UPDATED 01:44 EDT / JANUARY 15 2016

NEWS

You can now Skype from Slack

On the week of its 10-year anniversary – a decade of video calling at least – Skype has been busy announcing a flurry of breakthroughs. First it was the news that group video calling has become available to mobile, and later we heard that real-time translation in Skype has finally been rolled-out to all Windows users.

Skype’s final announcement this week is its integration with team messaging app Slack. “Today we’re releasing a preview version of Skype integration for Slack that lets teams on Slack easily make a Skype voice or video call and reach conclusions faster,” Skype wrote in a blog post.

If your team is already using Slack, you can make use of Skype’s video and voice calling by going into Skype and clicking on the “Add to Slack” button. After you find your team, hit “confirm” once you’re sure it’s the right team you’ve picked. One of the good things is you don’t need a Skype account to use Skype on Slack. Just type “/skype” on any channel in Slack and start your conversation with your colleague(s).

Team members can be using Slack on the web, Windows, Mac, iOS or Android and will receive a Slack notification that a Skype call has started. For group video calling, the regular limit is set at 10 participants at any one time, while voice calls are limited to 25 participants.

The move is significant for Microsoft, given the widespread popularity of Slack, called in 2014 “the fastest-growing workplace software ever,” and worth over $1 billion just a year after it was launched. It’s no wonder that under CEO Satya Nadella’s influence and focus on productivity that Microsoft wants to get chummy with Slack.

It’s reported that Microsoft has said Skype on Slack is available worldwide as of now, though the spokesperson for the company would not comment on if this move is final.

Photo credit: Gustavo da Cunha Pimenta via Flickr

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU