Rich and I reviewed the Plantronics SupraPlus HW251N-USB Wideband headset, featuring wideband codec support for use in VoIP applications such as Skype and Microsoft Office Communicator. Rich actually got two pre-production models and was kind enough to give me one of the SupraPlus headsets. Actually, he wanted me to be his guinea pig to test the audio quality since I get to hear and review quite a few VoIP products.

We tested the monaural style Plantronics SupraPlus HW251N-USB using both Skype and Microsoft Office Communicator. The audio quality was quite good. I believe the microphone captures a wider range of frequencies to enable the wideband support. The noise-canceling microphone filters out excessive background sound.

The Plantronics SupraPlus HW251N-USB features inline button controls. The headset itself features volume up/down buttons, mute, and even a disconnect/end call button that works with Microsoft Office Communicator. Interestingly, if Skype is running and if you press this disconnect/end call button you get simulated dial-tone. Not sure what that was about.

I noticed one end of the headset actually uses a RJ45 clip to connect into what I believe is the DSP processor. I've never seen Plantronics use a RJ45 clip for their headsets, but in theory they must be making some of their components more modular for interchanging various headset components. Or at least, one can hope. Nothing worse than having an incompatible base unit to a headset.

The headset is wired (to your USB port) and I'm much more a fan of wireless headsets even for desktop PCs. The Plantronics Voyager 510-USB Bluetooth headset is one of my favorites (see my review) and it works with your mobile phone and your desktop PC with the Bluetooth USB dongle. Of course, the 510-USB isn't a wideband codec headset, so if superior voice quality is your gig, then the SupraPlus HW251N-USB might be a better choice. Certainly organizations using wideband VoIP applications that have call center agents that don't roam around while on phone calls will find the SupraPlus HW251N-USB a good choice.

Lastly, go check out Rich's in-depth review here for his thoughts on this headset.

Packet8 has always been at the leading edge of cool VoIP applications and products. Packet8 was the first to offer a videophone for their residential VoIP customers (see my review of the Packet8 Videophone) They're had several other firsts to their name along with several patents to boot. Packet8 is like the dark horse when it comes to VoIP. While they don't have their name in lights like big bad Vonage, Packet8 has been slowly growing their customer base while adding cool new features. One advantage Packet8 has over Vonage and other VoIP broadband players is that Packet8 has gone after both the residential and business phone market simultaneously. These are vastly different markets, and would seem to many that Packet8 is biting off more than they can chew. But again, they keep steadily adding more customers. You know what they say - slow and steady wins the race.

Well, today I learned about another interesting VoIP application that Packet8 is offering - namely integration with Salesforce.com. You can call any of your Salesforce.com contacts to your Packet8 Virtual Office extension with the new salesforce.com plug-in application, which is available free to Virtual Office subscribers. Simply click the link next to a contact in the Salesforce.com browser window and you can instantly call your contacts. Just as nifty, incoming calls are displayed with pop-up screens based on the user's Salesforce contacts (using CallerID info).

Packet8 Virtual Office and salesforce.com partnered together to offer small businesses an integrated CRM telephony solution that lets subscribers place calls over the Packet8 Virtual Office service directly from their Salesforce application by either clicking the contact's phone number or using the dialpad on the Packet8 interface window.



The Packet8 Virtual Office Interface for Salesforce is currently supported by Internet Explorer 6.0 or later on Windows XP or Vista - sorry Mac fans. It also won't run on other browsers such as Opera, Firefox, or Opera. Limited browser support aside, Packet8 continues to add interesting VoIP applications that make VoIP a much more compelling argument to switch from PSTN other than simply cheaper voice minutes. Well done Packet8.

Pizza franchises live or die based on their ability to answer the phones as quickly as possible. If the customer has to wait on hold too long - or worse gets a busy signal, then the customer is going to hang-up and call another pizza restaurant.

So how do local pizzerias increase their call handling efficiency? Most have 2-5 analog lines deployed. Assuming it's $20 per line/month, over-provisioning by adding several additional lines that will probably only be utilized during peak load isn't very cost-effective.

Pizza Pizza, a fairly large pizza chain operating 350 restaurants across Canada, has been using VoIP along with a mixture of in-house agents, home-based agents, and outsourced agents since 2005. Using VoIP allowed Pizza Pizza this kind of agent flexibility, as well as the ability to ramp-up or down the number of agents depending on call volume.

It's now 2007, and the world's largest pizza chain, Pizza Hut has yet to deploy VoIP in its chain of restaurants. Or have they?

