First Skype Channel Driver For Asterisk Released

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For all of you who have been waiting to use your Asterisk PBX with Skype, the wait is over! Instant Solutions, a Brazilian telephony solutions company, announced today ChanSkype. Chanskype allows Asterisk users to call online Skype users, call using SkypeOut, bridge with SIP channels, and make any number of simultaneous calls (limited only by system resources). ChanSkype utilizes the Skype APIand a proprietary library to complete calls with the Skype network. Although ChanSkype has not yet been relased as a module that can be installed in Asterisk (until then it is merely a gateway), the ability to utilize Skype and Asterisk together is large step towards free business communications.

ChanSkype has the following system requirements:

• Fedora Core 3, Fedora Core 4,Fedora Core 5, and Ubuntu Dapper.
• Asterisk 1.2.9 or newer (hasn’t been tested in 1.4).
• VNC server.
• Skype client BETA 1.3 for your distribution. (WARNING: ChanSkype does NOT WORK with 1.2.x or older versions!)
• A functioning Graphical User Interface - GUI (basically, the X System and an environment like KDE or GNOME)
• The gcc C compiler and associated libraries.
• The Qt library.
• Kernel development files.

Since ChanSkype reportedly uses proprietary software, the software is licensed. a Personal License can be had for $19 USD which can be purchased only once per ChanSkype installation. There is also a Corporate License for up to 30 channels.

For more details visit the ChanSkype website.