(VOR News) – Microsoft, the company that owns Skype, will shut down the service before it rings for the final time on May 5. With its 20 years of existence, Skype has completely changed how people communicate with each other globally.
The massive office software giant announced on Friday that it will be terminating to focus on its Teams platform, which was developed primarily in the United States. The consolidation of the various communication services that the company provides will make this possible.
Due to the disruption it produced in the landline sector with its audio and video chats, Skype quickly became a household name in the early 21st century. It was used by hundreds of millions of people during its peak popularity. In 2003, Skype was initially made accessible to the general public.
Compared to Slack and Zoom, Skype has struggled recently.
Compared to Skype, these rivals are more reliable and easy to use. This can be partly explained by the fact that Skype’s underlying technology is inadequate for the smartphone era.
Microsoft extensively integrated Teams with other Office products in an attempt to re-engage business clients. This was done since the need for online business calls increased due to the internet and growing chances for working from home. Teams used to be the main platform, but Microsoft has recently been putting more emphasis on Teams.
Before the creation of well-known video conferencing programs like FaceTime, Zoom, and Google Hangouts, Skype was the sole option for online video communication. One of the first technical products to reach previously unheard-of levels of popularity was Skype; in fact, it became so well-known that it was used as a verb.
In the same manner that someone could search for anything on Google, they could “Skype” someone else.
Microsoft paid $8.5 billion to acquire in 2011, which was more than the two most expensive acquisitions at the time—Google and Facebook. Microsoft had over 150 million monthly users at the time of this. Although there was a brief period of recovery during the epidemic, that number has sharply dropped to about 23 million by 2020.
Microsoft made several attempts to include Skype to their toolkit over the course of several years. Despite this, the competition from Apple’s FaceTime and Google’s attempts to create multiple chat apps prevented the company from accomplishing its objectives.
Microsoft announced in 2017 that Teams, a new collaboration tool, would be available. The company immediately gained widespread notice as a result of this revelation.
Microsoft said in a statement on Friday, “We are privileged to have travelled alongside you.”
“Skype has been a basic pillar in forming modern communication.”
Members of the platform will be able to join Teams for free on any device that supports it by using their current login credentials. The fact that contacts and chats have been sent continuously could be one reason for this. This will make the process of moving off the platform easier.
It is plausible that some individuals were surprised to learn that Skype was still in use after the company had deprioritized the platform for several years. A considerable number of the most well-known companies on the internet, such as Google, have faced difficulties in creating effective communication.
At the moment, Skype is thought to be going the same way as other communication apps like AOL Instant Messenger and Duo, which have already been shut down.
Microsoft has stated that the change will not lead to higher employment opportunities, and the company has refused to disclose the latest Skype user statistics. Approximately 320 million Teams users are active each month, according to the survey results.
SOURCE: TG
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