Microsoft just announced a new, free web-based version of its video chat app, Skype, called Skype Meet Now. This online version can be accessed and used by consumers without them needing to sign-up or download the Skype app.
Introducing a simple, hassle-free way to connect with the important people in your life on #Skype, no sign-ups or downloads required. Learn about Meet Now: https://t.co/yOw6oBlFxx
— Skype (@Skype) April 3, 2020
It’s pretty obvious that the current video chat app in the spotlight is Zoom, despite Skype having been launched a decade earlier. Zoom was able to draw in users because of some new and fun features like the ability to change backgrounds.
Despite Zoom’s popularity, Microsoft says that Skype recently still saw a 70 percent increase in its usage, logging in about 40 million users daily. This is largely due to the number of users who are now staying and working from home to practice social distancing and avoid contracting the coronavirus.
Microsoft’s Skype Meet Now is the company’s way to make Skype video chat more accessible to the public. With it, users can instantly create links that can be sent to participants which, upon clicking, will take them directly to the meeting. Participants don’t have to sign-in or download an app to join and can access the call on any device. Microsoft also added new features to Skype Meet Now like background blurring and a stored cloud recording of the meeting. It also adopts the screen sharing feature found on the main Skype app.
Users can easily revisit their calls via the recorded files uploaded on Skype. Recorded calls, as well as shared media can be accessed by participants of the meeting and will be stored for up to 30 days.
Skype Meet Now links, on the other hand, have no expiration date. This means users can jump into the call anytime. And since calls don’t expire, participants can store and reuse the same link for additional meetings. The maximum number of users caps out at 50 with no time limit in regards to calls.
Source: PC World