Microsoft is making it cheaper and easier for small businesses to conduct teleconferences and virtual meetings with its new Skype Meetings services, rolled out yesterday.

A free service, Skype Meetings allows users to hold meetings with up to ten participants for the first 60 days. After that trial period has expired, they’ll be limited to just three users, unless they pay for more. During the virtual meetings, users can benefit from numerous features, such as presenting PowerPoint slides, or adding participants using a hyperlink.

Clearly, Microsoft’s plan is to get users hooked on the service as a way of luring them to pay for Skype for Business. That’s why Microsoft has the above limitations in place – it wants small businesses to use the service without paying to start with, then when they start to grow they can subscribe to Office 365 to hold larger virtual meetings.

Of course, Microsoft faces competition in this area. Google is pushing its Hangouts chat service as a way of conducting business, and Slack is said to be developing similar capabilities to add to its chat app. Another challenger is Cisco Systems Inc., which recently said it’s to include video capabilities in its popular WebEx online meeting service.

Still, Skype Meetings sounds like a worthy contender. The ability to upload and view PowerPoint presentations and interact with them – for example by drawing on it with digital ink – should appeal to those who regularly do presentations online. In addition, the service is flexible too, with Microsoft saying it’s available on any device that has a web browser, microphone, camera and speaker.

Interestingly, although so many companies are gunning for the video conferencing space, a recent study by West Unified Communications shows that many office workers are still somewhat camera shy in such meetings. The survey found that just 17 percent of the 230 U.S.-based employees quizzed had actually hosted a Webcast, and of those that did, 59 percent said they felt apprehensive doing so.

Image credit: Microsoft