As Originally Posted at San Francisco Business TimesEBay Inc.'s Internet calling unit Skype unveiled software on Monday that works on corporate telephone systems.
Skype for SIP lets workers make calls using their regular office phones instead of having to plug a headset into a computer.
SIP is the acronym for Session Initiation Protocol, a voice over Internet protocol used on many business telephony networks.
The charge for calls made to cell phones and landlines will be 2.1 cents per minute, but there will be no charge for calls made from computers to other Skype networks. The beta version is available today and the product will be fully launched later this year.
About 35 percent of its customers already use the service for business purposes, Skype said.
Skype, headquartered in Luxemburg, was acquired by San Jose-based EBay in 2005 and has been one of the best known voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) systems on the market (San Jose Business Lawyer). Speculation about its future as an eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) picked up last week, however, when Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced an expanded version of a phone service previously known as GrandCentral.
Skype President Josh Silverman said at an analyst event last week that the unit had posted $550 million in sales in 2008 and would more than double that to more than $1 billion in 2011.
