Skype now allows users to directly call mobile phones or landline

Courtesy Hindustan Times

Now you can call mobile phones and landlines directly from Skype for Web using Skype credits or subscriptions, Microsoft officially confirmed in a blog post. To access the feature, users can go to Skype.com or web.skype.com and sign in and connect. The company says that the feature is essentially geared towards users who prefer using the service in a web browser.

“We’ve updated Skype for the Web so you can now save money on your phone calls to mobile phones and landlines. All you need is a little Skype credit or a subscription to start making affordable international calls from Skype. Once you’ve signed in to Skype for the Web, simply click on the call phones tab, select your destination, dial the number you’d like to call and then hit the call button,” the company said in a blog post.

Besides, Skyp’e Web client also gets updated with the ability to watch YouTube videos directly from the app using a video link. Hence from this point on, when someone shares a link to a YouTube video in a Skype conversation, the app will automatically embed the video in the page doing away the need to switch over to a new tab or window, as ‘it’ll instantly play directly in Skype.’

Furthermore, Skype users from now on will be able to chat with non-Skype users via a “unique conversation URL”. Put simply, you can create a unique URL for a conversation which can be shared with anyone who doesn’t have a Skype account.

Finally, Skype has added a new notifications feature which will show up even if you’re in another browser tab or another app, as long as you’re signed into Skype for the Web.

Microsoft has been constantly adding multiple updates for Skype such as group video calling for everyone, which was earlier only available on Skype for Business. The Redmond giant has also rolled out the Skype Translator tool for its desktop app, which enables real-time translation between English and a number of the world’s other most spoken languages.