Uncover the 4 New Ways Skype Helps You Communicate with Ease
You probably use Skype on a daily basis to IM your coworkers and to chat with friends and family. Just like you, tons of other people use Skype to stay in touch with the people in their lives.
How many people? Well, According to the new Microsoft by the Numbers website, so many people use Skype that they manage to rack up to 3 billion minutes of calls – each day.
There’s no denying that Skype is an incredibly popular instant messaging and VoIP client. Still, even if you’re familiar with it, there may be a few new features you don’t know about it. Check them out below.
1. Skype works in your browser
Skype is available for multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and more. You’ll have to install Skype on your PC, Mac, iPhone or Android to be able to stay in touch with all your Skype friends. What if you can’t or you simply don’t want to install Skype? What happens if you have Skype on your phone but you can't use your phone and you don’t want to install Skype on your desktop?
No problem, because Skype is also available for the web. Visit the Skype for Web page, sign into your account, and you’ll be able to communicate with all your friends.
Skype for Web is a Beta at the time of writing this. It was introduced back in November 2014 but it took until June 2015 for it to hit international availability.
Skype for Web isn’t the only messenger type application that works within the browser. Here are a few other messenger applications you can use within your favorite browser.
2. Skype translates voice and instant messages
If I speak English and you speak German, how will we communicate, since I don’t speak German and you don’t speak English? By using Skype Translator of course. Skype Translator can translate video and voice chats and it can also translate instant messages.
Back in November 2014, the Skype Translator Preview Program opened up to the public. In December 2014, the Skype Translator preview app was released to the public and hundreds of thousands put it to the test. In November 2015, Skype made this announcement:
“We are thrilled to start rolling out the Skype Translator magic to millions of people – by introducing six voice languages, English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish, and 50 messaging languages into the Skype for Windows desktop app. It has been a long-time dream at Skype to break down language barriers and bring everyone across the globe closer together.”
3. Easily invite others to chat, even people who don’t have Skype
From day one, Skype’s goal has been to break down communication barriers, to make it easy to stay in touch with others. That’s why Skype is available for a variety of devices, from computers to smartphones and from tablets to smart TVs. And with this latest change, Skype is making it easier than ever to stay in touch with others.
Earlier this month, Skype introduced the option to invite anyone to join a Skype conversation. You can invite friends to join the conversation by simply sending them a unique link; send it in an email, in an IM, on Facebook, on Twitter, any way you want.
Click the +New button to start a new conversation. Once it’s set up, copy the link and start inviting friends to join the conversation.
The cool thing is that the people you invite don’t have to download anything and don’t need to sign up for a Skype account. They can join the chat as a guest using Skype for Web.
“You can start, share and join a conversation from Skype for Windows, Skype for Mac, and Skype for Web in the US and UK. Guests can join on Skype for Web. Additionally, if you have a Skype name and Skype downloaded on your mobile, you can join a conversation on Skype for iPhone, iPad and Android. We’ll be rolling out to the rest of the world over the next couple of weeks and bringing the ability to start a conversation and share a link from mobile devices soon. Watch this space for the latest updates,” explained The Skype Team.
4. Mojis, a brand new way to express yourself on Skype!
You know that Skype provides support for emoticons, right? Of course you do, they’ve been around since forever. Now, if you’re like me, you don’t even need to click the “insert emoticons” icon, you know what keyboard shortcut to use to insert an emoticon (a list of all Skype emoticons and they’re corresponding shortcuts is available here).
Because you didn’t click the “insert emoticons” button in a while, you may have missed this new feature: Mojis, little videos that you can use to express yourself when text and emoticons just aren’t enough.
Mojis are short clips that present cool moments from your favorite movies and TV shows, including Despicable Me, Bridesmaids, Pitch Perfect, Jurassic Park, The Muppets, Pitch Perfect 2, Furious 7, 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Back to the Future.
Instructions on how to use Skype Mojis are available here.
How many people? Well, According to the new Microsoft by the Numbers website, so many people use Skype that they manage to rack up to 3 billion minutes of calls – each day.
There’s no denying that Skype is an incredibly popular instant messaging and VoIP client. Still, even if you’re familiar with it, there may be a few new features you don’t know about it. Check them out below.
1. Skype works in your browser
Skype is available for multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and more. You’ll have to install Skype on your PC, Mac, iPhone or Android to be able to stay in touch with all your Skype friends. What if you can’t or you simply don’t want to install Skype? What happens if you have Skype on your phone but you can't use your phone and you don’t want to install Skype on your desktop?
No problem, because Skype is also available for the web. Visit the Skype for Web page, sign into your account, and you’ll be able to communicate with all your friends.
Skype for Web is a Beta at the time of writing this. It was introduced back in November 2014 but it took until June 2015 for it to hit international availability.
Skype for Web isn’t the only messenger type application that works within the browser. Here are a few other messenger applications you can use within your favorite browser.
2. Skype translates voice and instant messages
If I speak English and you speak German, how will we communicate, since I don’t speak German and you don’t speak English? By using Skype Translator of course. Skype Translator can translate video and voice chats and it can also translate instant messages.
Back in November 2014, the Skype Translator Preview Program opened up to the public. In December 2014, the Skype Translator preview app was released to the public and hundreds of thousands put it to the test. In November 2015, Skype made this announcement:
“We are thrilled to start rolling out the Skype Translator magic to millions of people – by introducing six voice languages, English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish, and 50 messaging languages into the Skype for Windows desktop app. It has been a long-time dream at Skype to break down language barriers and bring everyone across the globe closer together.”
3. Easily invite others to chat, even people who don’t have Skype
From day one, Skype’s goal has been to break down communication barriers, to make it easy to stay in touch with others. That’s why Skype is available for a variety of devices, from computers to smartphones and from tablets to smart TVs. And with this latest change, Skype is making it easier than ever to stay in touch with others.
Earlier this month, Skype introduced the option to invite anyone to join a Skype conversation. You can invite friends to join the conversation by simply sending them a unique link; send it in an email, in an IM, on Facebook, on Twitter, any way you want.
Click the +New button to start a new conversation. Once it’s set up, copy the link and start inviting friends to join the conversation.
The cool thing is that the people you invite don’t have to download anything and don’t need to sign up for a Skype account. They can join the chat as a guest using Skype for Web.
“You can start, share and join a conversation from Skype for Windows, Skype for Mac, and Skype for Web in the US and UK. Guests can join on Skype for Web. Additionally, if you have a Skype name and Skype downloaded on your mobile, you can join a conversation on Skype for iPhone, iPad and Android. We’ll be rolling out to the rest of the world over the next couple of weeks and bringing the ability to start a conversation and share a link from mobile devices soon. Watch this space for the latest updates,” explained The Skype Team.
4. Mojis, a brand new way to express yourself on Skype!
You know that Skype provides support for emoticons, right? Of course you do, they’ve been around since forever. Now, if you’re like me, you don’t even need to click the “insert emoticons” icon, you know what keyboard shortcut to use to insert an emoticon (a list of all Skype emoticons and they’re corresponding shortcuts is available here).
Because you didn’t click the “insert emoticons” button in a while, you may have missed this new feature: Mojis, little videos that you can use to express yourself when text and emoticons just aren’t enough.
Mojis are short clips that present cool moments from your favorite movies and TV shows, including Despicable Me, Bridesmaids, Pitch Perfect, Jurassic Park, The Muppets, Pitch Perfect 2, Furious 7, 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Back to the Future.
Instructions on how to use Skype Mojis are available here.
