Update: Microsoft has just disclosed a couple more details about the deal. It was signed last night, May 9th, though the price was finalized on April 18th. You can follow a live stream of Steve Ballmer and Tony Bates' presentation right here.

Continue reading Microsoft's acquisition of Skype for $8.5 billion becomes official

Microsoft's acquisition of Skype for $8.5 billion becomes official originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 08:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was inevitable. Nokia this morning announced plans to ‘align its global workforce and consolidate site operations’. That means significant layoffs and reorganizations across the board, of course, so here are the details:

First off, Nokia will be cutting its workforce by roughly 4,000 employees by the end of 2012.

The giant phone manufacturer has partnered with Accenture to transfer all its Symbian software activites, including about 3,000 employees, to the latter company.

The majority of job cuts will be in the company’s home country Finland, as well as Denmark and the UK. Discussions with employee representatives started today, Nokia says.

In addition, Nokia aims to reduce its Devices & Services operating expenses by 1 billion euros for the full year 2013 in comparison to the full year 2010, as previously announced.

All employees affected by the reduction plans can opt to remain on the Nokia payroll through the end of 2011. The company says it expects cuts to occur in phases until the end of next year, linked to the roll-out of its planned product and services portfolio.

Nokia says it intends to ramp up its capacity for the development of Nokia smartphones based on the Windows Phone platform – the deal with Microsoft was signed last week on Thursday.

Nokia adds that it plans to “consolidate the company’s research and product development sites so that each site has a clear role and mission”. This will result in the contraction or closure of some sites, although the company leaves the door open for expansion of other sites.

Said Stephen Elop, Nokia president and CEO:

“At Nokia, we have new clarity around our path forward, which is focused on our leadership across smart devices, mobile phones and future disruptions.

However, with this new focus, we also will face reductions in our workforce. This is a difficult reality, and we are working closely with our employees and partners to identify long-term re-employment programs for the talented people of Nokia.”

Nokia last week reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2011: profit declined 1.4 percent year-over-year.

Also read:

Nokia heading to Silicon Valley? And the ‘Standing on a burning platform’ memo
Nokia Microsoft is like Yahoo Bing – Nokia’s days as innovator are over

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Bandwidth.com, a supplier of VoIP network services to Skype, Pinger, and others, has acquired Dash Carrier Services, a provider of emergency calling telephony services (i.e. 911 calling). Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed but we are told it is an all-cash deal.

Bandwidth.com provides millions of phone numbers annually and billions of minutes of calls for over 6,000 business customers in the U.S., including Skype, Pinger, Yext, and IfByPhone. For small and medium sized businesses, Bandwidth also provides integrated office phone systems, smartphones, as well as business-grade Internet connectivity. The company’s recently launched Google Voice competitor Phonebooth is a VoIP service for individuals and small businesses that provides users with a free local phone number that can be forwarded to any cell phone and landline. It also offers voicemail transcriptions, and an auto attendant feature that allows users to route callers to different employees.

Dash Carrier Services essentially allows VoIP applications to include emergency services, including 911 calls. Dash also provides 411 services, live nationwide directory listing, and other dialing services. Bandwidth was already using Dash’s emergency calling technology in its own VoIP offerings but will now be able to use the technology more broadly within its products.

Bandwidth believes that eventually the FCC will require that companies like Skype and Pinger offer emergency calling functionality, and Dash will allow the company to integrate this into their wholesale network offerings.

Together, Bandwidth and Dash are forecasted to reach over $100 million in revenues this year and both companies are profitable. Bandwidth, which just struck a deal with Verizon, for lower call connecting fees, has flown under the radar for the past ten years despite its success. And the company is looking to IPO in the next 18 months and will most probably soon announce a fairly big venture financing in the next few weeks (this will be the first large round of funding for the company).

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Ahead of its Strategy and Financial Briefing in London, Nokia has shared some details on what it plans to announce at the event. As expected, the company is aligning its strategy with Microsoft.

By now, you’ve probably seen the ‘burning platform’ memo penned by the fresh CEO of the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer, former Microsoft executive Stephen Elop (the existence of the brutally honest memo was first reported by TechCrunch Europe and later published in full by Engadget).

