When communicating through the Internet, we can use a lot of applications, online platforms, or services. But if there is one that takes a good amount of years between us, that is Microsoft‘s Skype .
In fact, this is an application to communicate with users from all over the world, which was not always owned by the software giant, but acquired it a little less than 10 years ago for a good figure. And there it is still running and being used, one way or another, by millions of users spread across the globe.
What Skype can do for us
To start we will tell you that when talking about Skype , we are referring to a program that allows us to establish real-time communications through the Internet. This is extended to anyone who has the same program installed, either on their desktop or mobile device . This is something that has been used by millions of individual users and companies for years.
Actually what we can carry out through this platform, are calls and individual or group video calls, chats, meetings, etc; All this via the Internet, as you can imagine. But it is not only about that, but at the same time, in communications, we can send texts in the form of instant messaging, or share files and contacts with the rest of the members of the communication. At the same time, once we have established contact through here, we can also share the screen with the rest, or conduct private conversations.
Also say that downloading and launching the application as such, whether on the PC or mobile, is free, and its interface allows it to be very easy to use. At the same time we must bear in mind that not all functions and types of use found here are free.
What do the payment plans offer
With this we want to tell you that the basic operation of the program, as well as its download, is free, as we mentioned, but there are other payment functions . In order to take advantage of these, we can hire some of the plans that Microsoft offers us in this regard and thus make the most of the online service.
Among the additional services that the platform offers us, paying, to communicate with the rest, we can highlight the ability to make calls to phones around the world. In addition we will also have the possibility of sending SMS messages consuming money from the contracted plan. As we see in the attached capture, here we find plans of 5, 10 and 25 euros. This is a good option, for example, for end users or companies that have to make many international calls. In fact, on the Microsoft website itself, we can see the costs of calls via Skype , depending on the country we call.
How to use Skype features from the interface of your app
As it is easy to imagine, once we have downloaded the corresponding Skype application to the PC, we will need to have a user account. Therefore we will have to register in it with an email address associated with our name. To say that this is something completely free, as well as many of the functions we find here.
Create a Skype contacts calendar
It is worth mentioning that the same application allows us, so that its use is more how and efficient, to create our own Skype contacts calendar. This is something we can do from the tab called Contacts of the main interface of the program and which is located in the upper left part of it.
Thus, here we find an access called New contact that allows us to directly add phone numbers, or Skype contacts by entering the partner’s email. It is clear that for this second mode, the other user will also need to have their own user account on the Microsoft platform.
How to establish communications on Skype
One of the main utilities offered by the Skype application , how could it be otherwise, is the possibility of chatting with other users of the platform .
Talk to others from the chat
We will also say that this is a free service that we can use with any of the users of the Skype phonebook, or the phone, who are registered in the Microsoft service.
Thus, this is something we can do directly from the main user interface of the application. As we see in it, on the left side, we see a tab called Chats , where we click to access the New chat button and start with the communication as such. At this point it is worth mentioning that we can carry out this chat system in several ways from here.
In this way we can make group, individual, or private chats. For this, we will only have to select the modality that most interests us at that moment, and a list will appear on the screen with the contacts of our calendar that can connect to the new chat, that simple. Then and from the keyboard , we can start with communication, all for free.
At the bottom of the window we will see buttons that allow us, as we told you before, to share contacts from the phonebook, add files to send via chat, or record a message for the receiver or receivers.
Communicate with the Meeting function
From this same tab that we tell you, we have another way to communicate with other users of the platform, which is none other than through Meetings . This option is next to the mentioned chats, and its use is equally simple. To do this we have to click on the button to the left of New chat, the so-called Meetings.
By clicking here, we will see that we can invite other users to the virtual meeting that we have just established, through a personal link. Therefore, we will only have to copy it to the clipboard so that we can share it with the rest of the users that we are going to add to the meeting, and accept it to enter the group meeting.
But of course, we will not always be connected to the program we are talking about, so the fourth tab we see, is called Notifications . In it, as you can imagine, you find those messages or attempts to communicate our contacts while we were disconnected.
Similarly, a little further down we find a section in which the most recent chats are stored so that we can resume them whenever we want. That way we will never lose these conversations in the future.
How to download Skype for free
As we have mentioned before, the Skype application as such is free, but some of the functions it offers us need a payment plan . But with everything and with it as we have seen before, most of them can be used by simply installing the app, without any disbursement. Of course, for these communication tasks, we can also use other alternatives to Skype .
This is something that we can achieve from the official website of Microsoft itself, which we access from any Internet browser . Therefore in the beginning to be able to do with the version of Skype for desktop systems, you can do it from this link . It is worth mentioning once we reach this point, that here we find a version for Windows, Mac or Linux.
On the other hand, and as we mentioned earlier, there is a mobile version of the app, actually two, one for Android from Google and another for iOS .
