Skype Outage as Reported by... Customers

I got home last night and logged onto my computer to check email and open Skype. Except for it didn't seem to be working. The program kept telling me Skype was loading but nothing was happening. And sure enough, there it is, all over the Internet as reported by... Skype users.

I looked briefly at a lead article at Information Week -- Skype Outage leaves Million Speechless -- that reported the bare bone facts, and then googled the topic.

Traditionally, everyone interested in learning what's going on would have turned on the TV (most Americans still rely on TV for their news) or logged onto popular tech publication sites, like I did with IW. The information would have been from one source to many listeners. Today, I found dozens of blog posts on the topic.

I borrowed the great graphic from Tom Keating who blogs at VoIP & Gadgets Blog. Take a look at the comments on his post -- they read like correspondents from all over the world, including Chile and Guatemala. And with the reporting there are unfiltered opinions as well as advice -- some asked for, some given.

This here is the official statement from the Skype site. So far, it got 352 blog reactions. Still on the first page of Google search results, we have a Digg entry with 745 diggs so far, and another commentary from Ken Fisher at Ars Technica, an 8-year old online publication on technology and new media. Ken writes:

"What makes this Skype outage surprising is how often it doesn't happen. This is the most significant outage for the service in years, yet we already foresee scores of headlines trumpeting the flaws of VOIP communications based on this outage alone. That's unfortunate because we think Skype network performance has been spectacular on average, given that it's free and heavily used. In fact, it would appear that the Skype P2P network is indeed in fine shape, it's just that the authentication system (which authenticates but also provides location services for routing purposes) is hosed."

[emphasis mine]

I warn you, there seems to be a lot of technical language here from people who know what they're talking about. Om Malik at GigaOM highlights some business considerations and food for thought in case you rely on Skype for P2P services. The one comment in German confirmed the very global tech environment in which we now live.

Reporting from the Techdirt blog is Mike Masnick. The angle here is the question of real decentralization of the P2P Skype network. Mashable connects the Skype outage with a dip in eBay stock. Sean Aune cautions that the market is taking an overall hit at this time.

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Comments

[satheesh]

what's happening??? skype counld not be connected what's the reason??? till now there; nothing problamatic but now its started???can we know the reason ...if we r not connected our business r not connected.. ? pls do some to get connected .....

[Dave]

Satheesh, I am shocked that you are relying on a free telephone service for your business. Do you have a backup landline or mobile phone service? If not, you might want to re-examine your business model.

[Greg]

While Skype can be free and is generally low cost (watch those 'special' SkypeOut rates!), it's not free if you choose to pay for Skype Pro and use SkypeOut.

However, your comment about having a backup system, well who can argue with that?

[Matteo]

Skype is in my case also a paying telephone service for my business. I have two phone nuumbers with them and I call landline phones through skype. Of course I have a backup landline and also a mobile phone, but my calls to China (from Europe) will be much more expensive. I'm paying for 2 days of bad service. I'm sure I will not get any bonus back for that.

[Dylan]

Funny how reliant we are on technology. e.g What did we do before cellular phones? Further, I wonder how many people would be prompted to order land-line phones as back-up after Skypes "down-time"?

[Valeria Maltoni]

Satheesh, Dave, Greg, Matteo and Dylan:

Welcome to the conversation. Some of you raise an interesting point -- that we have come to rely on newer technology in stead of land lines.

When long distance phone rates got out of hand (for me it was the monthly taxes tacked on by AT&T that did it), many switched to mobile phones and now VoIP systems.

Dave brings up a good point: back up. It is good practice to have a plan for both your data and the business functions you deem essential.

Aside from your own mobile phones and land lines, have you considered other forms of back up or fail over? In crisis planning we look for a place to work from -- a remote office, hotel, or any other space we can work from.

[Matteo]

I agree, we rely on technology very much.

A back-up system it's not a problem itself.

To me the problem is towards people I'm dealing with everyday by phone; I can't give out new phone numbers everyday.
I migrated to skypeout after testing it for a while (and it seemed to work fine) and I wouldn't like to change my phone numbers, business card and company logo again.

I'm really looking forward to Grand central coming to Europe. One lifetime phone number and the possibility to connect it to all the services/phones we want. Does it work like that or I am jsut dreaming?

[Dulal]

I work out of Bangkok and heavily rely on Skype to keep up with family and freinds scattered all over the world ( US, Europe, Asia ).

I feel like I am totally cut off and have no means to get in touch with anyone.

I use the pc to LAN/Mobile calls quite a lot since I do not have a phone here ( except a local cell phone).

Skype has cripled my style; I should have thought of alternatives in emergency.

Any idea when all of this will come to an end ?

Lost in siamese world.

[Valeria Maltoni]

Matteo:

Grand Central makes the promise. And now that Google acquired it they may be able to put greater resources behind it. I would caution anyone over relying too heavily only on one set of anything -- data and systems can fail and will. What is your tolerance for interruption? That was the key question we asked ourselves when working on backing up information.

For those of you who'd like to learn more about Grand Central, the blog is http://blog.grandcentral.com. It does not seem to have been updated for over one month.

[Valeria Maltoni]

Dulal:

I cannot begin to imagine how frustrating this might be for you. I would keep an eye on the Skype update as linked to my post for learning about a resolution. Many of the people who have greater expertise than I will be doing the same. Tom Keating seemed to be quite on top of things.

