14 DAY TRIAL // With so many people embracing Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft even offering a free version of the app, many are wondering why Skype is still around and why the company doesn’t actually kill this app.
Isn’t Skype redundant? Isn’t the whole thing of offering multiple apps with the same purpose something that only confuses users?
Not at all.
2020 has been the year when staying in touch with each other came down to the world of technology, simply because physical interaction was something everybody needed to avoid.
So applications like Skype became more and more popular, eventually becoming the main way to interact during these crazy times.
While Skype was for many an old product that made little sense, the improvements it received in 2020 showed Microsoft is still committed to the app. And it doesn’t go anywhere.
One of the features I like the most is Meet Now, which is now bundled with Windows 10 and allows users to create a video call even without the need for an account. This is something that works as straightforward as possible, and it allows setting up a meeting in a matter of seconds.
Skype has evolved on pretty much every front, so in addition to improvements for consumers, it also received new capabilities that made more sense for people working from home. One of them is the raise hand support, which makes it easier for someone participating in a meeting to notice someone else wants to talk.
“The Skype team has added the ability to Raise Hand during a group call, with 8.65 released on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone, and iPad. During a meeting, if a participant wants to say something without interrupting the ongoing conversation, they can virtually raise their hand to have a chance to speak in the call. This feature is available on all platforms in Skype, including mobile, desktop and web,” Microsoft announced not a long time ago.
“To raise your hand during a group call, on desktop, select Raise Hand from the call controls in the bottom right corner of your screen. On mobile, tap the More menu (three dots), and tap Raise Hand. When someone raises their hand, everyone in the call gets the notification and the button for Raise Hand changes to Lower Hand for that person, giving them the option to lower their hand whenever they want.”
It's not a secret Skype has long been an app used by companies for interviews, but since so many of us have been working from home lately, doing this has become a challenge, especially with the entire family around. This is why Microsoft has added support for background replace, a feature that makes it possible to hide what’s happening in the back and thus keep the focus on you.
“During a video call, you may not want your family and friends or even your co-workers to see your home environment. We created Background Replace to give you that extra bit of privacy to hide those messy bedrooms, kids running around in the kitchen or the untidy bookcases in your room. You have the option to choose any of your own images to replace your background, like a fun vacation snap in sunny Greece or keep it professional and have a basic blur,” Microsoft explains.
So overall, Microsoft is as committed as ever to Skype, and you’d better not hold your breath for its demise. Not when so many people use it on a regular basis, that’s for sure.