Skype, once the most popular communicator, is about to regain its lost ground. If you’ve been a fan of the regular Skype meetings, you’ll soon be able to pick up the thread.

Skype was one of the first applications to allow chat discussion as well as audio and video calls. But its mass popularity started to catch up with Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord and others after about a decade of existence. In 2013, its user numbers dropped for the first time.

Then came Zoom and Microsoft Teams during the pandemic. It was Teams that was supposed to fully replace Skype, so Microsoft cancelled its business version in 2021. While the tool still existed for individuals, it had few users and slowly faded into obscurity. But in the end, Redmond decided not to throw away this popular project and resurrect Skype. New and better.

History:

  • Skype started in 2003 in Finland as a VoIP service.
  • In 2005, it began to allow video calls and video conferencing.
  • In the same year, it was bought by eBay.
  • By 2006, it had 100 million registered users.
  • In the same year, the first full version was released for Apple devices.
  • In 2011, Skype goes under Microsoft.
  • In July 2021, Skype for Business is cancelled and replaced by Microsoft Teams.

New Skype presents

A major upgrade to Skype Messaging 2.0 has been announced by Redmond on the blog.

As the name suggests, the new Skype Messaging will profile itself mainly through text communication. That’s not to say you won’t use video calls, but conversations are the basis. Users will get modernized graphics, everything will be clearer, and dialogue will be made easier by features we’re already used to from elsewhere.

For example, it will be possible to reply to a specific message, with replies highlighted in colour. You can copy the text of a message or forward individual messages. The ability to bookmark a particular message looks handy.

When sharing multiple photos, the pictures will be sorted into an album. You’ll see some attachments, such as PDFs, in the preview before downloading, making it easier to navigate. And of course, there’s a wide variety of emoticons.

Managing entire conversations will also become much easier. You’ll be able to quickly create a link, delete discussions, add or remove conversations within favorites.

Tip: You can download Skype on the official website for desktop or mobile, and it’s available for Windows, Android and Apple.

If you’re concerned about security, know that there’s an option for private conversations, to which standard end-to-end encryption is applied.

Who needs Skype in 2024 if there are Teams?

At a time when other tools have long since taken over the reigns of communication, it raises the question if there is room for more.

  • Certainly the fact that Skype has a long history and a lot of fans speaks in its favour.
  • After the update, it adds now-standard features to its equipment, and some even better than, for example, Messenger or WhatsApp. After all, it has a lot to draw inspiration from – its bigger brother MS Teams has a lot of useful features.
  • It offers encrypted conversations, which is essential and necessary, especially in business communication. And overall security under Microsoft’s umbrella is of a very good standard.
  • For some, it may be an advantage to escape the clutches of the ever-present Meta – the data collector.

Compared to Microsoft Teams, it is, say, a low-fat service. Although Teams is still primary for business use, Skype will find its use under certain constellations. It is suitable for small teams that just need to make operational arrangements without using other features. In fact, Teams is very sophisticated and interconnected with other Microsoft 365 applications and also allows integration with third-party applications such as Asana, Trello, Evernote, Jira and others.

Simply put: Teams is for complex collaboration, while Skype is more for instant communication. So everyone has the tool they need.

If you want to fine-tune your corporate IT environment, unify your communication channels, and most importantly, get your security in line, give us a call. We’ll be happy to recommend a customized solution just for your needs.