In it, Elop addressed the company’s formidable competitors (Apple and Google with its Android OS strategy), who are consistently out-innovating Nokia and steadily taking over its market share. Clearly, Elop was gearing up for the announcement of some significant changes with regards to Nokia’s strategy going forward. He delivered. (full press release below)

Here’s the meat:

- Plans for a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a new global mobile ecosystem; Windows Phone would serve as Nokia’s primary smartphone platform.
- A renewed approach to capture volume and value growth to connect “the next billion” to the Internet in developing growth markets
- Focused investments in next-generation disruptive technologies
- A new leadership team and organizational structure with a clear focus on speed, results and accountability

Windows Phone to become Nokia’s primary smartphone platform = huge. Microsoft reportedly offered Nokia hundreds of millions of dollars to make that switch.

Nokia will use Bing for search functionality across its devices, while Nokia Maps will become core to Microsoft’s mapping services. Nokia’s content and app store will be integrated with Microsoft’s Marketplace. More info about the partnership is available here.

Nokia says Symbian will become a ‘franchise platform’, while MeeGo will become an open-source, mobile operating system project. In their words:

“MeeGo will place increased emphasis on longer-term market exploration of next-generation devices, platforms and user experiences”.

Nokia still plans to ship a MeeGo-related product later this year.

The biggest change to the management team: Alberto Torres has apparently stepped down, effective February 10, to “pursue other interests outside the company”. Torres joined Nokia in 2004 and was EVP of MeeGo Computers, Mobile Solutions.

As of April 1, Nokia will also boast a new company structure, which features two distinct business units: Smart Devices and Mobile Phones.

You can learn more about what that means in the press release below, which will no doubt be ripped apart by press and analysts in the following hours and days (and beyond).

When the company recently reported its fourth-quarter earnings, Nokia said its estimated market share had shrunk to 31 percent.

With this broad partnership with Microsoft and the organizational overhaul, is a veritable comeback in the cards for the ailing mobile phone maker?

Nokia outlines new strategy, introduces new leadership, operational structure

London, UK – Nokia today outlined its new strategic direction, including changes in leadership and operational structure to accelerate the company’s speed of execution in a dynamic competitive environment.

Major elements of the new strategy include:

- Plans for a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a new global mobile ecosystem; Windows Phone would serve as Nokia’s primary smartphone platform.
- A renewed approach to capture volume and value growth to connect “the next billion” to the Internet in developing growth markets
- Focused investments in next-generation disruptive technologies
- A new leadership team and organizational structure with a clear focus on speed, results and accountability

“Nokia is at a critical juncture, where significant change is necessary and inevitable in our journey forward,” said Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO. “Today, we are accelerating that change through a new path, aimed at regaining our smartphone leadership, reinforcing our mobile device platform and realizing our investments in the future.”

Nokia plans to form a strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a global mobile ecosystem based on highly complementary assets. The Nokia-Microsoft ecosystem targets to deliver differentiated and innovative products and have unrivalled scale, product breadth, geographical reach, and brand identity. With Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform, Nokia would help drive the future of the platform by leveraging its expertise on hardware optimization, software customization, language support and scale. Nokia and Microsoft would also combine services assets to drive innovation. Nokia Maps, for example, would be at the heart of key Microsoft assets like Bing and AdCenter, and Nokia’s application and content store would be integrated into Microsoft Marketplace. Under the proposed partnership, Microsoft would provide developer tools, making it easier for application developers to leverage Nokia’s global scale.

With Nokia’s planned move to Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform, Symbian becomes a franchise platform, leveraging previous investments to harvest additional value. This strategy recognizes the opportunity to retain and transition the installed base of 200 million Symbian owners. Nokia expects to sell approximately 150 million more Symbian devices in the years to come.

Under the new strategy, MeeGo becomes an open-source, mobile operating system project. MeeGo will place increased emphasis on longer-term market exploration of next-generation devices, platforms and user experiences. Nokia still plans to ship a MeeGo-related product later this year.

In feature phones, Nokia unveiled a renewed strategy to leverage its innovation and strength in growth markets to connect the next billion people to their first Internet and application experience.

New leadership team, operational structure
This new strategy is supported by significant changes in Nokia’s leadership, operational structure and approach. Effective today, Nokia has a new leadership team with the commitment, competencies and innovative thinking needed in today’s dynamic environment.

The Nokia Leadership Team, previously the Group Executive Board, will consist of the following members: Stephen Elop, Esko Aho, Juha Akras, Jerri DeVard, Colin Giles, Rich Green, Jo Harlow, Timo Ihamuotila, Mary McDowell, Kai Oistamo, Tero Ojanpera, Louise Pentland and Niklas Savander.

Alberto Torres has stepped down from the management team, effective February 10 to pursue other interests outside the company.

