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I use Skype with friends for our weekly group call. Zoom is not a solution for me since I don't have access to it and I gather one must pay to use it? Besides which, a couple of my friends would have great difficulty in connecting via email link due to their VERY limited tech knowledge. FaceTime is not feasible since I need a cross-platform for friends not using Apple products.
Google is the way to go, just need to create a free gmail account. Then you can use google chat and google meet. It works well and is simple. If you are the host you can send them links, they just click on it (assuming they are logged into their gmail account) and away you go, it is no better or worse then zoom or FaceTime and is cross platform, from computers to handhelds.
 
Anyone have any recommendations on transferring my Skype number? It's a junk number I use for random things. I also have a google voice but don't know if I can transfer it and have two numbers.
 
Never had issues with teams and use if endlessly

I use it everyday, and it's okay. The interface just isn't very intuitive, and I wish there was more customization with the notifications and the left side buttons.

Used to use Skype back in the day to talk to relatives in Europe before there were other options, but haven't used it in 15 years.
 
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I have not used Skype in many years, the one thing that a few people have brought up was the ability to create phone numbers. I did this for a few years, had a local number in the US (I am Canadian in Canada) through Skype. It was relatively cheap and worked well. Not sure if anyone else offers this or not, or if there is really a need with a lot of the plans with free long distance.
 
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I never got into using FaceTime much. WhatsApp has been ok but Teams has been the most useful for me.

I never looked into the history of Zoom.

I think marketing and branding and the name has a huge impact on the service. We underestimate what a good name can do, it can make or break a products that have essentially the same features and performance.
Me and all 15 members of our family are very heavy FaceTime Video users. It has much better video quality and iOS integration compared to WhatsApp and other 3rd Party Video Calling apps
 
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I use Line to make (audio) calls between the US and Thailand. It's not the world's best MacOS application (for instance, the Ctrl-A, Ctrl-k, and other readline keybindings don't work) but it's reliable and ubiquitous in Asia.

I also have Line from when I was in Thailand! It’s basically the WhatsApp or WeChat of Thailand, everyone uses it there.

But AFAIK it can’t be used to make normal international phone calls to any phone number anywhere. So it’s not really a VOIP app like Skype.
 
I also have Line from when I was in Thailand! It’s basically the WhatsApp or WeChat of Thailand, everyone uses it there.

But AFAIK it can’t be used to make normal international phone calls to a random phone number anywhere. So it’s not really a VOIP app like Skype.

Skype did calls to landline/mobiles? I only remember using it from Skype to Skype.
 
I use Skype occasionally to make international calls to landlines. Still have $50 credit for it, guess that will be lost.
Microsoft will offer you a voucher - for the next purchases of xbox Online credits or something alike.

I myself have some credit as well on Skype.
 
you raised a valid point, possible people just like new things, even if they are just repacked old stuff with new names, ux. marketing trends. the question is why MS gave up so easily. was the acquisition even necessary ? could be the worst tech investement ever.

Maybe it was seen as a bit of a hangover from MSN messenger? It did replicate a lot of the features. Perhaps people saw it more as IM and VOIP rather than video calling?
 
Great example of Microsoft ruining something that was pretty good. Skype was great around 2004-2010 when I lived overseas and would use it to call phones back home.

I recently tried to log into my Skype account and couldn't even do so because it's intertwined with MS's web of crappy online services and even logging in and viewing the accont is convoluted as can be. It would send me password resets, which didn't work and eventually just gave up.

Teams is absolutely terrible, as well. If someone sends me a Teams link, i cringe and just use the web browser version to do the call.

I'm really looking forward to the day when I can be Microsoft free entirely. With the exception of Excel, all their stuff is just garbage.
 
I still had Skype credit for VoIP calls until they made some awful recent change to a subscription. that's £5 I'll never see again!

My mum still uses Skype to video call me simply because it's what I set up for her 20 years ago and it's familiar. All that despite Facetime being a click away on her iPad.
 
All things in life have to end at some point. I wonder what took them this long to kill the product. Since FaceTime came out and Google Hangouts its days were numbered. Teams should also go the way of the dodo. I ***** hate Teams.
 
Wait, what?! This is the first I have heard of this. I still use Skype fairly frequently for one thing: making international calls to people/numbers that aren’t on FaceTime or WhatsApp.

Skype is massively cheaper than phone company rates for this. Like 50-100x cheaper in some cases. And importantly, numbers you are calling through Skype see correct caller ID, you don’t come up as some suspicious ghost call! And the call quality is usually great.

Can anyone recommend a good alternative VOIP app for making international calls, if Skype shuts down?

and 60 minutes per month free for office 365 subscribers. between myself and my wife’s account (on one family 365) that covered all my wife’s calls to her mum abroad.
 
I still had Skype credit for VoIP calls until they made some awful recent change to a subscription. that's £5 I'll never see again!
I still have £4.50 sitting in mine, from £10 I added a few years ago!

The credit is still there, and seems valid.
 
Skype did calls to landline/mobiles? I only remember using it from Skype to Skype.
Yes, I still use Skype from my MacBook Air to make the occasional calls from the UK or European landline/mobiles. I found the service quite cheap with very reliable calls quality.

You buy pay as you go credit - normally 10 Euro minimum (I think) and it's not monthly subscription like other similar services today.
 
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