A source revealed to me Pizza Hut has indeed deployed VoIP. In fact, this source informed me that Pizza Hut has deployed hosted VoIP along with hosted agents to answer incoming pizza orders for local chains. (How widespread or how many chains is unknown) One advantage is the cost-savings of canceling almost all of their analog lines. I was told that these VoIP-enabled franchises typically were paying for 3 analog lines, however, they canceled 2 out of their 3 analog lines leaving just a single emergency line. They now use hosted VoIP and hosted agents, which have virtually unlimited call capacity. Since it uses hosted VoIP, there are no busy signals that you would experience when all 3 analog lines all being tied up – especially busy pizza ordering times like Superbowl Sunday. I'm told Pizza Hut, at least in the U.S., is leveraging Level3's backbone.

In addition, instead of a 17-year old inexperienced teenager answering the phone, the hosted call center agents are professional and can “upsell” the customer on specials, more toppings, etc. After the agent takes the order, I’m told the order is sent down to the local Pizza Hut over an IP connection and displayed on a screen. Thus, one obvious advantage is that a local franchise owner doesn't have to pay for someone to answer the phone thereby increasing their profit margin.

Another advantage of using VoIP is that it's much easier to build in redundancy. If anything happens to a particular site, calls can be switched from one site to another quickly and seamlessly without customers even noticing. Pizza Hut, like all chain places, charges a franchise fee to the owner of the chain which brings in revenue to Pizza Hut Corporate. They also make money on the food/supplies they sell to each chain. However, that's the end of their revenue stream. By Pizza Hut Corporate offering hosted VoIP services with professional call center agents, they can charge the local franchise for this valuable service for an additional revenue stream.

I tried reaching Pizza Hut for comment, but initially they didn't return my calls or emails. Finally, after several calls and a couple of emails I was able to get a very terse email reply from Pizza Hut spokesman Chris Fuller, which stated, "Its our policy not to discuss business strategy so we wouldn't be able to comment on this story."  The "no comment" would seem to indicate to me that Pizza Hut's strategy is indeed to roll-out hosted VoIP to their locations. I don't see how they plan on keeping this under wraps. The teenager that loses his job to some hosted VoIP agent or simply takes orders from a computer screen is going to figure out that someone else is handling the calls. So word is going to get out anyway that Pizza Hut is using VoIP. I guess you heard it here first!

Ok, so I know what you're thinking. So "Mr. VoIP & Gadgets lover, how can we make VoIP-enabled pizzerias even cooler?" I'm so glad you asked. How bout integrating Bluetooth, GPS, and VoIP so you can track pizza delivery trucks and when they get within 4 miles of your location, initiate a VoIP call to your location to let you know your steaming hot (or cold) pizza is just minutes away! Fantasy right? Not so fast. Check out my post from last year, where a company called Pizza Pilot is looking to do just that. Pretty sweet, eh?

"Ok, Mr. Smarty Pants, that is pretty cool, but what else you got?"

How bout allowing customers to order online? That'd be cool, no? Well, Pizza Pizza already allows you to order online, so it's already being done. Greg Galitzine points out the Dominos also allows online ordering. Let me take it a step further. What if you could order your pizza online and then using some Google Maps mashup, the pizza provider could show you the exact location of the delivery vehicle. So instead of calling the pizza joint to complain "Where the hell is my damn pizza?" and the guy unconvincingly says "Uhhh. It's on its way" (when really they forgot and are just making it), you can see for yourself where your pizza is. Of course, all these pizza scenarios work just as well for other popular food deliveries, such as Chinese.

Watch for hosted VoIP to take off not only in pizzerias where a busy signal means lost business, but also small-to-medium retail outlets and enterprises as well. Even McDonald's already has VoIP. Just don't complain when you call to order a pizza and you get a hosted agent with a foreign accent that you can't understand.

Users of the popular Frontrange HEAT software, a help-desk service & support CRM solution, have been clamoring for a web-based front-end interface for some time. Well, NetworkD informs me through blood, sweat, and tears they've added an HTML interface to HEAT via their iNferndo product and are leveraging AJAX for real-time screen updates. Oh and by the way, HEAT supports VoIP through integration with Frontrange's relatively new FrontRange IPCC voice applications platform, making HEAT a great solution for multi-site centers or even home-based agents since they can leverage low-cost VoIP calls.

