Skype to go offline on May 5; Microsoft urges transition to Teams

Microsoft will formally retire Skype on Might 5, concluding the journey of one of the vital recognisable video-calling platforms from the early web period. After greater than twenty years of service, the know-how main is asking customers to maneuver to Microsoft Teams, which is now its main communication and collaboration platform.“All Skype chats and contacts will stay accessible via Groups utilizing the identical login credentials,” the corporate stated in a weblog publish, assuring customers of a easy migration. All current contacts and chat histories will carry over to Groups.

The choice is a part of Microsoft’s broader plan to streamline its communication choices and focus efforts on Groups. “In an effort to streamline our free shopper communications choices so we will extra simply adapt to buyer wants, we will probably be retiring Skype in Might 2025 to give attention to Microsoft Groups (free), our fashionable communications and collaboration hub,” the publish learn.

New purchases of Skype Credit score and plans have already been stopped. Present subscribers can proceed utilizing their companies till the top of their billing cycles. Skype Numbers will keep lively till expiry and could be ported to different carriers.

Even after shutdown, customers can obtain calls on Skype Numbers via the Skype internet portal or Groups. Microsoft said that “calls to those numbers will set off push notifications in Groups.”

Skype via the years

Launched in 2003, Skype pioneered internet-based voice and video calling and have become broadly used throughout households and workplaces. Over time, it misplaced traction as mobile-first and cloud-native platforms emerged. The retirement of Skype indicators Microsoft’s ongoing shift towards Groups, which is best built-in with Microsoft 365 and aligned with present collaboration calls for.

Timeline of occasions

• Skype was launched in 2003 and shortly gained reputation by providing free voice calls over the web.
• By 2005, the platform had reached 50 million customers.
• In 2005, eBay acquired Skype for $2.6 billion, however did not combine it successfully.
• In 2009, a consortium led by Silver Lake and together with Andreessen Horowitz took management of the corporate.
• In 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype for $8.5 billion, outbidding opponents equivalent to Google and Fb.