The renewed governance will expedite decision-making and improve time-to-market of products and innovations, placing a heavy focus on results, speed and accountability. The new strategy and operational structure are expected to have significant impact to Nokia operations and personnel.

New company structure
As of April 1, Nokia will have a new company structure, which features two distinct business units: Smart Devices and Mobile Phones. They will focus on Nokia’s key business areas: high-end smartphones and mass-market mobile phones. Each unit will have profit-and-loss responsibility and end-to-end accountability for the full consumer experience, including product development, product management and product marketing.

Smart Devices will be responsible for building Nokia’s leadership in smartphones and will be led by Jo Harlow. The following sub-units now in Mobile Solutions will move under Smart Devices:
- Symbian Smartphones
- MeeGo Computers
- Strategic Business Operations

To support the planned new partnership with Microsoft, Smart Devices will be responsible for creating a winning Windows Phone portfolio.

Mobile Phones will drive Nokia’s “web for the next billion” strategy. Mobile Phones will leverage its innovation and strength in growth markets to connect the next billion people and bring them affordable access to the Internet and applications. The Mobile Phones unit will be led by Mary McDowell.

Markets will be responsible for selling products, executing compelling marketing and communications, creating a competitive local ecosystem, sourcing, customer care, manufacturing, IT and logistics across all Nokia products. It will be headed by Niklas Savander.

Services and Developer Experience will be responsible for Nokia’s global services portfolio, developer offering, developer relations and integration of partner service offerings. Tero Ojanpera will lead the Services and Developer Experience unit in an acting capacity.

NAVTEQ, an integral part of Nokia’s location and advertising business, will be headed by Larry Kaplan, and continue as a separate reporting entity.

The CTO Office will be responsible for Nokia’s technology strategy and forward-looking technology activities, including Nokia Research Center. It will be headed by Rich Green.

Design, responsible for Nokia product and user experience design, will be led by Marko Ahtisaari.

The CFO Office, responsible for all financial activity, will be headed by Timo Ihamuotila.

Corporate Development, responsible for driving implementation of Nokia’s ecosystem strategy and strategic partnerships, will be headed by Kai Oistamo.

Corporate Relations & Responsibility, responsible for Nokia’s government and public affairs, sustainable development and social responsibility, will be led by Esko Aho.

Human Resources will be led by Juha Akras.

Legal and Intellectual Property will be led by Louise Pentland.

Nokia Siemens Networks continues in the Nokia Group as a separate reporting entity.

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Nokia had years to get things right. They had billions of dollars in revenue and, quite literally, the ear of the world. iPhone? Feh. For the longest time iPhone was a Cybiko compared to the reach and influence of Big Sininen. So what the heck happened?

I first started noticing Nokia’s steep decline in about 2007. It was at the launch of the XpressMusic, a music phone for the masses that, for once, actually appeared in the US. This was about the time the iPhone began washing on the shores of Finland like a pernicious parasitical plant. The company released the XpressMusic as a cheap, entry-level phone for folks who wanted to listen to music. However, at the core of this move was Nokia’s consistent disregard for the changing status quo.

By 2007, the smartphone was slowly dying. Windows Mobile and Symbian, while arguably the most popular end-user platforms around the world, were light years older than the upcoming Android and iOS and users were already pinning their hopes on future technology including a nascent WebOS.

Read more…

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It seems we aren’t the only ones to think it’s wise to hold off buying the Verizon iPhone. Consumer Reports recently made a recommendation against buying the highly anticipated device. Apple can’t seem to get any slack from the CR guys; when iPhone 4 first came out, CR finally made the recommendation against buying it, though after a few tries.

It comes as no surprise that Consumer Reports recommends against buying the Verizon iPhone, but maybe for different reasons than you think. But first, lets talk about why you would buy the Verizon iPhone.

Read More

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Salesforce is continuing its shopping spree into 2011. The company has announced that it has acquired DimDim, a web conferencing service for $31 million in cash.

DimDim, which has raised around $9 million in venture funding, provides a browser-based web conferencing platform that doesn’t require the installation of any desktop software and is based on an open source platform. The platform provides real-time collaboration capabilities, the ability to share documents, record sessions, whiteboard and use video, voice and phone conferencing.

Salesforce.com says that it will use DimDim’s real-time communication technologies in its social collaboration platform, Chatter. Interestingly, while the CRM giant has previously backed away from facebook comparisons to Chatter, Salesforce said that the integration between Chatter and DimDim will mirror “the proven Facebook model of combining collaboration and communication into an integrated service.”

