Much loved Skype has gone headlong into the boardroom with new video functions.
Don’t leave your Skype account at home as Logitech launches LifeSize Passport HD video conferencing, the first business video solution on Skype.
This means users of LifeSize Passport users can now conduct video calls on the free internetnet calling service, who have been collaborating over the last two years on the project.
It is an important venture for Skype, currently the largest provider of online calls globally, and marks “the ‘consumerisation of IT’ whereby people are bringing Skype into the workplace,” it said today.
To activate, users must log onto LifeSize Passport using their Skype log in, and their existing contacts are automatically populated into the LifeSize directory. To make a call, users click on a contact name in the directory.
In addition to video calling, the LifeSize Passport user can make calls to landlines and mobile phones through Skype using software version 4.8 released this month.
“This initiative enables Skype to be part of the room-based enterprise video conferencing market,” said David Gurle, General Manager of Skype Enterprise and marks the latest departure from its traditional consumer user base.
And its not just an important departure for Skype. It also marks “an
incredibly significant milestone in the video communications industry,”
said Simon Claringbold, VP Asia Pacific at LifeSize.
Panasonic, LG and Samsung are also building Skype video conferencing capabilities into their new TVs as phone communication without the services of a telco grows.
There are no specific figures for Skype’s Australian user numbers, although 25 million users are said to be logged in at any one time around the world and there were 145m users on average per month by the close of last year.
