Grandstream GXV3140 Now Skype Certified

As Skype continues to evolve as a service provider it’s inevitable that they will continue to find ways to move away from the desktop and onto the desktop.

Over the summer, Grandstream released a new firmware version that allow it’s GXV3140 to natively support Skype and Skype video calling. Today, Grandstream has taken this one step further by announcing that they Grandstream GXV3140 is now Skype certified.

What’s this mean?

Well, unlike this summers announcement, it means that Skype has officially given the Grandstream GXV3140 its blessing, making it the second videophone on the market for use with Skype. And according to Grandstream,

“Skype certification on the GXV3140 IP multimedia phone creates a seamless video-enabled communications experience from PC to desk phone, giving Skype users the utmost flexibility and convenience for video calling. Grandstream’s GXV3140 bridges the gap between convenient-to-use dedicated voice/video end-points and the increasingly popular world of PC-based Internet multimedia communication offerings like Skype.”

The idea of seamless video communications is a major hurdle to widespread video calling adoption. For the most part there is little interoperability between video calling services and hardware, leaving most companies interested in video calling hesitant to pull the trigger for fear of living in a walled garden.

While this announcement certainly won’t change this, it is a step in the right direction and a sign that more seamless video communications solutions are coming.

New Grandstream GXV 3140 IP Video Phone is Skype Certified

 
New Grandstream GXV 3140 IP Video Phone is Skype Certified Grandstream Networks, manufacturer of IP voice/video telephony and video surveillance solutions, announced that its award-winning GXV3140 IP multimedia phone.    The GVX 3140 uses mega-pixel camera and H.264 codec to deliver razor sharp video calling over Internet, is officially certified by Skype and incorporates native Skype embedded software to allow Skype video calling without a PC. Skype’s community of users worldwide, who already have the capability to send and receive free video calls to and from their computers, can now do so with Grandstream’s IP multimedia phone. Designed to strengthen relationships with business colleagues and customers, as well as keep in touch with family and friends, the GXV3140 offers FREE two-way or three-way video calling out-of-the-box along with real-time instant access to a variety of Web and popular social multimedia applications.

“Skype certification on the GXV3140 IP multimedia phone creates a seamless video-enabled communications experience from PC to desk phone, giving Skype users the utmost flexibility and convenience for video calling,” said David Li, CEO of Grandstream Networks. “Grandstream's GXV3140 bridges the gap between convenient-to-use dedicated voice/video end-points and the increasingly popular world of PC-based Internet multimedia communication offerings like Skype."

The Skype-enabled Grandstream GXV3140 is the industry’s first desktop IP multimedia phones compatible with both Skype and SIP open standards for voice & video calling. No service contract or additional monthly fee is required to use Skype for video calling.

With a 4.3” digital color LCD, the ‘always-on’ GXV3140 has an integrated Web browser, giving users convenient, one-touch access to personalized feeds of real-time online information services (such as news video or RSS feeds, weather, IM, stock/currency updates, etc), thousands of Internet radio stations, major Web photo sites (Yahoo Flickr, Photobucket, Phanfare), popular social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter) and Internet streaming entertainment sites like YouTube and Last.fm.

Earlier this year, Grandstream also announced successful Skype Connect™ certification for its IPPBX and gateways. Skype Connect interoperability allows business users to receive calls through their Grandstream IPPBX from Skype users around the world. Companies can now allow their customers and remote employees to make free inbound calls to their corporate PBX system using Skype from anywhere in the world.

“We are pleased to deliver this new video device category that works with Skype and are honored to be selected for our innovation, rich features, and affordability. The GXV3140 phone joins Grandstream’s other Skype-enabled solutions including our IPPBX and gateway products previously certified by Skype,” Li added. “We value our strategic relationship with Skype and look forward to bringing more devices with Skype integration to market in the future.”

Pricing and Availability

The GXV3140 is available through Skype Store and Grandstream’s worldwide distribution partners for $229.00.

VOIP software provider Brekeke is interoperable with Skype Connect 1.0

Brekeke Software, vendor of SIP telephony software, announced and confirmed interoperability between Skype Connect 1.0 and Brekeke PBX. This new interoperability makes provisional users of Brekeke platforms to have flawless connectivity with Skype respondents.

As it was before, when connecting Skype with any VoIP service, there was needed an intermediate third-party product in form of gateway, as compulsory condition of such a connection. Skype Connect 1.0 now makes direct connection between Skype and SIP IP-PBX, which is traditionally being installed as a business telephony system. Since now, Brekeke PBX users can connect with Skype’s half of billion registered users without needs of any other devices to their existing telephone systems or hardware. ’’With the current popularity of social networking and smartphones, customers are always looking for new ways to connect with businesses partners’’, said Shin Yamade, CEO of Brekeke Software.” We have been receiving a lot of requests to offer compatibility with Skype Connect, and that shows that there are huge demands for connecting with various media in the market. With this confirmation of interoperability, any customers who have Brekeke PBX in their offices can offer Skype users the ability to connect via Skype from a website, iPhone or even Facebook. In addition, businesses can enjoy lower-cost calling through Skype termination services. I think of a reason why any business would not take advantage of such a great offer.’’ All the set of Skype services is quite indispensable to Brekeke PBX users. For example, Skype offers low-cost options for long-distance calls, DID numbers for businesses to process a distant presence by offering local numbers, and Skype’s click- to-call option, that allows Skype users to forward calls from their Skype account instead of using analog or other VoIP lines. Moreover, beside of all above benefits, companies will also be able to synergize their existing voice communications into a single platform under Skype services. Avoiding the switching between Skype and a SIP-enabled system, workers can use one device to attend calls from Skype, SIP or regular landline telephones. For example, with this versatility, remote employees who use Skype as their telephone service now can connect straightly to people in their office with Brekeke telephony PBX. The employees in the office just answer the Skype call on their SIP phones. Another massive business benefit to connecting Skype with Brekeke PBX is Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) system. By design, Skype delivers excellent peer- to-peer communication; still room of improvement exists, when connecting to Brekeke PBX allows users to expand communication instantly to multiple destinations. ACD can route the calls through a sophisticated call distribution process. For example, a call received through Skype can be put into a queue to hold until a sales representative becomes available.

