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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Microsoft will discontinue Skype services starting May 5, 2025. The app that has been used for 22 years is being removed along with the company's plan to build Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft representatives stated that the trend has changed and will focus on developing Teams which is considered more suitable for modern communication needs. "Messaging is simpler and innovation can be executed faster," said Microsoft 365 Collaborative Applications and Platforms President Jeff Teper, as reported by Antara, Saturday, March 1, 2025.
Skype will continue to function until the specified time limit. However, users who do not take action during this transition period will lose data. Microsoft management recommends that Skype users move all contacts and conversation data to Teams. After migration, users can download their Skype data via the Team application's built-in export feature, although the transfer scheme has not been detailed.
Since its debut in 2003, Skype has become a very popular face-to-face video calling app. In 2011, Microsoft acquired the Windows Live Messenger replacement service. The transaction reached US$8.5 billion.
Jeff Teper said Skype already has 36 million daily active users in 2023. This figure is still far below Skype's peak popularity in 2013, when its active users reached 300 million users.
The launch of Microsoft Teams recently marked Microsoft's new step in providing cloud-based communication services. Although often compared to Slack, Microsoft's strategy is actually broader, namely building an integrated collaboration and communication platform with various Microsoft and third-party applications. This application includes text and video chat features, so it is feared that it will compete with Skype, which is already under Microsoft's umbrella.
Microsoft finally set Teams as the main integrated communication application on the Windows 11 operating system in 2021. Considerations to remove Skype then emerged along with its declining popularity, especially two years after the launch of the desktop and site versions of Microsoft Teams.
The duration of video calls via Teams, according to Teper, has increased fourfold. “The adoption of Teams for personal use is quite high, so we are very optimistic,” said Teper.
In December 2024, TechCrunch reported that Microsoft would end its Skype credit top-up and phone number purchase service. This indicates a migration to monthly subscriptions and Skype-to-phone plans. Users who still have credit in their accounts can use the Skype Dial Pad service.
Teper ensured that the termination was carefully considered, especially given the large wave of Teams adoption. “I think a lot of people will make the transition (from Skype to Teams),” he said.
Microsoft is also encouraging users to switch to Teams Free. This service offers several additional features that are not available on Skype, such as calendar integration. However, Teams Free does not have a key feature that is the hallmark of Skype, namely the function of calling mobile and landline numbers.
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