we are not likely to see skype unified on a large scale with other VOIP services. although there are announcements from several companies such as tringme and ribbit that they plan to offer integrated skype we have yet to see exactly how they will be integrated or if it is all hype.

mobile is a little further along with barablu, nimbuzz, fring and a few other offerings that work seamlessly with skype, sip, and IM Voice services such as gtalk, ms live, and yahoo. oigaa and net2max integrate outbound skype into there SIP services.

where skype is far more likely to show up in 'unified communications' is not as an option with other voice protocols but as unified with other communications applications such as email, IM, address books, search, etc. the skype API does allow for access to the voice functions from other applications so this sort of 'unified communications' makes sense.

the problem comes in running multiple lines of skype at on time on a node/network. it is simple to resource heavy to be included in your typical IP PBX system.

i sort of understand the skype mindset when it comes to not allowing SIP devices. that would likely turn there value priced services into commodity trunks used en mass on PBX's and they would no longer be profitable(or they would have to get rid of the unlimited(actually 3000 minutes) skype pro offer.) on the other hand it would make a lot of sense for skype to offer dialing to SIP URI's and possibly IM voice services such as gtalk, ms live, etc. it has been spoken many times from skype themselves that skypeout calls use SIP so the same gateways used for outbound dialing to the PSTN could be used this function. if they are so concerned about a drain on resources they could limit outbound SIP calls to skype pro subscribers; maybe even include them with the 3000 minute FUP. what could make this so interesting is the proliferation of skype hardware aimed at the consumer market that is very plug and play in nature. for someone ready to buy a netgear or belkin WiFi skype phones and happy with a $3.00 a month calling plan but feels they need to be able to talk with SIP users would have a hard time not going with skype if they could call everyone.

spg

something else interesting. i am quite familiar with the voxeo developers platform. the hosted version is integrated with skype through a bank of specially prefixed numbers. calls to these special number show up as skypeout(at no charge) calls on the call logs of my skype client. i suspect that whatever gatewaying technology is being used on the voxeo servers could be used to peer skype with any sip service in a relatively resource efficient manner(as compared to the reverse engineered workarounds being used in most cases.) i actually suspect that SIP itself is being used. if i examine the log files the calls are in the format skypename@skype.net(dare i say that may be a SIP proxy server)

@spg I realize there are some technical challenges with Skype being used in the UC space. It's true with any up-and-coming communications application.

Personally, I think true UC is a pipe dream.

what could make this so interesting is the proliferation of skype hardware aimed at the consumer market that is very plug and play in nature. for someone ready to buy a netgear or belkin WiFi skype phones and happy with a $3.00 a month calling plan but feels they need to be able to talk with SIP users would have a hard time not going with skype if they could call everyone.