From the release, it really sounds like Salesforce wants to create the Facebook for the enterprise. From the release:

Today, Facebook has proven the value of integrated collaboration and communication, with services like presence and messaging, which helped fuel user adoption, making it the world’s most popular Internet site.Salesforce.com followed a similar path when it introduced the Salesforce Chatter collaboration platform. Today, more than 60,000 customers have deployed Chatter since its release in June — making it the company’s most-popular product. Now with Dimdim, salesforce.com is following Facebook’s lead once again. By offering an integrated collaboration and communication platform, the company believes it will drive greater Chatter adoption, increase customer loyalty and differentiate its entire product portfolio.

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We’ve been hearing reports that Skype is debuting a mobile video chat service and D-Day has arrived. The company is launching a brand new version of its iPhone app that includes the ability to turn on video in any Skype chat.

The beauty of the app is that it brings free video calling to iPhone 3G devices, iPad and iPod Touch, all of which couldn’t run Apple’s video calling feature Facetime (the feature only works with iPhone 4 devices and Mac computers). Of course, iPad owners won’t be able to initiate a video call, but these users can receive any video chats from contacts.

Skype also says that the app allows users to video chat over both 3G and WiFi networks, allowing users to access the feature across a variety of connections. Skype’s iPhone app, which was one of the top five free iPhone apps in 2010, allows users to simply turn on the video feature to activate video chat. iPhone 4 users have the ability to use either the front facing camera or the back camera.

The new version of the iPhone app is compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and 4th generation iPod touch with i0S 4.0 or above. Users can receive video chat on the 3rd generation iPod touch and iPad. Calls can also be made between devices using the new Skype for iPhone app and desktops including Skype for Windows, Skype for Mac, Skype for Linux and ASUS Videophone.

Rick Osterloh, VP of Consumer Products for Skype, tells us that the company has been working for awhile to develop video capability in the app. With video calling representing 40 percent of all Skype calls, Osterloh says that adding the functionality made sense to expand Skype’s use. “Mobile is going to be big for Skype,” says Osterloh. “We are making sure Skype is with you wherever you are and mobile will be the place where that happens as smartphones get more powerful.”

Osterloh adds that we can expect more mobile offerings in the near future, which seems to imply that video calling could be coming to its Android app as well. And while this new app does seem to compete with Apple’s Facetime, Osterloh is quick to add that Apple has been a “great partner” in the development of the new build of iPhone app (probably because Apple actually approved the app).

This has been a tumultuous few weeks for Skype, which suffered a massive outage last week affecting tens of millions os users. Today, the company’s CIO Lars Rabbe revealed the causes behind the outage, which included a bug in the Skype for Windows client. And earlier this week, the company was hit with a patent infringement suit. Skype says that the release of the app was purposely made just prior to New Year’s, which is historically Skype’s biggest video calling day of the year (measured in calling minutes).

2011 should be a big year for Skype, as the company prepares for an IPO in the next year. With this event looming ahead, Skype has been working to expand usage of its service through enterprise offerings and new product development (i.e. Facebook integration). And we know Skype is going to make a big push to the cloud in 2011, possibly launching a web-based service early in the year.

Besides for general consumer use, video calling could come in useful for Skype’s enterprise clients. The new feature definitely makes the technology a more compelling solution for conferencing purposes.

And Osterloh made it pretty clear that mobile will also be a part of the company’s strategy to expand its userbase (Skype has an average 25 million consumers using the service at any given time). It should be interesting to see what Skype has up its sleeve in the New Year.

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[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Some parts of the country are reporting their 3G service has been restored, though it's not yet certain that all troubles have been ironed out. Our own Droids seem to be working fine now, how about yours?

Verizon 3G network goes down nationwide, everybody panic! (update: back up for some) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 04:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since I work from home, I often use video conferencing solutions to remotely demo products and participate in conference calls. But often adding video to these conferencing solution slows down the software and causes latency and in most cases, the video quality is poor. Fuze Meeting, the developer of an online meeting software, is introducing a new video conferencing technology, called Presence, that is definitely worth a look.

Similar to GoToMeeting or WebEx, Fuze provides a conferencing service that allows users to share screens and run meetings online. As opposed to its competitors, Fuze promises a sleeker more lightweight interface. With Presence, Fuze has essentially combined this interface with multi-party desktop and mobile video conferencing in HD quality.

