Skype has named Scott Durchslag as its Chief Operating Officer. Scott brings 20 years of experience from Fortune 100 technology corporations, start-ups, and professional services to this newly created role. His post is effective immediately and he will report to Josh Silverman, Skype’s president who was recently appointed to the role March 24, 2008.

Scott was previously with Motorola where he spent 5 years on the top management team of the $25B Mobile Devices Business. Most recently, he was Corporate Vice-President of Global Product & Experience Invention, where he led product strategy, innovation, intellectual property, design, user interfaces, consumer experiences (music, video, imaging, productivity and mobile internet), partnerships, product marketing, and customer care.

Durchslag will have his hands full, together with Silverman, in convincing eBay that Skype remains a good buy, all worth of $2.6 billion.

Ribbit, Silicon Valley’s first phone company and a new platform for developing Web-based voice applications, has formally launched today.

Combining the power of Web-based VoIP and open development platforms, the company boasts its superiority among other companies in the market.

“The world doesn’t need another phone company,” said Ribbit cofounder and CEO Ted Griggs. “What it needs is a new kind of phone company, one that liberates voice from its current confines — devices, plans, and business models — and more readily integrates into the workflow of our professional and personal lives.”

Ribbit SmartSwitch is the core technology behind this startup company. It is a sophisticated multi-protocol soft-switch that bridges the worlds of traditional telephony with next generation networks and protocols.

It works well from any location with an Internet connection and with any Flash-enabled browser. Compared to existing VoIP operators, users can receive and place calls without downloading any soft-phone application.

Ribbit supports other Web-based services including Skype, Google Talk, and MSN. It can even transcribe voicemail to text messages similar to what other paid services like SpinVox and Simulscribe do.

Via NewsFactor

Wizzl is the first all-in-one virtual phone that allows you to talk, chat, cam, listen to internet radio, watch online TV and play games all at the same time and totally free of charge, wherever you are and whatever your device.

“Unlike other online VoIP services, Wizzl software does not depend on super nodes; which is good news for processing speeds and even better news for bandwidth usage. On 23 November, we will officially launch the beta version for desktops and laptops,” said Jaap Korevaar, CEO of Wizzl.

First-time downloaders get up to 10 minutes of free calling time to landlines and mobile phones across the world.

Over the last three years Wizzl has developed free communication software which will allow its users (’Wizzlers’) to make free voice and video calls over the internet, and calls to local and international phones and mobiles from only 1.5 Eurocents per minute.

Moreover, Wizzlers will have direct access to live TV, internet radio stations and the most popular web games around. Personal photographs, music and videos will also be at users’ fingertips.

LignUp Corporation announced that Ancestry.com is implementing voice-over-IP (VoIP) enabled applications based on the LignUp Communications Application Server. Ancestry.com is using the applications to enable site members to capture their oral histories and record memories about people or events in online family trees. The availability of applications that combine voice with rich media will help to increase families’ use of the site by creating a richer experience for Ancestry.com members.

The first two LignUp-based applications that have been implemented for Ancestry.com are:

• Record my memories. The consumer calls into a number, and at the prompt, records his or her oral history. The recording is saved and stored online for family members to access.

• Record conversations. The consumer initiates a call between him or herself and a family member directly from Ancestry.com. Once the call is connected, the caller can “interview” the family member or share memories. The caller uses Web controls to start and stop the recording functionality.

TokBox, a communication service that enables people to talk over live video in a single click, has launched the first voice/video calling product on the meebo Platform.

It requires no registration, download, installation or configuration and is now seamlessly integrated into millions of meebo conversations.

According to Nielsen/NetRatings, meebo is the fastest-growing IM destination in the US - ahead of Google Talk and Skype. The addition of Tokbox is what meebo CEO and co-founder Seth Sternberg will bring them “one large step closer to becoming the Web’s live interaction destination.”

“TokBox is making communication much more personal, where we can easily see our family members, friends, co workers or new acquaintances - no matter where they are,” said Serge Faguet, CEO and co-founder of TokBox. “By merging the extreme simplicity of TokBox with the world’s most popular live platform, we are providing for the richest form of communication and messaging online today.”

