UPDATED 09:00 EDT / APRIL 30 2013

NEWS

Skype for Outlook.com Rolls Out in the UK

In July of last year, Microsoft unveiled Outlook.com, a new personal e-mail service, that aimed to reimagine how people use e-mail.

Most noticeably, Outlook.com boasted a fresher, cleaner look, which meant less ads, and a faster experience, together with social integration from services like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.  It was also announced that Skype integration would be coming soon.

It wasn’t until February that Microsoft officially launched Outlook.com, but no Skype integration came with it.

That may or may not have disappointed Outlook users, but luckily they haven’t been kept waiting long – Microsoft has just announced its rolling out Skype video calling for Outlook.com today. Don’t get too excited though, as for now the service will only be available to users in the UK, followed by the US and Germany in the coming weeks, with worldwide support promised for later this Summer.

To get Skype for Outlook.com, you need to pair your Outlook.com and Skype web accounts. Once pairing has been established, you’ll be prompted to install a browser plugin that interfaces with Skype and Outlook.com.  Make sure that you have the latest version of Internet Explorer, Chrome or Firefox installed for the plugin to work.  After accomplishing those tasks, you’ll now be able to use both Skype voice and video calling while in Outlook.com.  For using Skype instant messaging with Outlook.com, the plugin need not be installed.

Don’t expect that everything will go so smoothly though. Skype for Outlook.com is just a preview version as Microsoft wants to get feedback from users before polishing the service at a later date.  User feedback is quite important Microsoft will this to deliver whatever updates are needed.

As an added bonus, the integration also includes support for Microsoft’s Messenger service, so Outlook.com users will be able to make video calls to Messenger users as well.


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