RSSSkype Allows Users to Charge for Calls
By Ed Oswald | Published March 8, 2007, 11:51 AM
A beta of a new service launched by Skype Wednesday night will allow any user with the most current version of the popular communications client charge for voice and video calls placed to their account.
Dubbed "Skype Prime," users have the option to either charge by the minute or a single charge for the entire call. Fees would be taken out of the caller's Skype Credit account, and the called party would receive 70 percent of the proceeds collected, payable through PayPal.
Skype says that such a feature has been a common request from its users, especially since SkypeOut was launched in 2004.
"I'm happy to finally see us rolling this out, and I'm sure it will enable a whole new range of businesses," Skype's Jaanus Kase wrote in the company Web log Wednesday. "So nothing will change in our free global Skype-to-Skype calling, but on top of it, you can now have paid calls if you want."
The company says this offers benefits to global businesses wishing to charge for phone calls. Currently, premium landline numbers can only be accessed within the country they're based. With Skype Prime, companies could make their services available worldwide.
Users of the Windows client with a PayPal account would be the first to gain access to the new functionality. Both sides would need to have Skype version 3.1.0.134 installed. Other platforms are to be added in the near future.
Kase said that Skype Prime shows what the "power of three" could do -- that being eBay, Skype, and PayPal.
"It's to date one of the more interesting integrations we have done in the wider eBay family, with Skype Buttons on eBay listings being the previous example, and more to surely follow," he added.
Can the service go to a recorded message?
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|I am not sure if anyone bothered to read the second paragraph in this article, OR bothered to go to Skype's own website to read up on the new feature, but this is ONLY available for Skype to Skype calls...in other words, all this nonsense about phone sex operators, and telemarketers is benign. Read the article FIRST, then comment my friends ^_^
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|Call me 555-555-5555 $99.99 a minute minimum 1000 minutes.
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|Sure, but do you guarantee a "happy ending?"
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|Or you can call me at 800-RIP-U-OFF. (Btw, 800-747-8633 and 900-747-8633 aren't taken)
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|hmmmm This maybe good for some but in another wy it will flag spammers to home to skype and hammer people who use the client for their personal VoIP use. This could be a very bad move.
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|Hey, now all the "webcam operators" will have a built in way to charge. No need to have a separate service that charges. It will free folks from the virtual pimps! ;)
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|I'm surprised that people would use this. Keen (www.keen.com), Ingenio (www.ingenio.com), Niteflirt (www.niteflirt.com) offer services to allow individuals to be paid for answering phone calls, for adult and legitimate business reasons. They too charge 30%, and offer direct deposit to a bank account, no need for shady paypal.
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|Hardly any telemarketer will call if you sign up for the national do not call directory. The only telemarketer that will call you is those who will not tell you their company's name and don't speak English.
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|I wish a service like this would make it so you can charge people who call you on a per call or per number basis (I.E., all numbers NOT ON MY LISt are charged) that way telemarketers can be charged for the time they waste calling. Would be a nice idea
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