'What happened right now was the perfect storm, the perfect set of circumstances for any online communications product. 'If Skype was going to become bigger, this year was the time for it,' Gaynor said. Microsoft also started testing a Skype integration in Windows 10 - you can start a call by clicking a new button in the System Tray.īut these feature updates and integrations are unlikely to help Skype grow, said Jim Gaynor, a research vice president at Directions on Microsoft, a company that advises companies on using Microsoft products. If you invite your friends to a call by sending a link, they can join without downloading or signing up for Skype. Soon, when you open a new tab in the Edge web browser or the online version of Outlook, there will be a button for quickly creating a Skype call. Microsoft is also trying to broaden Skype usage by placing the app in some of its consumer-facing products. It's now possible to raise your hand or change your virtual background during a Skype call, for instance. Skype has received some enhancements this year, too, but not as many as Teams. Microsoft has brought out many Teams updates this year, including some, such as breakout rooms and support for up to 1,000 meeting participants, designed to help stave off newcomer Zoom, whose usage spiked during the pandemic. The Skype iPhone app failed to crack the top 200 apps ranked on Apple's App Store in August and September, according to data from app-analytics company AppAnnie, while Zoom for iPhone never left the top 20 and Google Meet was generally in the top 100. More recently, Skype has lagged behind its competitors. In April the company said Teams had amassed 75 million daily active users. But even at Microsoft, it's not the star. Skype did get a boost from the virus. In March Microsoft said that Skype had 40 million daily active users, up 70 percent from the previous month. Skype is still around - it's just been upstaged. The absence of Skype in the implementation exemplifies the video-calling service's diminishing presence in a year when competitors became more prominent than ever, as the coronavirus pandemic forced people to connect online. LinkedIn employees worked with the team behind Microsoft Teams to build the integration, Szeto said. LinkedIn employees use Blue Jeans internally, and they also chose to incorporate 'the other most popular services, Zoom and, in our own backyard, Teams,' Chris Szeto, senior director of product, told CNBC. The effort stemmed from a project engineers developed for a Covid-response hackathon LinkedIn held earlier this year.

Old skype sign in