14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has recently announced a major update for Skype, as the company increased the maximum number of participants in a group call to no less than 50 users.
This makes it possible for Skype to be used by larger groups of people, including in classrooms or within organizations.
Apple’s FaceTime, which is considered to be one of the biggest rivals to Skype, especially in the classroom and in enterprise, is still limited to 32 people.
FaceTime limited to macOS and iOS, 32 users
To make this work smoother, Microsoft is also improving group calls with new notifications that make the process a bit smoother when beginning a group call.
“With the increase in the number of participants, we also made a few changes to how these larger calls start. We added a notification to replace the ringing as the default, allowing every member of the group to receive a quick ping to join the call,” Microsoft explains.
“These notifications are a simple, unobtrusive way to get your calls and meetings (be it between family, friends, podcast guests, or coworkers) started. If the notification of starting a call is not enough, you can select individual members to ring, or if your group is less than 25 participants, you can ring the entire group.”
To use this upgrade and be able to create groups with a maximum of 50 users, you need to install the latest version of Skype. The feature is available not only on the desktop, but also on mobile devices, though it goes without saying that managing such a large group on a smartphone isn’t really the most seamless experience.
Skype is also available cross-platform, while Apple’s FaceTime is only limited to macOS and iOS, so it goes without saying that Microsoft’s product is the preferred choice for many large groups worldwide.