Microsoft is pulling the plug on Skype: The date has been set
US tech giant Microsoft has announced that it will discontinue its voice and video communication service, Skype, as of May, shifting its focus to Microsoft Teams.
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Jeff Teper, President of Collaborative Apps and Platforms at Microsoft, stated in a blog post on the subject that they will discontinue Skype in May to focus on Microsoft Teams, aiming to organize their free communication applications to better adapt to customer needs.
Teper noted that with Teams, users can access most of the core features available on Skype, such as one-on-one and group calls, messaging, and file sharing, and further stated that Teams also offers advanced features such as hosting meetings, managing calendars, and building communities for free.
Pointing out that hundreds of millions of people are already using Teams, Teper stated that the minutes users spent in Teams meetings have increased 4-fold over the last 2 years, which he said demonstrates the value Teams provides for daily communication and collaboration.
Teper announced that users will be able to sign in to Teams with their Skype account credentials in the coming days, and that for users who do not wish to transition to Teams, an option to export data, including chat history, contacts, and call history, will be provided.
Founded in 2003 by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, Skype had drawn attention by offering people the opportunity to make free calls over the internet.
Acquired by eBay for 2.6 billion dollars in 2005, Skype continued its rise following that sale. In 2011, Skype was purchased by Microsoft for 8.5 billion dollars.