In Ubuntu, I want to be notified in a customizable way when someone speaks in a Skype conversation (but not in group Chat 'channels').

The problem is:

• I have lots of windows open, so I often don't notice when a new one appears in the taskbar, or if its icon changes.
• The built-in Skype notifications are tiny, and disappear almost immediately, so I don't notice them
• I tried using this script in the Skype notification options, but it also disappears too quickly: notify-send "%sname:" "%smessage" -i skype-chat
• I tried using pidgin instead of Skype, in the hope its notifications would be better, but it is missing too many features, e.g. listing bookmarked chats above my contact list

Is there some better notifications package I can use instead of notify-send?

Or some other solution?

In Ubuntu, I want to be notified in a customizable way when someone speaks in a Skype conversation (but not in group Chat 'channels').

The problem is:

• I have lots of windows open, so I often don't notice when a new one appears in the taskbar, or if its icon changes.
• The built-in Skype notifications are tiny, and disappear almost immediately, so I don't notice them
• I tried using this script in the Skype notification options, but it also disappears too quickly: notify-send "%sname:" "%smessage" -i skype-chat (update: notify-send now supports customisation)
• I tried using pidgin instead of Skype, in the hope its notifications would be better, but it is missing too many features, e.g. listing bookmarked chats above my contact list

Is there some better notifications package I can use instead of notify-send?

Or some other solution?

UPDATE: Ideally a notification window would stay on top of all other windows, and require the user to click on it before disappearing, in order to make sure they have seen it.