Skype starts voicemail beta testing

The internet telephony David
expected to slay the telco Goliaths, Skype, has added a critical
feature missing on its voice over IP freeware: voicemail.

Existing users are asked to try out Skype Voicemail for free over a
period of a month through emailed vouchers. After the free month has
passed, Skype will charge for the voicemail service at a rate yet to be
determined.

Voicemail testers will need to use the latest beta version of Skype for
Windows. While Linux and Mac OS X users cannot try out the voicemail
yet, they can leave messages on Windows Skype users’ machines.
Voicemail on Skype for Windows Pocket PC is not supported yet, however.

Voicemail messages of up to 60 seconds duration will be stored locally
on users’ computers, with the main privacy settings in Skype
determining who can leave messages. The messages cannot be exported as
standard MP3 or WAV sound files at this stage, however.

Skype spokeswoman Kelly Larabee says the
voicemail offer has only gone out to a small group of current users,
and not all Skype customers, as the product is still in its trial and
testing phase. She declined to comment further.

Skype is also preparing the SkypeIn
service. This allows PSTN customers to call Skype users. Currently,
Skype users can call PSTN customers for a charge, but not vice versa.

Skype currently reports that is has had
over 57 million downloads of its free peer-to-peer telephony software.
Market researchers say there are around 15 million Skype users today.
However, the expected number will be anywhere between 140 million and
245 million by 2008, figures which would cut into traditional telco
profitability by around a quarter.