I’ve been having a conversation on a Skype bug reporting forum, and it came to a conclusion that the Philips VOIP321 Skype Phone is just not worth purchasing. I’m an owner of a Philips VOIP321 phone, and until December 2008 it worked fine. However the latest Skype update has put an end to product useability.

Since Skype Version 3.8.0.188 (Release date: November 19, 2008) and all later versions (including Skype 4 Betas as at Jan. 2009) the software Philips supply no longer works with Skype and the VOIP321 phone.

The latest VOIP321 driver from their website suffers the same issue, even though it states “The VOIP321 USB Phone Driver V 3.8.3 which can be downloaded from Philips web site is compatible with Skype software version from V2.0.0.x until V3.8.0.x”. This is plainly no longer correct with the latest stable release of Skype, V3.8.0.188.

Skype developers are unable to do anything about it as they see it being a Philips driver problem. Phillips wont update their driver (Quoting support staff “… no more development/fixes are being incorporated into the VOIP321.EXE file”).

The solution to getting this beast working again:

• Uninstall Skype 3.8.0.188 (or later non-working version)
• Visit the Old Apps website where you can (without support from Skype) download a previous version and use it.
• I found that Skype 3.8.0.154 3.8.0.139 worked fine for me with the VOIP321 hardware under Windows XP
• Reinstall the older version.
• Launch the newly installed older version of Skype
• Remove the VOIP321.exe application from the Skype menu: Tools > Options > Advanced > Advanced Settings > Manage other programs Access to Skype
• Reboot your Windows Computer

If you don’t own one of these yet, don’t waste your time on Philips Skype phone devices. Their driver support is lacking when Skype is updated and they EOL their product too soon. You buy a product for a few hundred dollars and it becomes useless 12 months later. Phillips would probably rather sell you a newer bit of hardware.

Should they update their driver at this point I will be the first to commend them. I forgot to mention: Phillips Skype phones (where your PC is required) are Windows Only. No Mac or Linux support or drivers are offered.

My next purchase will be a wifi or wired ethernet Skype phone, and not Philips.