Mark Reed from NetworkD writes to me, "We were promised over the last few years by Frontrange that they would develop a web-based front-end for HEAT and they never delivered. Finally we heard from their development manager that they gave up on trying to provide that functionality so NetworkD stepped in to create that for them. This is pretty newsworthy since this product is filling such a large gap in the HEAT product. I've personally poured my heart into creating this product working tirelessly thousands of hours."

Well, I say well done, Mark. Look at these screenshots, the interface sure seem functional and pretty too!




Update: 9/21/07
Jason Holmberg, HEAT Product Manager responded to me, "FrontRange has not abandoned the prospects for a web user interface for the HEAT product. We continue to invest in the HEAT architecture and are making the necessary changes to better facilitate a web user interface."

SunTec is an interesting company that has been working with telcos to help these companies understand the importance of a singular customer view in the face of increased competition and disparate legacy billing systems. With triple play, quad play, etc. service providers often have legacy billing systems that don't offer a unified view of the customer. These disparate billing systems make it more difficult to offer discounts for loyalty since they often do not know what customers have already.

SunTec stated, "On the customer side, having one bill or being able to speak to a person that knows the entirety of what they're paying for versus talk to three different departments due to siloed systems is of tremendous value." Certainly, with cable companies and phone companies now stepping onto each other's turf, this added competition will only drives price down and margins, which will force them to look for ways to increase efficiency and improve customer loyalty.

SunTec's TBMS-T system accomplishes a unified billing platform and integrates well with existing systems, is able to take on services as they're added. SunTec just recently deployed their convergent voice billing solution for Cable One, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO) and operates 52 cable systems serving 685,000 subscribers in 19 states. The solution enabled billing for Cable One's new voice service and provides flexibility to introduce dynamic promotional plans with free-minutes for specific destinations along with value added services and product bundling options. The solution delivers a unified bill for the entire suite of services provided by Cable One. SunTec's Solution supports dynamic tariff modeling and handles Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based services like multi-conferencing, video conferencing, and prepaid voice enabling Cable One to introduce new competitively priced product bundles effortlessly. In addition the solution flawlessly integrates with leading telecom and tax databases that include LERG and Vertex.

"This is a win-win situation for Cable One and SunTec! I am extremely pleased with the outcome of the implementation. SunTec's commitment to quality and timelines at competitive prices is remarkable," said Kishore Reddy, Director of Voice Services, Cable One.

"In every way, SunTec met or exceeded our expectations; be it our deadlines, strict budget parameters or the level of quality we demanded, the team more than delivered on every front," said Stephen A. Fox, Vice President of Digital Services, Cable One. "The team demonstrated competence, integrity, and great sensitivity to Cable One's evolving requirements. I would like to see this not as a client-vendor relationship but as the beginning of an excellent partnership," added Fox.

"By rolling out the voice service, Cable One would be among the top league of service providers in the United States. We are excited about being a part of Cable One's success and their quest to be America's Best Cable Company," said K Nanda Kumar, CEO SunTec.
 

TMC has been at the forefront of customer relationship management (CRM) for over 30 years. TMC started Telemarketing Magazine (now Customer Interaction Solutions), the very first magazine focused on call centers and CRM. In 1996, TMC launched CTI Magazine which focused on the convergence of computers and the telephone. CTI Magazine was the precursor to the ultimate convergence of voice and data, which resulted in TMC launching Internet Telephony Magazine in late 1997. Internet Telephony Magazine was the first magazine focused exclusively on VoIP and the convergence of voice, data, as well as CRM and business processes. TMC has always strived to educate the market on improving business efficiencies and customer satisfaction though the use of technology - whether it was the ACD of the 1980's to CTI in the 1990's to VoIP in the 21st century - TMC has been the leading source of information on customer-facing technologies.

There are obvious synergies and business processes that can be optimized when you can integrate your phone system with your contact management database and other business data and ride over the same IP network. With TMC's 30-year focus on customer-facing technologies, it stands to reason why TMC has always been at the forefront of technologies that enable companies to better market themselves, achieve business efficiencies, and improve customer satisfaction. It also explains why TMC stands for Technology Marketing Corporation. Indeed, Nadji Tehrani (photo to right), the founder of TMC, and well-known pioneer within the call center industry chose the name well when he started the company in 1972.

