Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Skype Positions Itself as 'Enhancement' VoIP, Not Responsible For 911 Service

In a follow-on to the previous article (The C|Net interview with Skype's CEO Niklas Zennström), we now see that Skype is maneuvering to position itself as an "emhancement" to existing telephomy services, not a replacement (for E911, of course).

It would appear, at first blush, that the entire VoIP-provider community is getting a bit defensive. Rest assured, although the technology is moving in this direction, everyone is just a little uptight about a very serious issue--providing emergency services in a technology that is just now finding it's niche.

W. David Gardner writes in TechWeb News:

With three million users in the U.S. and a rapidly-growing group of partners in its new affiliates program, Skype Technologies is facing a unique challenge presented by the FCC's order that VoIP providers must provide access to emergency 911 numbers.

The Europe-based firm is positioning itself as an "enhancement" service to existing telephone service and not as a "replacement" service. "We're an enhancement like fax," said Kelly Larabee, a Skype spokeswoman in the U.S. "You should know that Skype is not an emergency service."

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