Since I came back from the ITExpo in San Diego, I've been scrambling like mad. I really haven't done justice to some of the folks who took time to brief me on their products and solutions at the Expo. I'm wading through a series of notes and press kits that I have and trying to cover everything.

On Thursday, October 12th, I met with Lesley Kirchman from Actiontec to talk primarily about the new VoSKY Exchange solution they were showing at the Expo. Lesley's their Director of Marketing and really focused on the success of VoSKY Exchange, which brings the benefit of Skype to an office environment. Exchange seamlessly bridges your existing PBX to the Skype network, and gives you inexpensive long distance and international calls. Exchange adds four Skype lines to your PBX, and extends the benefit of Skype
to every extension in your office.

Ok, there's the marketing buzz, but let me put this in everyday language. VoSKY Exchange lets you treat Skype lines like trunks on a PBX. It takes a lot of the Skype client concern away from business users, because the Skype link just becomes another trunk line. That means it's accessible for automatic route selection and least cost routing algorithms in the PBX.




The original Exchange is shown above. At the Expo the introduced the rack mountable, business class variation you see below.




This is clearly a small business solution today, but Lesley pointed out Actiontec's commitment to enterprises in the way the company's structure and did acknowledge that there's some work underway to look at an enterprise class variation. I can see a market potential for a rack mount unti that supports 24-48 Skype connections for a large enterprise.

There were two other intriguing products Actiontec had on display. They've got a small Skype speakerphone, called the Chatterbox. I don't recall seeing reviews of this anywhere, but they've shipped me one for evaluation. It arrived a day or two ago, and I'll be testing it out and writing it up here. Chatterbox is the go-anywhere speakerphone solution for Skype! No software or special drivers required. Simply plug your Chatterbox into any computer and you're ready to start talking! Sounds like a solution I can use on the road even. Could be very handy in the computer bag.


But that's not all. The thing I really liked for my home office use is a gadget that's the VoSKYCall Center. Make Skype calls from your cell phone, the nearest phone - any phone! Actiontec once again delivers a product that enhances your Skype experience. Before, you had to sit in front of the computer and wear cumbersome headsets for Skype calling. Now VoSKY Call Center from Actiontec takes the great sound quality and low cost of Skype calls and makes these features accessible everywhere, on any phone. And like the Chatterbox, Actiontec shipped me a unit for evaluation.


What intrigued me about the call center was Lesley's description of how she and her husband use it. He also works for Actiontec and it often on the road. It sounds like a real productivity booster for controlling how calls get handled. I'll be writing this on up here as soon as I can play with it a bit also.

Another note. Lesley and I talked a lot about blogs and blogging and the value they bring to the tech sector. Lesley does some personal blogging today, but is keenly interested in a VoSKY blog. I really encouraged her to push this effort forward, and suggested a couple of blogs she might look at for ideas on how to run a business blog that really engages customers and users. I'm looking forward to seeing a live VoSKY blog real soon now.

All in all, I was quite impressed with the products being shown, but also with the vision and strategy they articulated for growing and supporting Skype use in business. Actiontec is a compay to watch.


Technorati Tags: Actiontec, VoSKY Exchange, VoSKY Call Center, Chatterbox, Lesley Kirchman, ITExpo