Now, TMC has become one of the leading educational websites utilizing webinars to educate the industry on various technologies to achieve optimal business efficiencies. One interesting webinar coming up is on business benchmarks: How Reseller CEOs Should Collect, Monitor and Interpret Performance Data to Make Better Decisions

Here's an abbreviated snippet of the webinar description:

Are you comfortable with the knowledge you have about your reseller business? You’d be the rare leader if you had an accurate and complete handle on all sales, finance, cash flow, profitability, service and resource utilization issues. But to succeed as an IP solutions provider, these are precisely the measurements you need—in easy-to-read and interpret spreadsheets that track your business performance on your PC monitor.

If you effectively track your business data, you’ll uncover root causes of inefficiencies which may include process, people, management, systems, or a combination.

Attend this session to understand the interrelationships and impact of such data as attach rates and profitability, line of credit, cash flow, debt to equity and other finance metrics; the month-to-month cash flow changes for cash in checking, A/R balance, and credit line availability; total sales revenue, service % of sales revenue and other sales metrics; net income, return on sales %, gross margin % and other profitability metrics.

If you interested in the webinar, it's free to register and attend.

Microsoft is planning to make an announcement for their Unified Communications platform on June 26th. At the Nob Hill Masonic Center in San Francisco, media will be invited to hear Microsft unveil their "strategy for placing people at the center of communications."

Microsoft executives Jeff Raikes, President, Microsoft Business Division, Anoop Gupta, Corporate Vice President, Unified Communications Group, and Gurdeep Singh Pall, Corporate Vice President, RTC Product Group will all be part of this unveiling. Does this unveiling mean that the Microsoft Live beta will no longer be "beta"? Of course I know that this announcement pertains to the convergence of business computing and business communications, so that falls more under the lap of Microsoft's Windows Live Meeting 2005. So perhaps we can expect Windows Live Meeting 2006? That's my guess along with some other new features. Wish I could attend to find out more, but alas, I am too far away over on the Right Coast - in more ways than one

Plantronics sent me their Voyager 510 Bluetooth headset to review. Unlike any other Bluetooth headsets, the Plantronics Voyager 510 USB Bluetooth headset is the first to simultaneously support both VoIP softphones on your PC and your Bluetooth mobile phone simultaneously -- negating the need to deregister/re-register your Bluetooth connection with the other device. Plantronics is able to do this using their exclusive Multipoint Technology.

Measuring 4.0 x 2.5 x 0.8 inches and weighing 5.6 ounces, the Plantronic Voyager 510 headset is pretty lightweight - after awhile you don't even notice it is there. It is slightly heavier and bulkier than the Motorola HS850 , but I found the Voyager 510-USB much more comfortable on my ear. The Motorola HS850 would often dangle and not stay put.

Many PCs or even laptops don't have built-in Bluetooth, but fortunately, the Voyager 510 USB includes a plug and play Bluetooth USB adapter that works without the need for any software drivers. This enables mobile professionals to engage in one-step hands-free VoIP calling. If you want the ability to perform remote-end answer/hang-up integration with softphones you'll need to install the PerSonoCall application.

The system integrates with enterprise softphone software from leading companies — including Avaya, Cisco, Nortel, Skype, and others — to offer call notification and remote call answering through the headset. It also is compatible with most popular consumer VoIP services, like AOL, MSN, and Yahoo! although it doesn't feature remote call answer with these yet. I tested the ability to remotely answer incoming Skype calls from the 510-USB and it worked without a hitch. On an incoming Skype call from Greg Galitzine I simply pressed the call control button on the 510-USB and the Skype call was accepted. Beauty, eh?


Profile of the Plantronics Voyager 510 USB Bluetooth Headset

The headset's "smart" technology knows which Bluetooth device you are using and allows you to take calls from any device simply by hitting the button. With the optional Plantronics Bluetooth Deskphone Adapter you can even switch between your office phone and your Bluetooth mobile phone. Thus, you won't need to use a dedicated "landline" phone headset.

The 510 headset features a noise-canceling microphone for clearer conversations and the mic boom swivels to position on either ear. The 510 supports adaptive frequency hopping (AFH) which helps avoid interference from WiFi networks. It supports a hefty 6 hours talk time using the built-in Lithium polymer rechargeable battery and up to 100 hours of standby time.


Front View of the Voyager 510 USB Bluetooth Headset

When you place the headset on the charging base, it automatically turns off the headset and charges it. Fortunately, when you remove the Voyager 510 from the charging base it remembers to turn it back on. Similarly, if you manually shut off the headset (depress power switch for 3s) and then place it on the charger, if you remove the headset from the base, the headset stays off. I wonder if the headset isn't truly "off" when you place the Voyager headset onto the charging base while it is still on? It's probably in a pseudo-sleep mode, but not totally powered off. The difference in charging the battery is probably negligible, so most users will probably keep the headset always turned on even when charging.


