Cool Skype for SIP Upgrades, Enhanced Inbound Routing and more

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Cool Skype for SIP Upgrades, Enhanced Inbound Routing and more

Some important news for Skype for SIP beta "open" users I thought I'd share. Just last week Skype announced going from closed "beta" to "open" to the public, and now today they're adding some cool new Skype for SIP features.

Once the upgrades are complete there will be cool new features, such as direct inward dialing (DID) calling over the Skype network to a specific IP-PBX extension. Similarly, if someone calls your Skype business account name, i.e. tkeatingtmc, Skype will prefix the extension number into the SIP header so that the call will be routed directly to that person's extension. Sweet!

The upgrade will also add IP authentication, which is critical to businesses that do not support registrations. According to Skype, "For SIP enabled PBX's and SIP gateways that do not support registrations, you can now change your authentication settings in your SIP profile to a fixed IP address/port. Based on your IP address we will work out the best settings for your SIP enabled PBX when using Skype for SIP."

Today, Skype's Kevin Holmes Senior Product manager, Skype for Business announced the upgrades, outage, etc. Check it out:

We are please to announce three new features for Skype for SIP open beta. We will start upgrading from today and expect this to last one week. These new features are designed to enhance the way you can integrate Skype for SIP with your SIP enabled PBX.

Upgrades are due to start at 1pm GMT on Wednesday 9th Dec until Wed 16th Dec 2009.

Skype for SIP new features include:

Inbound from Online numbers
Inbound calls will now include the Online number, which means you can now set up rules in your SIP enabled PBX to automatically route incoming calls from your Online numbers to extensions and other resources such as auto attendant or IVR systems.

Extension tagging for Business Account Skype names attached to your SIP profile. You will be able to add a Business account Skype name's target extension, so when Skype users call your Business account Skype name, Skype for SIP will prefix the extension number in the SIP message for calls from Skype users to your SIP enabled PBX.

IP authentication. For SIP enabled PBX's and SIP gateways that do not support registrations, you can now change your authentication settings in your SIP profile to a fixed IP address/port. Based on your IP address we will work out the best settings for your SIP enabled PBX when using Skype for SIP.

We will start upgrading Skype for SIP open beta from Wednesday 9th Dec 2009 starting at 1pm GMT, the upgrade is likely to last one week.

We will be working with our Skype for SIP certified PBX vendors to update their configuration guides for setting up Skype for SIP.

Important notes: This upgrade will not affect:

* SIP Registrations
* Outbound calls to landlines and mobile numbers

Recommendations to avoid inbound call failures
We recommend that you add an additional route as soon as possible for inbound calls from online numbers so that your SIP enabled PBX can accept and route based on:

• SIP user name (current configuration)
• Online numbers (international format)

Technical details
Please note the following changes to Inbound Invite messages from Skype: (no other features or use cases are affected)

Inbound calls from Online numbers to your SIP profile
We have changed the SIP format which now includes the Online number that was dialled via the PSTN or Skype user in the To header. With this SIP message change, you can now assign up to 99 Online numbers to your SIP profile and be able to distinguish which online was called.

An example of the change in SIP headers:

R-URI: <SIP_username> 99051000000000@pbx_ip - taken from your SIP profile
To: sip:<onlinenumber>@sip.skype.com
From: sip:<callers_cli>@sip.skype.com

The remainder of the SIP format message remains unchanged.

Extension tagging for calls to Business Account Skype names
Inbound calls from Skype users to your SIP profile (from the 10th Dec 2009) You can now add a target DDI or extension number to Business Account Skype names that are attached to your SIP profile. The reason we have done this to enable SIP enabled PBX's to route inbound calls from Skype to PBX extensions or resources such as an Auto attendant or IVR. You will find a numeric text box for this feature in the BCP --> SIP profile --> calling tab next to the Business Account Skype name. Up to 11 characters are allowed in this field.

Extension numbers will be shown in the Invites request URI for example:

R-URI: <extension_number>@pbx_ip
To: <SIP username> [email protected]
From: [email protected]

Further information can be found from Wed 10th Dec in the Skype Business support section at the following address:

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=486951

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showforum=252

We hope you enjoy the new features in Skype for SIP open beta

Skype product management smile.png


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1 Comment

Skype should be lauded for adopting open standard with its infusion of SIP into its offering. This, not coincidentally, also allows Skype to cater to more of a business market, which they have been trying to do from a marketing standpoint for quite some time now. It's also nice to read that they're adding these upgrade. But for what it's worth, Skype for Business communications products that integrate Skype with SIP (and other devices) have been available for quite some time now. Such products can do away with the need for PBXs, as mentioned in the article, as well.

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