I actually tested this out and it’s not only simple to use, but the video is high quality and runs seamlessly with the actual conferencing technology. The meeting host can begin a meeting from a web browser or can meet from a downloaded app on their mobile device (Fuze offers apps for the iPad, iPhone and Android). Once the host enables video conferencing, he or sh can initiate a video meeting. Those with a camera-enabled device can join in, as well as those who are not working from a device with a camera (i.e. the iPad)

The technology also includes VoIP, screen sharing, the ability to share video, slides, ad more. The Fuze Presence technology is currently optimized for 8 video participants at once.

Currently in private beta, the technology will soon be extended to the public early next year.

For background, the company, which was formerly known as Callwave, was founded in 1998 and went public in 2004, trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol CALL. After reaching a peak soon thereafter of over $15 per share, the stock dropped steadily, dipping as low as 50 cents early this year. Deciding to cut its losses, the company delisted itself from NASDAQ after buying back shares from public shareholders at a 44% premium over the current market value and paying out a total of $10 million.

In the summer of 2009, the company rebranded itself as Fuze Box and launched Fuze Meeting. Fuze also launched Tweetshare, a platform for branded Twitter channels, and brought on streaming media inventor Dr. Alan Lippman its Executive Vice President of Media Technology.

After a tumultuous past, it looks like things may be coming together for Fuze after all.

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We’ve been down this road before: a new iOS version is released that undoes all of the nasty stuff hackers did to the previous version. A week later those same hackers blow out a jailbreak and then a few days later they release a full unlock (the latest iOS unlock is only for 3G and 3GS right now, so iPhone 4 users are stuck for now.) Given that this is pretty much standard procedure, why don’t carriers just give up?

Sadly, most other phones don’t get this sort of white glove treatment. A grey market exists that traffics in phone unlocks for many devices including Blackberries and Nokias. Why? Because someone, somewhere wants to move their phone from country A to country B. The vast majority of phone users will never want to this but there is still plenty of demand.

So why not ship without the lock? Well, there are a few possible answers, barring the obvious “Carriers suck.”

First, the lock ensures carriers get their pound of flesh before your phone becomes obsolete. By locking your phone, they get to charge you at home, and, more important, they can charge you when you’re roaming (and boy will they ever charge you). This is allows them to make back their phone subsidy and then some.

Next, the lock ensures that phones can’t travel. For various reasons, carriers don’t want the phones of Cleveland to end up in Swaziland. The first of these reasons is that many phones just don’t work overseas. Second, phones in some countries are cheaper than in others. An iPhone in Europe, for example, usually costs much more than it costs on AT&T. It won’t do to allow phone buyers to cross the border like so many retirees looking for cut-rate Canadian Viagra, right?

That said, why not just give up? All of the great phones, including Windows Phone 7 models, have at least some form of public jailbreak if not a full unlock. The phones without a public unlock actually can be unlocked if you call your carrier after six months. Or, finally, you can pay some weirdo to send you an unlock code.

I would estimate the majority of phone users barely know they’re using SIM cards let alone understand the entire SIM unlock idea. Most folks who make calls while travelling are probably doing so for business and so their phone calls are expensed any way. Is it really worth the bad will generated by SIM locks when you’re overseas and want to swap out a SIM and can’t? Probably not, but again, carriers, oddly enough, don’t care.

Will the SIM unlock ever disappear even though it is easily surmounted? I doubt it. It’s the famous old chestnut of “security through obscurity” that has always popular with corporate types. After all, if it looks like a lock, it must act like one.

Image via ArtLebedev

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This has been an absolutely insane week of announcements relating to the Unified Communications / collaboration / VoIP / etc, etc. space... it's been a while since I can think of a week that had so much news packed into it.

I think it's called... "everyone wants to get all their news out before it is US Thanksgiving and people start ignoring news because of the holidays!"

Regardless of why, the fact is that each day I've watched the Twitter stream just scrolling by with tons of items I'd love to write about. Unfortunately, I, too, have been slammed - and unable to write all that I've wanted to.

Thankfully, Dave Michels pulled together a nice summary over on No Jitter:

Watta Week!

Check there for pointers to stories about Microsoft Lync... Mitel Freedom... Cisco's zillion video announcements... and news from Polycom, Avaya and HP, too.

Some week, I'm hoping to write about each of these myself... but that week is very definitely NOT this week!

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Update: Sure enough, T-Mobile is now also listing the iPad as "coming soon." Thanks, Dilwar!

