As Skype is laid to rest by Microsoft, let’s take a look at a few interesting facts about the world’s first video calling service.
As Skype is laid to rest by Microsoft, let’s take a look at a few interesting facts about the world’s first video calling service. Read More Technology
Microsoft is finally pulling the plug on Skype, the video-calling platform from a bygone era of the internet that precedes the dominance of tech giants such as Meta, Google, and Apple.
With an $8.5 billion buyout, Skype was one of Microsoft’s biggest acquisitions back in 2011. However, the video-conferencing tool’s future has been uncertain since users migrated en masse to Zoom in the midst of a global pandemic. Its fate was sealed when Microsoft pivoted to Teams, which was made the default integrated communications app for Windows 11 in 2021.
Like the iPod and other relics of yesteryear, Skype was also a harbinger of internet culture. “Skype me!” was a popular verb in the platform’s heyday and the iconic ringtone still manages to elicit a sense of nostalgia.
Now, the company has announced that Skype will stop operating altogether from May 5, 2025, onwards. As the sun sets on Skype, let’s take a look at a few interesting facts about the world’s first video calling service.
Skype offered free communication before WhatsApp
The major selling point of Skype was that users could make free voice and video calls to each other from anywhere in the world. The underlying technology that was pioneered by applications like Skype is called voice over internet protocol (VoIP). Since it did not require a dedicated network of cables and operated on existing internet connections, Skype was able to offer in-network, long-distance calling services at no charge.
Beyond VoIP, Skype leveraged decentralised, peer-to-peer (p2p) networks for voice transmission. It also had instant messaging capabilities.
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While Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls were free, users had to pay a monthly subscription fee for its incoming and outgoing Skype phone service. This paid feature allowed family, friends, and colleagues to call a number from their mobile or landline at local rates, and subscribers could answer the call on Skype from anywhere in the world. However, Skype Numbers could not be used to make calls to emergency helpline numbers.
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Microsoft stopped selling credits for Skype numbers in December last year.
Skype was the first to offer end-to-end encryption
Skype claimed that its calls were secured with end-to-end encryption (E2E) more than 20 years before the launch of instant messaging apps such as iMessage, FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, Signal, and WhatsApp, some of which have E2E enabled by default.
Developed by cryptographer Phil Zimmermann in the mid-1990s, end-to-end encryption means that only the sender and receiver can read the content of a text message or access communications such as video calls.
Skype has been banned in several countries
Despite the video conferencing tool’s popularity, access to Skype has been blocked in several countries including Oman, Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Morocco, Bangladesh and China, citing security concerns. Most countries have banned Skype as part of a larger crackdown on VoIP services by various apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Snapchat.
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Skype was integrated with BingAI in 2023
Though Microsoft replaced Skype with Teams as its default video messaging app in Windows, the company has continued to support the platform with UI updates and even rolled out new features like Skype Clips. In 2023, Microsoft announced that it was integrating Skype with its Copilot offering so that users would be able to add its Bing AI chatbot to a group text chat “as you would any Skype contact.”
Also Read | Skype is shutting down on May 5: Here’s how to move to Microsoft Teams
Over 36 million people still use Skype
Even though Skype is on its way out, Microsoft has claimed that the platform still has around 36 million daily active users. However, these users have until May 5 to migrate to Microsoft Teams. “In the coming days, we will roll out the ability for Skype users to sign into Teams (free) on any supported device using their Skype credentials,” Microsoft said. When users log in to Teams using their Skype account, chats and contacts will automatically be migrated to the app, allowing users to pick up where they left off.
In case you are not interested in migrating to business-oriented Teams, Microsoft also allows users to export their chats, contacts and call history to other apps.
