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Skype Is Finally Shutting Down on May 5

bluespark said:
Zoom was incredibly lucky in that they had a product that did exactly what people were suddenly looking for when Covid hit, and they executed very quickly, signing deals with companies that needed videoconferencing solutions immediately. Now, though, they are encountering headwinds because Microsoft is bundling Teams (an inferior product) with Office 365 subscriptions. Because Office 365 has overwhelming dominance in the enterprise space, many companies are dropping their Zoom subscriptions to save money.
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Do you think it was because people just thought "we need cross platform comptuer based video calls" during Covid and perhaps they'd somehow SEO'd themselves near the top when people looked and after that it was word of mouth?

I'd never heard of them until Covid and I was confused where they'd come from and how all the non-tech mainstream people were suddenly onto it.

I suppose perhaps it'd be so long since people using Skype they didn't think of that so they just searched and they think of Facetime and only being on the phone and they wanted desktop/computer support - so Windows. Skype maybe looked more like instant messaging and VOIP calls - I know I never actually used the video calls but I did buy a "landline" number from it for my business when I first set it up.
 
Wow! I find this shocking, but not. Skype became synonymous with spam (in my world), to the point that I was hesitant to use it. Haven't for years now, but I never thought we'd see the day when Skype was discontinued. It was such a huge force in its heyday!

For Microsoft it doesn't really make sense to operate competing communication services, so I'm not surprised by this.

Rest in peace, Skype. You served us well.
 
do they think that remaining few people that use Skype for personal calls are actually going to switch to teams?
 
Skype died when WhatsApp had mass adoption. Skype always had the ridiculous username and password nonsense. It was too hard to use. Punished by the marketplace
 
It's shocking that during the height of the recent pandemic Microsoft couldn't get Skype back into the mainstream and was overtaken by Zoom.

Teams is garbage. Nobody actually uses that outside of work, nor wants to after spending all day using it during work hours. The reason why Teams has risen to "prominence" is because it's part of the software suite companies force on employees to use on their company-issued devices.

I live in a major tech hub in the US and NOBODY uses Teams for personal use. It's either Zoom, iMessage, WhatsApp.
 
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coolfactor said:
For Microsoft it doesn't really make sense to operate competing communication services
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if they didn't try to cram the features of one usable app in to the already bloated pile of garbage that was the other then they woudn't be competing
 
Reason077 said:
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?
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Viber Out could be alternative according to reddit - you can choose to buy credits or monthly subscription (rates). I haven't tried myself though.
 
I use Skype for call with my therapist...
I don't want to use Teams for it and will use Facetime
 
Nooooo!! It's the only reliable cross-os app I now that isn't censored in China!!
 
bluespark said:
Zoom was incredibly lucky in that they had a product that did exactly what people were suddenly looking for when Covid hit, and they executed very quickly, signing deals with companies that needed videoconferencing solutions immediately. Now, though, they are encountering headwinds because Microsoft is bundling Teams (an inferior product) with Office 365 subscriptions. Because Office 365 has overwhelming dominance in the enterprise space, many companies are dropping their Zoom subscriptions to save money.
Click to expand...
this is spot on. I worked for a multinational company pre-COVID and we used Zoom for every meeting. It was my first non-Teams experience and I was blown away by how much better it was.

In the last 4 months I've received more Teams invites than I saw in the previous 4 years. Companies are choosing free vs reliable.
 
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justmadeupname said:
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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Oh I think must have mis-read an email I recently received from Microsoft saying Skype credit was being discontinued and moving to subscription. I guess they meant they're shutting it down and moving my account to *ugh* Teams
 
However, its frequent UI changes, reliability issues, ill-conceived social media-like features, gradual shift toward enterprise, and inability to keep pace with newer competitors,
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Microsoft in a nutshell
 
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I actually still use Skype from time to time when I'm traveling to call local numbers. Bummer... but I guess I can try WhatsApp for that.
 
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So one feature of Skype is that it can make VoIP-based call to US toll-free numbers for free.

For example, if you are traveling in a foreign country and you need to call your bank or the airline. You can just launch Skype, type in the US toll-free number, and it will make the call via your data connection.

Does the same feature still exist in Teams? Or are there other alternatives?
 
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