Skype announced last week that it is expanding its “Skype for Business” offer. The current Skype for business offer already includes Skype-to-Skype (PC-to-PC calls), video call capability, SkypeOut (allowing callers to place outgoing off-net calls), SkypeIn (allowing off-net callers to reach a Skype subscriber), conference calling, file transfer and chat.

The additions to Skype’s current business service provide:

* Enterprisewide installation controls, allowing the telecom manager to install Skype on multiple computers with a Windows Installer package.

* An enhanced online business control panel which gives enterprisewide control of allocating SkypeIn phone numbers and SkypeOut credits.

* IT management tools to remotely configure Skype client features.

Skype is also working with third-party partners to deploy:

* Convenos Meeting Center (for on-demand Web conferencing and collaboration).

* WebDialogs Unyte (which allows users to share anything on their PC desktop anytime).

* On-State ACD (a call center and customer contact solution).

And for those of us who always thought of Skype as more of a consumer-oriented service, the company also surprised us when it said in its announcement that business users make up more than 30% of Skype’s global users. Skype has more than 171 million registered users.

The company also noted in its press release that “Skype is not a replacement for your traditional telephone service and cannot be used for emergency calling.”

Our question to readers: Do YOU think that Skype might be a replacement for traditional telephone services in the enterprise in the future? We think not — we don’t think that the Internet will replace business phone networks. But then again we remember the days when Internet access was more a novelty than a business necessity. We’d welcome your opinions on the topic — especially if you’ve been a subscriber to Skype’s business services. We’d be happy to publish you thoughts.

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. Larry Hettick is a principal analyst at Current Analysis.