Bad news for anyone out there who still uses Skype: the Microsoft-owned phone and messaging platform has quietly stopped letting users top-up accounts with credit and buy Skype phone numbers. Instead, Skype is locking into SaaS mode: it's pushing users to take monthly subscriptions for regional and global Skype-to-phone plans, for a set monthly fee, likely impacting millions of people. The most recent figures Microsoft released for Skype last year said it had 36 million daily active users. Microsoft did not officially announce the change: News of it was only spotted last week, in the form of a response from a volunteer moderator on a Microsoft forum to a user who was unable to add credit to a Skype account. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that it has permanently halted new sales of Skype credit and Skype numbers, adding that it 'continuously evaluate(s) product strategy based on customer usage and needs.' Existing Skype phone numbers will continue to work, while existing Skype credit can still be used ' albeit with the usual stipulation, vis-a-vis users must use their credit at least once in a 180-day period for it to remain active....

When it comes to maximizing growth and revenue, you may be missing something ' something big. It's the harnessing of predictive AI to enhance and deploy sales performance management (SPM). Companies with sizable sales forces ' whether in the technology, medical device, pharmaceutical, industrial, or consumer goods industry or some other sector ' must consider adopting AI-driven SPM. Consider the example of NovaMed, a fictitious medical device business based on a composite of companies I've worked with and observed. In 2022, the company faced a challenging crossroads: Revenue had declined for three consecutive years, and the previous year's annual sales had fallen short of targets by 20%. A closer look suggested that there were significant problems in the sales organization and its processes. Specifically, an outdated sales-territory structure had resulted in overcrowded markets, with too many sales reps fighting over too few accounts. Meanwhile, misaligned quotas and unmotivating incentives resulted in uneven performance across the broader sales team and individual groups within it. As NovaMed's top sellers departed in frustration, revenue plummeted, helping to explain much of the downward business trend....

Many companies have siloed customer data and an incomplete suite of capabilities, making it impossible for their customer-facing teams to access real-time, synchronized data'and to provide the personalized and seamless experience that business customers crave. Authors Prabhakant Sinha, Arun Shastri, and Sally Lorimer'principals at the global professional-services firm ZS and coauthors of The Harvard Business Review Sales Management Handbook: How to Lead High-Performing Sales Teams (Harvard Business Review Press, 2024), from which this article is adapted'describe how a digital customer hub (DCH) can help. It integrates customer data from various systems into a linked platform, enhancing a company's digital engagement capabilities. The DCH uses analytics and AI to create actionable insights, helping customer-facing teams work smarter and in sync. This article explains how a DCH can 'transform the way businesses manage and interact with customers.' It also examines the structural choices companies must make when creating one and highlights the potential costs and return on investment....

Google must obtain local content certification before resuming sales, Industry Ministry spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arief told local reporters. 'The local content rule and related policies are made for fairness for all investors that invest in Indonesia, and for creating added value and deepening the industry structure here,' Hendri was quoted as saying. The ban follows Indonesia's block on iPhone 16 sales last week after Apple failed to meet a $95 million investment commitment. Major smartphone makers must manufacture devices, develop firmware, or invest in local innovation to meet Indonesia's content rules. The Indonesian rule requires tech companies to source 40% of handset and tablet components domestically, a requirement that can be met through local manufacturing, firmware development or direct investment in innovation projects. The regulation, enforced through a certification system called 'local content level,' forms part of Indonesia's broader industrial policy to leverage its large consumer market for domestic economic development. Companies failing to meet these thresholds face sales restrictions....