VoIP services provider Skype in Japan

Japanese mobile network provider KDDI Corporation and Skype announced a strategic alliance that will integrate Skype throughout KDDI’ s services. From the beginning Skype will be made available on the KDDI networks on the Android™ smartphone “ IS03” and “ IS01” from November this year, with foreseen deeper integration on a range of Android devices as well as BREW group devices in 2011.

In frames of the partnership, Skype and KDDI have designed a totally new communications approach for Japanese users, offering them a effective, high quality and robust way to connect with friends and family both in Japan as well as internationally. Japanese clients on the KDDI network can take their Skype conversations and chats with them wherever they go and stay connected with their friends at any times by sending and receiving Instant Messages with the Skype application operating in the background. At moment of appearance, users will also be able to make unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype user in Japan and Worldwide without charges or any extra fees on monthly plan. Skype uses KDDI’ s voice network for Skype-to-Skype calls, delivering reliable connectivity to users and crystal clear call quality. Japanese KDDI customers with certain data plans will also be able to enjoy Skype features: Enabled Skype application “ always on” and see ‘ ’ your friends’ online status at any timeunlimited Skype-to-Skype callsAlways available Instant MessagingInternational calls at competitive Skype Out calling ratesGroup chats and conference calls“ Skype™ on au is a breakthrough in giving customers in Japan unlimited, global communications options, while expanding their calling community to hundreds of millions of Skype users worldwide,” said Mr. Takashi Tanaka, Senior Vice President, member of the board of KDDI. “ We look forward to working closely with Skype to extend these benefits beyond mobile to broadband, fixed line and cable, and thereby maximize the satisfaction of our customers in every area of our business.” “ Skype is pleased to partner with KDDI to deliver a high quality, innovative communications experience for Japanese consumers,” said Skype interim CEO, Adrian Dillon. “ KDDI’ s position as a leading network provider in Japan that offers a wide range of communications services, makes it a natural partner for Skype given our vision to make Skype available everywhere and enable users to take their Skype conversations with them wherever they go.”

VOIP software provider Brekeke is interoperable with Skype Connect 1.0

As it was before, when connecting Skype with any VoIP service, there was needed an intermediate third-party product in form of gateway, as compulsory condition of such a connection. Skype Connect 1.0 now makes direct connection between Skype and SIP IP-PBX, which is traditionally being installed as a business telephony system. Since now, Brekeke PBX users can connect with Skype’s half of billion registered users without needs of any other devices to their existing telephone systems or hardware. ’’With the current popularity of social networking and smartphones, customers are always looking for new ways to connect with businesses partners’’, said Shin Yamade, CEO of Brekeke Software.” We have been receiving a lot of requests to offer compatibility with Skype Connect, and that shows that there are huge demands for connecting with various media in the market. With this confirmation of interoperability, any customers who have Brekeke PBX in their offices can offer Skype users the ability to connect via Skype from a website, iPhone or even Facebook. In addition, businesses can enjoy lower-cost calling through Skype termination services. I think of a reason why any business would not take advantage of such a great offer.’’ All the set of Skype services is quite indispensable to Brekeke PBX users. For example, Skype offers low-cost options for long-distance calls, DID numbers for businesses to process a distant presence by offering local numbers, and Skype’s click- to-call option, that allows Skype users to forward calls from their Skype account instead of using analog or other VoIP lines. Moreover, beside of all above benefits, companies will also be able to synergize their existing voice communications into a single platform under Skype services. Avoiding the switching between Skype and a SIP-enabled system, workers can use one device to attend calls from Skype, SIP or regular landline telephones. For example, with this versatility, remote employees who use Skype as their telephone service now can connect straightly to people in their office with Brekeke telephony PBX. The employees in the office just answer the Skype call on their SIP phones. Another massive business benefit to connecting Skype with Brekeke PBX is Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) system. By design, Skype delivers excellent peer- to-peer communication; still room of improvement exists, when connecting to Brekeke PBX allows users to expand communication instantly to multiple destinations. ACD can route the calls through a sophisticated call distribution process. For example, a call received through Skype can be put into a queue to hold until a sales representative becomes available.

Skype Introduces 10-Way Video Calling

Skype — apparently pleased with its five-way beta group video-calling functionality — has just released a new version of Skype 5.0 for Windows that doubles group support. It now allows for up to 10 video callers.Skype 5.0 beta two is already available for download; it includes 10-way video calls, automatic call recovery and a cleaner user interface. The update is also said to improve call quality and includes a number of bug fixes to make the overall experience much smoother.

Of course, the standout feature is 10-way video calling, something that certainly one-ups their own previous offering and makes it suitable for even larger virtual team meetings and mini family reunions. Of course, it also makes Gmail’s (Gmail) video-calling functionality look like the ugly step sister — a proactive move on the part of Skype (Skype) to combat recent buzz surrounding Gmail Voice Calling.

Still, Skype does caution that 5.0 is beta, and hence, very buggy. It’s also limited to Windows (Windows) users, and 10-way video calls require all group chatters to be using the same second beta version of the app. Have you tested out five-way video calls? Are you ready to upgrade to the 10-person variety?

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