In somewhat of a surprising development, global software and technology giant Microsoft has just announced that they intend to close one of the internet’s most familiar Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) style brands, Skype, during May 2025.
Microsoft purchased Skype for $8.5bn in 2011, which was intended to deepen the company’s longstanding focus on real-time video and voice communications. But since then, many users have moved to alternative platforms, such as WhatsApp, and Microsoft itself has increasingly put more of their energy toward the ‘Teams’ platform.
Jeff Teper, the company’s president of collaborative apps and platforms, said: “With Teams, users have access to many of the same core features they use in Skype, such as one-on-one calls and group calls, messaging, and file sharing. Additionally, Teams offers enhanced features like hosting meetings, managing calendars, and building and joining communities for free.”
However, I personally still use Skype to communicate with quite a few family and friends around the world, not least because it still works across a lot of platforms where other apps do not. But now customers have been given a choice, switch to Microsoft Teams or export our Skype data (chats, contacts, history etc.). Nice, thanks Microsoft.
The Skype Website currently states: “Skype is retiring in May 2025. Beginning March 2025, you will be able to sign into Microsoft Teams Free with your Skype credentials, and your chats and contacts will be right there ready for you. Enjoy the features you love about Skype, including free calling and messaging, as well as new features like meetings and communities, all on Teams app.”
The only problem is you can’t currently access ‘Teams’ on nearly as many platforms as Skype.