Plantronics USB 510 charging base connected to 1 USB port.
Bluetooth dongle connected to PC's 2nd USB port

Button functionality & testing
I had some minor difficulties with the power on/off switch which is very small and located just in front of the volume buttons, and it requires a very hard press. When the headset is on your ear, making a hard button press took a little getting used to. In any case, there are basically three buttons on the headset. The first button is simply a +/- volume button, which happens to be the largest of the three making it easy to adjust the volume.

The 2nd button on the 510 is the small black button I mentioned which toggles the power button (and mute with a quick depress). The power button requires you hold the button for 3s to toggle the power. Well, they advertise in the manual that it's 3 seconds, but I tested it and it's actually 3s to turn on and just 2-2.5s to turn off. The 3s is a tad long to turn on, but useful I suppose to prevent accidentally turning on or off the headset. Of course, like I said, you have to press the power button pretty hard, so I doubt it would be pressed by accident. It probably has more to do with the time it takes to negotiate a connection with the other Bluetooth devices.

The 3rd button on the Voyager is placed where the boom mic meats the ear piece and it is used to call answer or end the call, as well as toggle between your PC Bluetooth connection and your Bluetooth mobile phone. It is also used to activate voice dialing, redial, and other functions.

To activate last number redial you simply double click the call control button. You will hear a high tone for each key press. When you hear a further tone, the last number has been redialed. In addition, when receiving an incoming call you can press and hold the call control button to reject a call. You will hear a tone. When you hear a second tone, the call has been rejected and you can release the button.

Voice Dialing & Call Transfer to other BT device
You can easily perform voice dialing supported by your mobile phone by pressing and holding the call control button for 2 seconds until you hear a second tone. Then you can speak the name of the person you wish to reach. Switching a call from your mobile phone to the headset is pretty straightforward. You simply briefly press the call control button. Switching a call from the headset back to the phone requires a slighly longer button press until you hear a tone indicating the transfer has been complete. I was able to listen to streaming music on the 510-USB, hear beeps in the headset that an incoming call was coming in, and then press the call control to answer the call.

Features

• Multipoint Technology allows you to seamlessly switch between two Bluetooth devices
• Noise-canceling microphone for superior sound quality
• Up to 6 hours talk time and up to 100 hours standby time
• One-touch call answer/end, last number redial and voice activated dialing
• Compatible with Bluetooth devices supporting the headset or hands-free profile
• Noise-canceling microphone and wind-reduction technology for brilliant sound both indoors and out;
• Lightweight, foldable design for all-day comfort and easy storage;
• Boom swivels for use on either ear;
• 33-foot roaming distance. feet away from voice-enabled Bluetooth devices

Pros
- Lightweight
- Flexible and foldable to stow in pocket
- Cool charging base
- Excellent Sound Quality
- Comes with 3 different sized ear pieces for the best fit
- Includes a small portable USB Bluetooth "dongle" to Bluetooth-enable any PC/laptop
- Range performance was good - better than other BT headsets I have tested

Cons
- Too dependent on the time a button is depressed for some functionality - another button to take the load of one of the features might be good
- Power switch is small and hard to depress
- USB Bluetooth dongle doesn't have a key ring to put in on your keychain
- Can switch from listening to PC audio (music or Skype call) to an incoming mobile phone call,  however if you switch from the mobile phone to your PC (music or Skype call), it ends the mobile phone call. I wish there was a way to switch to the PC (put caller on hold) without disconnecting the mobile phone call.

Conclusion
The Plantronics Voyager 510 USB is one of the best if not the best Bluetooth headset you can buy, period. Its ability to register with both your PC's audio software applications (including VoIP) and your Bluetooth-enabled phone is a key differentiating factor. The audio quality was very good and the headset itself is very flexible making it very comfortable to wear. I didn't have any issues with the headset losing the Bluetooth connection (cutting out) at all and the range is very good. I highly recommend the Voyager 510 USB.

The Voyager 510 USB Bluetooth headset is available on Amazon for just $43.99 if you just need the headset to have access to a Bluetooth mobile phone. If you need the optional USB Bluetooth dongle/transmitter for PC-connectivity (VoIP, iTunes, other sound apps) then you can also pick it up on Amazon for about $179 (originally $299). Some PC's come with Bluetooth adaptors, or you may already have a USB Bluetooth dongle - though I'm not sure how well Plantronic's multipoint technology works if you use a 3rd party Bluetooth dongle. Best bet is to pay the $179 for both the headset and the Plantronics USB Bluetooth adaptor.

