How does Skype compare to ContactAtOnce!

In the wake of the recent eBay/Skype news, my colleagues and I are commonly asked:
“How does ContactAtOnce! compare to Skype?”. The answers, from the relevant points-of-view....

For consumers the answer is…it doesn’t! Skype and other IM/VoIP clients were designed for person-to-person communication and, accordingly, they’re great! We use these great personal tools ourselves to save on communications costs (e.g., international calls) and to make ourselves more efficient. ContactAtOnce! was designed for a very different purpose – that of better connecting ready-to-buy consumers with advertisers via “presence-aware ads and listings”. That’s all it does. It can’t be used by Jane to contact Fred. ContactAtOnce! surrounds the IM/VoIP capabilities with a unique web-based application for use exclusively by advertisers and publishers. As eBay extends Skype to enable communications between eBay buyers and sellers, and between shoppers and auto dealers on eBay Motors, etc.. the lines may blur a bit, but we’re convinced everyone except perhaps eBay themselves will view ContactAtOnce! as complementary to the various personal communications-oriented IM/VoIP clients like, Skype, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, MSN Messenger, and Google Talk.

For advertisers the answer is...audience size and business rules & tools. As impressive as Skype’s 100 million registered user count is, it is miniscule compared to the number of consumers that use a browser. Unlike Skype, ContactAtOnce! does not require the consumer viewing and responding to the ad to have a proprietary piece of software on their PC – they need only a browser. Further, when the consumer responds the advertiser wants effective ways to handle the response, for example, allowing several sales reps to handle leads on a "first responder" basis. So…if you are an advertiser and you want to maximize the number of leads your ad or listing generates (who doesn’t?) and effectively handle those leads, then you need to use ContactAtOnce!.

For publishers the answers are…1) see above – maximizing the reach and lead-generating potential is key, 2) trackability 3) competition, and 4) branding. Today's publishers understand the criticality of tracking leads delivered to advertisers. ContactAtOnce! provides sophisticated analytics to ensure those leads are tracked and appropriately "credited" to the publisher. As eBay acquires more online classified properties and moves into more verticals (e.g. Rent.com, eBay Motors, Kijiji), they have become increasingly competitive with traditional and online-only publishers alike. Better to partner with an ally than a competitor for this important capability. And publishers can brand ContactAtOnce! to their liking. Not so with Skype.

Bottom Line: Publishers and advertisers alike will prefer the features and capabilities of ContactAtOnce! which has been built expressly to meet their requirements. Consumers, meanwhile, should continue to enjoy their favorite personal IM/VoIP client.