I too rely on Skype to communicate with my family in Europe and although last night would have been too late for me to make any calls, it might be a problem when the weekend comes. Last I checked, the outage seemed to be due to software.

Maybe some of my readers have more information to share with us.

[EMO0oo]

I HAVE SKYPE !!! (party) Bulgaria is online again :)

[Howard Almond]

It's all a plot. Now that everyone realizes how much they rely on Skype, when the company now come back to say that to guarantee service they have to make it a subscription service.. everyone will dig in their pockets, and be happy to pay.

[Howard Almond]

In fact though, I've been having problems with the Skype log on for quite some time. It would keep going off-line and then automaticall try to reconnect, and other people haven't been able to see me on-line even when I've actually been online and using Skype.

[Holly Schwendiman]

It's such a real life reminder of how quickly we come to expect perfection isn't it? I think it is amazing also that more glitches don't happen more often, especially being married to a a developer. Even for those of us just touching the outskirts you quickly see how missing one closing bracket or quote can mess things up! Yet some of the biggest and most amazing technologies we rely on so heavily run without noticable errors so much more of the time than they experience hiccups. Opposites in all things, but I for one am very grateful for the amazing work that others do behind the scenes every day that afford me such comfortable and indulgent abilities to connect with others.

Hugs,
Holly

[Valeria Maltoni]

Emilian -- thank you for dropping in and letting us know that it works now for you.

Howard -- that is an interesting statement. I read in some places (linked in my post above) that there was reason to think the disruption was caused by a software upgrade somewhere. I do not know, maybe worth checking out. Do you rely heavily on Skype for business?

[Valeria Maltoni]

Holly:

That was the point Ken Fisher was making at Art Technica. When working in technology you do realize that a lot needs to happen on the back end to make the experience on the front end seamless.

I love my geek friends, they bail me out every time I get in trouble ;-)

When so many have come to rely on a service and product and that goes down, I can see how that can be frustrating and weave its way quickly into the news. Last time I checked, the Skype had no update on the issue. Although we had a report here from Bulgaria that service was back on there.

[Trisha]

I wonder how many people remember that Skype uses their internet bandwidth to carry the calls of others - perhaps a large number of users simply turned off their computers last Thursday? :)

Skype is such a blessing to so many hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who might not otherwise be able to keep in touch as easily, given the high cost of traditional international calling. I use it myself (along with IM) to keep in touch with employees and colleagues that are spread out far and wide. It amazes me how reliant we've become on our technology, and how lost we can be when it doesn't work, even for a short time. I'm old enough to remember the "days before", not just the internet, but before fax machines - how incredulous we were that we could send a piece of paper across county in minutes! And now I can't stand to be away from my computer, IM, Skype etc for even a few hours. I purposely never use the phrase "the good old days" - instead I say "the pre life-enhancing technology days"!

I agree with others though that if you are using skype (or any VOIP service) for business, you really should have a mobile or land line backup - especially if you use a toll-free number, which can generally be shifted quickly to ring to a new number simply by calling your carrier.

[James]

James here...

I used to love Skype... it has been so good for me... but now I hate Skype... There comes a time in every man's (or for that matter, woman's) life, when they have have to make a (life changing... well sorta) choice and move on...

I certainly have made mine...

I have moved on to something better than Skype... its called Damaka. (http://www.damaka.com)

Like a frog in a well, I thought Skype was the best software... but since I have started using damaka, I have fallen in love with it. The software seem like Skype... but has WAY MORE FEATURES than Skype... plus I love the UI... its simple and very easy to use.

I found the call quality to be better and video quality beats everyone (Skype, yahoo and the gang) It has some really great features like desktop sharing and videomail. And hey it has free voicemail (not like Skype)... now who doesn't like free???

Well, check it out yourself...

http://www.damaka.com

James.W.

[Valeria Maltoni]

Trisha:

Oh my, you remind me of the original fax machines with thermal paper. Coming into the office in the morning and finding the paper rolled up on the floor. And they they would fade so we made copies of the faxes for the files. It was not so long ago (I'd like to think).

Any back up is smart planning.

[Trisha]

Oh I had a good laugh at that! The dreaded fading thermal paper - I remember it well!

But you are right Valeria - it was not that long ago. Barely twenty years or so. It's astonishing how much the internet has matured in the last decade since the first graphical browsers hit the scene, and how developers have offered us all the wonderful technology we have now, like Skype.

I wish I were creative enough to envision what incredible tools and technology the next decade will bring - and what in the future will we be as reliant upon as that which we have now?

[Henrik Soke]

As far as I remember, nothing like this ever happened with Skype, which is a little wonder - and the blackout lasted only several hours. No big deal. :) We still had our phones, emails, other IM programs,...

[Valeria Maltoni]

Trisha -- that would be an interesting conversation -- talking about what we think we will rely on in the future. I remember being in awe of the touch screen for maps on "Minority Report" and then reading about some work by Jeff Han on Fast Company 112 with touch screens.

Henrik -- thank you for stopping in. You bring up again another good point. With the speed of newer technology and instant gratification we experience as consumers, we have less tolerance (and maybe have also built less resilience) for interruptions and disruptions that *we* feel could have been avoided.