Microsoft has now added free voice and video calling for both its Skype for the web (still in beta) and Skype for Outlook.com. Both now support free group voice and video calls as users can add 25 people to a voice call and ten people to a video call.
“From today, in addition to group IM we’ve launched free group voice and group video calls! You can add up to 25 people to a voice call and up to 10 to a video call, which makes them great for family get-togethers, group guitar lessons, or even to make a movie,” said Microsoft.
To start using Skype for Web or Skype for Outlook.com make a free group call:
- Visit web.skype.com or Outlook.com and sign in.
- Select +New to start a new conversation (or + for Outlook.com).
- Add friends to the chat (you can have up to 25 participants on a voice call and up to 10 on a video call).
- Click confirm and start a chat.
- Fix your hair and then, when you’re ready, click the call or video call button.
Microsoft has already disclosed many bugs that come with the new beta. For instance in video calls, Presenter view is not available, participants cannot be added or removed during the call and only three participants will have their video shown. While in voice calls, users may not be able to add or remove participants during the call. Though in the future Microsoft will fix these known issues which usually is the case with new betas.
To recall, Microsoft earlier added support for audio and video calls to its Outlook.com, which is now integrated with the new Edge browser to access Skype features. Also, users get the option to mute any Skype alerts and notifications while using Outlook.com. Microsoft will likely continue offering support for such features with minor additions and improvements in the coming future to improve the overall Windows 10 user experience.
