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A software glitch in Skype’s networking application that brought down the free VoIP call service for more than 24 hours was finally resolved yesterday morning. In an online message posted on Sunday, the London-run company, which is owned by eBay, reassured millions of its customers that “Skype is now back to normal.” The statement came after two days of previous messages , saying some customers could not sign-in to Skype, which provides free or low-cost calls over the internet. On Thursday, the firm's engineers identified the problem, saying it was caused by a software issue, which Skype said it expected would be fixed within 12 or 24 hours. But on Friday, Skype said “we’re not out of the woods yet,” and the next day, when the sign-in glitch had been fixed, a “minority” of its 220m reported customers were still having problems. A deficiency in an algorithm within the Skype networking software, which controls interaction between the user’s client and the rest of the network, was to blame, Skype said on its blog. The entry addded: "We’d like to dispel a couple of theories that we are still hearing. “Neither Wednesday’s planned maintenance of our web-based payment services nor any form of [cyber] attack was related to the current sign-on issues in any way.” Skype users have posted online how they beared up during the outage, reluctantly opting for a mobile phone, instant message systems or both. Others speculated that Skype, which has become successful in the VoIP space due, in part, to its reliability and ease-of-use, had crumbled under the weight of its own success. Business captains pointed out companies should not rely on a single application for their entire communication needs, without some form of back-up or alternative software. And one analyst, speaking to the FT before Skype’s service resumed, said the danger exists that some Web-only calling services have gone live “without sufficient regard for resilience.” Mark Main, a senior analyst at Ovum, also told the paper: “Skype will need to work hard to make this outage event a one-off, or its loyal user base could be enticed away by other VoIP offerings. There is plenty of choice.” Aug 20, 2007 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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