Tag Archives: Skype

VSee is nimble. VSee is quick. VSee is your collaboration wish.

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Over the last few weeks of working at VSee, I’ve been realizing that VSee is more than just a videoconferencing tool.  It’s a video collaboration tool.  Of course, it can do the things that videoconferencing does, but on a much more dynamic and work-friendly scale.  It’s the difference between a big elephant and a nimble mouse.

Videoconferencing is great for things like talking, interviewing, and formal staff meetings because it’s rich in human information, and it makes you feel like person, not just a disembodied machine.  However, the equipment tends to be too cumbersome and tedious for spur of the moment use.

“Well, what about Skype?” you say. Continue reading →

Ode To Skype

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Given that it’s Friday and given the big news of Skype’s acquisition by Microsoft this week, I decided to designate today as “Thank You Skype Day.”  VSee really has to thank Skype for getting the word out about desktop videoconferencing.  Without Skype people might still be all hung up about the expense, the complication, the poor quality of using videoconference in everyday work life.  As it is, millions of people now use Skype’s videocalling for personal and business purposes and have realized that videoconference is a viable and important work tool.  So, thank you Skype for getting the word out!

Of course, I have to put in my 2 cents for VSee because Skype’s screen and file-sharing abilities really is the pits, which leads me to this little story I want to share:

Recently I was at Chinese Language Teacher Association training (don’t ask what I was doing there) and got to hear Dr. Timothy Xie give an awesome talk about using technology to support Chinese language teaching and learning.  Anyone who has ever seriously tried to learn Mandarin has probably come across his website, because it is one of the most extensive web portals of online Chinese language learning tools you’ll find.  Anyways, at one point he’s talking about how Skype has really bad desktop sharing tools, so when he is teaching over videoconference, he usually opens Skype and another desktop sharing program called Mikogo.  That means both he and his students have to download and sign into two separate accounts and use two different sets of tools.  Why complicate your life like that?  I nearly jumped up on my chair and shouted, “You should use VSee!  It does both really well!  Plus it’s secure and takes up way less bandwidth!”  Of course I controlled myself, but it made me wonder how many other people out there are also using two separate programs when they could just be using VSee.

But to get back to the star of today’s post.  Here goes my ode…

I thank you Skype!  You’ve paved the way
For video chatting in today.
If not for you we’d never know
The joys of easy video.
With you I have the chance to meet
My grandpa from across the sea,
With you that client in Istanbul
Will really know my word is true,
And thank you Skype for all you’ve done
In keeping me and my boyfriend one.
O Skype, you mean the world to me
I dearly hope you’ll still be free
But even if that’s not to be
Be proud!
You’ve made video calling history!

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Original balloon photo courtesy: D. Sharon Pruitt

Sold! And Skype goes to…Microsoft?

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Skype, after holding off on plans to launch an initial public offering IPO and amidst rumors of possible acquisition by Cisco, Google, and Facebook, is being acquired by Microsoft for an unsolicited offer of 8.5 billion in cash.

Many analysts feel it’s a bit more than the company is worth and see it as a desperation attempt on Microsoft’s part to gain a foothold in Internet consumer markets.  In particular, it hasn’t been much of a competitor in the mobile operating system market where Apple, Blackberry, and Google’s Android have pretty much got it covered.  GigaOm’s Om Malik notes that it would give them a “big boost in the hotly contested enterprise collaboration market thanks to Skype’s voice, video and sharing capabilities.”

CRN’s Chad Bernston also reports that Microsoft intends for Skype “to support Microsoft devices like XBox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a number of Windows devices…[they] also plan to connect it with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities.”

Despite Skype’s overwhelming popularity (it claims 170 million connected users, who held 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations in 2010), it has been losing money, and the majority of it’s users use it for free.

At the end of the day, it will be interesting to see how Microsoft integrates Skype with its wide-ranging products and whether its bet on Skype will pay off.

(My Layman’s Take: Skype is losing money.  Microsoft is losing money.  The thing is everybody LOVES Skype, and more importantly, it’s everywhere that Microsoft isn’t–namely smartphones, iPads, and my grandmother’s computer.  The question is whether this marriage between graying Microsoft and a vibrant, young Skype will result in economic bliss, epic tragedy, or even a good old American divorce.)

More Articles:

NY Times: Microsoft buys Skype for 8.5 Million

TechCrunch: Did Microsoft overpay for Skype? Hell yes — by $4.5 billion

Back to the enterprise

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Cisco’s foray into the consumer market has proved too challenging for the networking giant. This morning, Cisco Systems announced that it would cut 550 jobs as part of its plan to exit some of its consumer business.

This includes closing the video recording device division which manufactures the once-great Flip cameras that recorded high-definition videos on the device which were easily transferred to the computer and easily shared on the internet. It seems that consumers are turning to their iPhone and Android smartphones for the video recording function rather than carrying a separate Flip device for this purpose.

The Flip video recording device (Source: CNET)

Cisco will also be shifting marketing priorities of the Umi home high-definition telepresence systems to the corporate segment where it is easier to market and charge for. It will be interesting for us in the video collaboration space to see how Cisco integrates the Umi into its existing business telepresence line while taking on the likes of Polycom and HP.

I think that the demise of Flip and the repositioning of the Umi are signs that people just don’t want an additional piece of hardware to do what their existing devices can do. In the case of the Flip, smartphones do a great job with video recording. And in the case of the Umi, software solutions like Skype and ours at VSee do a great job at offering high quality video calling without the need to invest in additional hardware. In fact, we offer free 720p HD video calling for personal users!

Alas, so long Flip, you were once great and glorious and you will be remembered.

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Skype and Facebook

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It could happen.

There are rumors (according to Bloomberg) that the two have been chatting about it.  Skype users can already call and SMS Facebook friends, making video the next logical next step.

Personally, this feels like a natural extension of Skype’s current incarnation as a consumer video calling tool.  I assume it would take a lot less overhauling than their stated plans to work with Citrix’s GoToMeeting to make a complete collaboration suite.  Even if I’m wrong about that, I feel the audience fit is better.

Thoughts?