Autotask is an interesting company that marries hosted CRM with VoIP service providers to provide Web-based "screen pop" customer information to VoIP subscribers. Autotask supports the growing number of VoIP solution providers through their "ExecuteCommand API" that they use to program into their system. Essentially, Autotask is a hosted application that runs inside of a standard browser accessible by any application or device that can generate an http call, including virtually every VoIP System. It's as simple as constructing a URL that points to Autotask, and embedding a few key variables (including the phone number captured through caller-ID), which then tells Autotask which window to open up, and what record to find.

Using the new “Execute Command” API available for Autotask, VoIP Solution providers can detect incoming calls to the solution provider’s service line and use the phone number to automatically launch the Autotask platform on the receiving end and open up the account of the caller. The main account screen in Autotask provides instant access to service tickets, existing and past projects, installed hardware, software and service provider specifications, as well as customer service notes, and service contracts in place.

AutoTask pointed out that if there's an IVR system on the front-end, each menu option can have a different HTTP command to perform a different function when that call hits the computer. For example, one command would open up that customer's account detail window, exposing access to ALL customer info, including all service tickets, projects, notes, contacts, attachments, etc. But if the person is calling on a new service issue, then the "New Service Ticket" window in Autotask would open, with the customer's info already in there ready to add the problem info. Or if the person is calling about a pre-existing issue and has the ticket number, the IVR can prompt them to enter it, and when that call hits the system, that specific ticket window for that customer pops up on the screen. They mentioned that they have 9 different kinds of commands that can be easily programmed into the VoIP systems to streamline access not just to a generic window, but context and contact-specific.

Soon it won't be simply about inexpensive VoIP service, customers will demand enhanced services and integration. As hosted CRM applications such as Autotask grow and the demand for customer-focused "intelligent call routing" grows, we will see many more Web applications that integrate the web with voice for a better customer experience. Is that Web 2.0, VoIP 2.0 or VoWeb 1.0?

Some pretty cool news from USRobotics that lets you use Skype to directly call their Customer Support infrastructure. This saves USRobotics the cost of the toll-free number and it enables customers to get into the support queue much easier. Considering the "newness" factor of web call through, most call centers will assign a higher priority to inbound VoIP calls or IM sessions. So if you are impatient and want to skip lengthy on-hold times, using Skype could be the answer.

It will be interesting to see if/when a big boy like Microsoft offers web call through for their tech support. I was just on a 5 hour call with Microsoft technical support on Friday troubleshooting 'Microsoft Exchange Server 2003' and AUTD + ActiveSync for Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. It wasn't looking too good for the Microsoft technician after 5 hours of no success, but we finally got it working. All this so Rich Tehrani can sync his Verizon VX6700 Windows Mobile 5.0 device while travelling. A whopping 5 hours on the phone with Microsoft tech support with no food, no water, and no pee break deserves a raise, don't you think?

It was an 800 number, but at say $0.01/minute, the call cost Microsoft $3. But they're still ahead since they charge $245/incident. Still, if they used VoIP, the call would have been free. Imagine the thousands of inbound tech support calls Microsoft gets. VoIP could save them millions.

Anyway, here's the news from USRobotics:

This allows USRobotics customers to call Customer Support via the popular Skype Internet communications software, instead of using their landline telephones.

"Support through Skype gives our customers one more way to get in touch with our technical support agents. Customer and technical support is now offered via the phone, through email, and now via Skype," says Mary Galbavy, Director of Customer Support. "We are constantly looking for ways to improve our customers' experience and this is another way we've found to do that within our support organization. The satisfaction of our customers is key to our service delivery choices."

The ability to place a Skype call to USRobotics technical support eliminates the charges typically associated with such a call in Europe. Placing a call to USRobotics technical support via the integrated Skype calling button on USRobotics' Support Web site is free and can be used by anyone using the Skype software. This method of access allows our customers to contact us directly via their computers while leaving their landline telephone available for use.

USRobotics' Call Centers now allow Skype calls to be directed into the call queue for handling by the first available agent. Users experience the same support from the same technicians they would receive using a standard telephone.

"Setting up the infrastructure to accept Skype calls has been easy for us," says Galbavy. "It not only allows us to talk to our customers via this growing method of communication, but it cuts down on the costs associated with incoming support calls, and increases our overall customer satisfaction."