MySpace and Skype announced a partnership to empower the MySpace community with voice communications. With more than 110 million monthly active MySpace users and 220 million Skype registered users around the world, this partnership connects two of the most popular communications platforms on the Internet to create the world’s largest online, voice-connected community.

The announcement unveils MySpaceIM with Skype, a new product that integrates MySpace’s popular IM client with Skype’s free, high-quality voice-calling capability. The partnership will also enable users to link their MySpace profiles and photos or avatars to their accounts on Skype. Both products will be available to users starting in November.

Financial terms of the MySpace and Skype deal were not disclosed.

Social VoIP pioneer babyTEL announced today the launch of Telephone, its telephone service application integrated with the Facebook platform. The service allows Facebook members to call their friends or send voice messages with the “direct-to-mail” feature right from their Telephone phonebook, which is created automatically when their Facebook friends add the Telephone application. After adding the application, users can then invite their friends to add the application.

According to babyTEL CEO Stephen Dorsey, “We saw the astounding popularity of social networks and recognized that users lacked a means to have live conversations within their social network of choice. Telephone enhances the social experience within Facebook by adding two new ways to communicate– a direct telephone call or a direct message. The service allows for spontaneous reactions to friends’ postings in one’s own voice and is also available for regular calls. Our Social VoIP adds a new and exciting dimension to telephony in general and will soon connect seamlessly to the babyTEL VoIP network, cell phones and other landlines.”

Vonage has settled its pending patent dispute with Sprint Communications and entered into a licensing arrangement under Sprint’s Voice over Packet (”VOP”) patent portfolio. The parties have entered into an agreement to resolve this patent dispute as well as entered into a business relationship. In addition, Sprint has agreed to license Vonage its VOP portfolio.

The agreement is valued at $80 million, including $35 million for past use of license, $40 million for a fully paid future license, and $5 million in prepayment for services. On September 25, 2007, a Kansas jury handed down a verdict finding that Vonage had infringed six Sprint patents.

“We are pleased to resolve our dispute with Sprint and enter into a productive future relationship,” said Sharon O’Leary, General Counsel for Vonage. “We believe this deal is good news for Vonage, our customers and our shareholders. It allows us to put this litigation behind us and continue to focus on our core business by removing the uncertainty of legal reviews and long term court action.”

JAJAH Buttons is in trouble after less than one week of launch. Online auction eBay has informed some of its users that placing JAJAH Buttons on offers within the eBay marketplace is not allowed.

eBay’s email to JAJAH sellers states: “The listing was removed because it violated the eBay Inappropriate Links policy… links or other connections to live chat systems are not permitted.”

“We were seeing great excitement for JAJAH Buttons on eBay and we are dissappointed that some of our users’ listings are now being removed. We are currently seeking to get clarification from eBay as the situation varies from country to country. While we get positive feedback from within eBay in several countries we see other countries removing listings that contain JAJAH buttons,” says JAJAH Co-Founder Roman Scharf.

JAJAH is now encouraging its users to vote with their voice and join the JAJAH campaign to “FREE YOUR VOICE”, by placing the JAJAH buttons on as many properties on the web, blogs or emails.

VoIP company JAJAH has launched JAJAH Buttons, a new service allowing users to place JAJAH links anywhere on their websites, email signatures, blogs and social network profiles and receive calls without giving away their numbers.

Even those who are not currently registered, can now call JAJAH users without any restrictions, obstacles or cost considerations. Simple in their creation, extensive in their functionality and with complete privacy control, JAJAH Buttons fit perfectly into numerous popular platforms like MySpace, LinkedIn and YouTube.

“With JAJAH Buttons, we aim to flatten and simplify the world of global telephony, and as a result, embrace a much larger population. It’s an innovation we’ve been developing for some time, and I can hardly wait to share what will be next. What I like best about Buttons is that as long as my mom can open an email, she can call me using JAJAH - now that’s cool,” said Trevor Healy, JAJAH’s CEO.