Deja Vu...Right after the Amazon Echo came out, I forsaw the device being the ultimate speakerphone. Back then I was an advisor to Los Angeles VoIP startup, Telzio, and I encouraged their founders to embrace the Amazon Echo and Alexa as a calling platform. About a year later the company rolled it out, being the first VoIP company to do so.
Over time OnSIP, Dialpad and others all added the same functionality, while GoogleVoice became capable on the Google Home Assistant. Now Skype has come to the party pretty much copying what Telzio did first.
The idea of the Echo being a conference and calling phone replacement has always been front and center in my mind, and it's no surprise that Skype is embracing it. Given the number of Skype accounts and the ability to make calls it's about time. Ironically, in reviewing many of the articles about Skype Calling over the Amazon Echo, few are pointing out that the service is all about call origination AND receiving calls, though Dialpad mentions that capability clearly, while Amazon's own Calling and Messaging service has always allowed for answering calls on the devices as well as calling other Echo devices, as well as mobile and landline numbers in the USA, Canada and Mexico. With Skype, calls to other Skype members or to any number anywhere via Skype Out is possible.
Update--Thanks to Kevin Tofel pointing out a Venture Beat article, I found on the Amazon site that you can receive calls on the Echo via Skype..
Alexa for Business is also up and running, and it makes access to conference calls easy too on select services as Alexa for Business offers a list of built-in conference providers, including Amazon Chime, Cisco WebEx, and Zoom. Others can be customer configured too.
The idea of Alexa being the deskphone replacement was a 2015 idea. Now three years later it's going mainstream with Skype.
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