Continue reading Orange and T-Mobile set to offer 3G iPad on contract in UK, £200 price rumored

Orange and T-Mobile set to offer 3G iPad on contract in UK, £200 price rumored originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Update, Verizon pinged us with a few points -- for starters new speed is available today to the majority of our FiOS customers in 12 states and the District of Columbia, with more and more to get it in due time. As for pricing? The 150/35 Mbps residential offer will be available to the majority of FiOS-eligible households, and sold as a stand-alone service starting at $194.99 a month when purchased with a one-year service agreement and Verizon wireline voice service. Not exactly a "bargain," but like we said, you're still finding a way to make this happen.

Continue reading Verizon bringing 150/35Mbps internet to FiOS customers, enraging customers of all other ISPs

Verizon bringing 150/35Mbps internet to FiOS customers, enraging customers of all other ISPs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sean Hollister / Engadget:
Windows Phone 7 hitting Verizon stores ‘this holiday season,’ according to Microsoft tweet (update)  —  Looks like Microsoft took Big Red's challenge and decided to respond in kind, as the official Windows Phone Twitter feed claims that Windows Phone 7 devices are finally headed to Verizon.

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What do you call a dead N8, by the way?

N8 owner: A tragedy
iPhone owner: DOA
Android owner: About as useful as any other N8
N900 owner: A missed opportunity
Store sales rep: Dummy unit
Symbian Foundation employee: Justice
Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo: Karma
A goat: Dinner

[Thanks, John]

Nokia says 'very small' number of N8s aren't turning on, warranty will cover it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The phone on my desk rang a second time today. I glanced at the console, didn't recognize the Caller ID and simply ignored the call. A minute or two later a text message buzzed on my iPhone with a transcription of the voicemail left by the caller. I took one look and knew right away:

Yep, another telemarketer!

Just like another call earlier today. As I did my little glance-ignore-wait-for-text-message routine I realized yet again how my communications channels have changed over the years. Here is the reality:

I pretty much NEVER answer my desk phone.

Why not? Pretty simple, really:

The people who I want to speak with already know how to get in touch with me!

And the "how" comes down to: unified communications and mobile.

Unified Communications

For instance, we're huge users of Skype internally at Voxeo. I have everyone in the company as a contact, and am in a zillion various group chats with internal employees. If someone within the company wants to reach me, they will:

• Check my presence on Skype. Am I online? If so, am I "away"? or "busy/Do Not Disturb"?

• Send me an IM - asking if they can call me if it's urgent.

Note that second bullet... internal communication starts in IM and then migrates to voice and possibly video if our conversation needs to be "higher bandwidth" than typing.

I can't honestly remember the last time someone internally actually rang my desk phone, because, if I'm not online, there's also...

Mobile

If I'm not online, or if it's urgent, people know to call me on my mobile phone. I carry it basically everywhere. And whether they dial that direct number or they call my Google Voice number that rings that phone... either way they reach me on my mobile.

It's Not Just Internal

Most of the people who I regularly want to talk to outside my company are also linked to me via Skype or one of the other IM networks (and mostly via Skype) or social networks. Or they have my mobile number. Possibly we've connected via some other way... email... Twitter... Facebook... and if we need to go to voice, we've exchanged mobile phone numbers... or we'll use an app in one of the social services (like Facebook Telephone or Twelephone) that connects us via voice through that service. They don't call my desk phone.

Which Leaves the Desk Phone For What?

Spam! Er... "telemarketing calls". Usually from someone trying to sell me some service that will magically generate millions of leads... or giving me a "personal invitation" to some event. Randomly there might be someone out there who I actually want to speak with - my deskphone number is on my business card, after all - and if so I will definitely return the call after I see the voicemail transcription.

Otherwise... it just sits there as a number out there to attract telemarketers...

How about you? Do you answer your desk phone much any more? Do people actually call you on it?

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[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Note: For some reason, you need to search the App Store for "googlevoice," not "google voice." Weird, we know.

Official Google Voice app for iPhone hits the App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video Testimonial - Cody Landscape

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Seven ways to achieve customer service.

Do you know any others?

1. Focus on the wants of the customer
2. Make your effort about fulfilling their need, not having them do what you want
3. Listen don’t hear
4. Determine what action(s) you need to perform to fulfill the customer’s expectations
5. Go above and beyond what is necessary to get the job done
6. Follow-up to ensure the customer is satisfied with the result you have achieved
7. Determine if there is there anything else you can do to make the customer happier?

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