Hack20.Make Money with the Skype API


Hack 20. Make Money with the Skype API

You can make money using the Skype Application Programming Interface (API), if you have programming skills.

Works with: all versions of Skype that support the API.

Skype has an API that allows those with programming skills to extend Skype's functionality in new and interesting ways. There is a burgeoning market for software and hardware add-ons for Skype (see Chapter 11) that use the Skype API.

Programming using the Skype API is not difficult, and there are some free components that allow you to call the API from different languages. For those too intimidated by the Skype API, an alternative is scripting languages for extending Skype's functionality. Or, you can use scripting in conjunction with the API, which is dealt with in Chapter 12.

All it takes to make a useful add-on for Skype is a good idea and the where-withal to carry it through.

You can make money using the Skype API in three ways: through bounties, by developing add-ons that you can sell, and by working as a Skype programmer.

Bounties are offered by companies and open source projects for Skype add-ons that enhance their products or services. For example, at the time of this writing, there is an open bounty of $1,500 to extend Asterisk (a popular open source Private Branch Exchange (PBX) system: http://www.asterisk.org/) to work with Skype.

The bounty for Asterisk-Skype integration (and other bounties) is listed at http://www.opensourcexperts.com/.

Bear in mind, the trend of offering bounties in both commercial and open source communities is a growing; just Google on "Skype (bounty OR bounties)" to find out more.


Many Skype add-ons are free, but many are also being sold. Obviously, add-ons with "must have" functionality are more likely to sell. To get some idea of what sorts of add-ons for Skype already exist and how they are being sold, see Chapter 11.

At the time of this writing, Skype was growing at a phenomenal rate and had been acquired by eBay. Job and work-for-hire offers occasionally crop up on the Skype forums. Searching job search web sites (for example, http://www.monster.com/) using the search term "Skype" will produce a handful of job openings; a handful now, but many more in the future, to be sure. And, if you're really, really, really good, there's always the option of getting a job with the big boys. Skype maintains its list of job openings at http://www.skype.com/company/jobs/.




Skype Hacks
Skype Hacks: Tips & Tools for Cheap, Fun, Innovative Phone Service
ISBN: 0596101899
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 168

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