.: The Secret To Using Skype as a Small Business Marketing Tool
Category:Home / Technology / VOIP
Copyright © 2006 Gobala Krishnan
Skype (http://www.Skype.com) is already changing the way we do we do business, even as you're reading this. A little piece of software that uses VoIP (Voice Over IP) and P2P (Peer-to-Peer) technology, it created waves after waves of excitement, anticipation and even frustration since it's launch.
If you've never heard of Skype, your competitors are probably already ahead of you. The "Hype on Skype" as I call it, is justified for one reason alone: it really IS the communications tool of the future.
Skype is a breakthrough softphone application that allows you to make phone calls from your PC direct to another Skype user, or any regular fixed or mobile telephone. The cost is extremely cheap, and the quality has seen massive leaps of continuous improvement since it's launch in 2003. Everyone knows all that.
Here's what most people don't know: Skype can be used as powerful and effective marketing tool for any small business. If you want to reach an international market, get telephone inquiries and leads from China, or even if you just want to use it to communicate with your business buddies, you should explore the hidden potential of Skype.
Using Skype as a marketing or telemarketing tool basically revolves around these facts:
1) The Power of SkypeIn and Virtual Numbers
SkypeIn, a feature of Skype still in beta, allows you to create virtual numbers in many different countries. If you maximize on this fact, you can literally have "virtual offices" all around the world, even if you're a home based business entrepreneur with no staff, an embarrassing budget and limited time.
2) The Power of Third-Party Applications
There are many third party applications that enhance the basic software. No, I'm not talking about the ones that allow you to create cute icons or change the ring tone of your incoming Skype calls. Those are nice, but I'm talking about the business-related applications. If you know the correct ones to use, you can literally build a "virtual call center" from your desktop that has all the feature of a real call center: your own personal secretary, day-and-time manager, call routing and call waiting, conditional call forwarding, language translations and much more.
3) The Integration Capabilities
If the "off-the-shelf" version just doesn't cut it for your business needs, then you can customize and adapt Skype into your own proprietary systems and software. You can choose to do this in-house, or outsource it to experts all over the world. If you know where and how to do this, you can create a powerful telemarketing application that cost pennies a day compared to the traditional solutions. It will be much more time-efficient, too.
So I'll say it again: Skype is the communications tool of the future. Learning how to use it effectively in a sales and marketing context could be the deciding factor between "just another year" and "termendous year" for your business.
------------------------
Article keywords: skype, skaip, skypee, voip, voice over ip, internet telephony
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
Gobala Krishnan is a small business entrepreneur and author of the
revolutionary "Internet Telephony Secrets : The Original Guide to Marketing With VoIP". Grab a copy of his book at www.InternetTelephonySecrets.com/2/
.: New VOIP Articles
1). 6 Voice Over IP Tips
There are many benefits to VoIP. Here are 6 benefits we found to voice over ip. You may be able to think of even more reasons to switch or to include this exciting way to communicate at reduced prices.
2). Top 10 Reasons You Should Switch To VoIP
If you are considering changing to voice over internet protocol or VoIP for short you need to know the arguments for changing. Here are our top 10 reasons to switch to VoIP.
3). 7 Good Reasons Not To Switch To Voice Over IP Technology
For every positive there is a negative when it comes to voice over ip technology. Here are 7 good reasons not to switch in spite of the savings you may realize.
4). How To Choose The Best Voice Over Ip Provider
Choosing the best voice over ip provider may require you to do something that you have never done before. Here are a few tips to help you choose the best voice over ip provider.
5). Residential VoIP: Things to Consider Before Switching
Choosing VoIP over traditional telephone services has its pros and cons just like anything else. It is up to the consumer to weigh the advantages and disadvantages, and to come to a conclusion with eyes wide open.
6). Advantages of IP Telephony for the Residential Consumer
As more of us are building our own local area networks at home to connect our family members to each others data and appliances, broadband connections to the outside world have expanded our pipe to the Internet, giving us plenty of bandwidth to consider converging our home network with voice over IP telephony.
7). VoIP Communication Technology
VoIP... or Voice Over Internet Protocol, is the latest and greatest communications technology.
.: Top VOIP Articles
1). VoIP Problems?
Well of course there's VoIP problems, although I think problems is too strong of a word. Instead I would call this VoIP issues. (Just semantics? maybe, read on!)
Some may be old enough to remember making long distance calls where there was static or crackling on the phone line connection. Maybe you remember having to speak LOUDER in order to be heard on the line.
2). How To Set Up A Business VoIP System
To set up a business VoIP system, you need several components. A central device to manage the calls, the way a private branch exchange (PBX) or key system unit (KSU) does in traditional phone systems is one of them.
This can be a dedicated piece of hardware such as an IP PBX, a regular PBX that has been IP-enabled, or a server running specialized software.
3). VoIP Information: Benefits & Drawbacks
Once upon a time, a telephone was just a telephone. You set the base in your home and it featured either a corded or cordless handset for talking to family and friends. Even though that same telephone remains the standard, VoIP, which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, is increasing in popularity and gradually beginning to change the way that the world sends and receives telephone calls.
4). Skype versus Yahoo
With the influx of complaints regarding Skype’s fall from grace, Danny Wirken measures up the top competitor and internet giant Yahoo!’s news internet telephony service.
Cheaper, faster, better quality, better customer service and a brand you can trust. These are the things Yahoo! want you take away from any of their promotional material for the new Yahoo! voice VoIP service.
5). Voice Over Ip – What Is It And What Are The Choices?
Voice over Internet Protocol. First was the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell had a vision. He saw people communicating over long distances with their own voice, not trough beeps and squeaks. Then came the Internet. A few students and the US military had a vision, somewhat similar to Bell’s. They saw people communicating over long distances, but this time in writing.
6). Why VOIP?
Voice Over Internet Protocol delivers the service of converting the analog line into a digital signal so that voice could be transferred through the internet and this proves to be a lot cheaper than the PSTN (public switched telephone network). Voip is the best for making long distance calls in, inexpensive rates.
Voip and IP telephony are fields which have seen extensive growth and they continue to develop efficiently.
7). Advanced VoIP Gateway Technology
Increased demand for video-based applications in the mobile network drive the deployment of 3G networks. Inherent complexities in traditional video gateways cause performance bottlenecks and inflate costs. If the industry expects to absorb the impending explosion in demand, these proposed cost-saving and complexity-reducing changes are needed.
Unrelenting market demand for video-based applications over mobile networks is driving the increased deployment of 3G networks.