant prepared about the death of the IVR (Interactive Voice Response, or the “press one for this” system that fronts most major businesses), since any computer that can handle Skype can surf the web (dedicated VOIP phones notwithstanding), but then I thought a few steps forward, and the same problems applied - no business wants their customers to call them. That’s why it’s so hard to find phone numbers, or even email addresses on many major web sites. Phone calls cost money, and they’re measured by the second.
What if a Skype-based call centre called you back? Rather than dealing with queues, if you called a business and everyone was busy, what if a special browser popped up, like an IVR for the computer, and you could hit a button to request an agent. You’d then keep looking through the interface, and if an agent was available during your session, you’d start to talk, but if you closed the browser (or your “please call me” button was disabled through javascript in response to some actions in the browser), the callback would be cancelled. It’s not perfect, and there’d be issues with how many rings to wait before giving up and so on, but it’s just one way that a next generation VOIP solution could do more than just replace the existing phone system.
I’ve been working with computer telephony and IVRs for more than 8 years, but VOIP is still new to me. I’m thinking it’s still new to the companies that are rolling it out, and it’s still new their potential consumers. Free/cheap long distance is a good hook, and it’ll be interesting to see what a company can do with a sufficiently large user base can do, or at least how long it’ll take for VOIP spam to kick in.
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