Signal to Noise

Linksys’ new iPhone line-up is a single brand for many different kinds of VoIP devices, some of which won’t interop with each other. A Linksys WIP3X0 SIP phone called the ‘iPhone’. Hang on, Elouise, I think this might be the big one.  But wait, there’s more. We also have a re-worked Linksys Skype phone and a “dual mode” (that means PSTN-compatible) DECT cordless unit (sorry, no SIP). Then, we have the new WIP320, which is a WiFi phone with Skype but no SIP, ostensibly running some form of Linux. Why oh why is it so hard for hardware vendors to support SIP and Skype on the same device?

And why has Cisco chosen to lump a ton of different devices into the iPhone brand, when they can’t really be used together?  You have SIP phones, Skype phones, DECT phones with Skype support, and WiFi–but none of it will integrate to the extent that the brand portends. And that’s a problem.

Does Cisco really think it’s going to make money selling Skype phones? A lot of people had hedged that bet, and I hope they all make tons of money. But might this actually be the reason why Skype hasn’t SIP-ified its SkypeOut/SkypeIn gateways? To sell more licensed hardware? I mean, if SkypeIn/SkypeOut supported SIP calls, we wouldn’t need to buy Skype-branded hardware products. We could just pop a squat with our nifty Utstarcom WiFi phones and Nokia N80s.

Anyway, message to Niklas: ADD SIP TO SKYPEOUT/SKYPEIN. The world will beat a path to your door, and a major salvo in the Skype-versus-PSTN war will have been fired.