It’s been one of my most long lived frustrations with Skype. Sure I have apps that run on phones, tablets, and PC’s, but sometimes I just want to check a message from a browser. It never made much sense to me that when I would get an email alerting me to a voicemail, I couldn’t just check that voicemail from the browser I just got the email in.
Better late than never, Skype is now delivering their Skype for Web BETA plugin for everyone. Installing a little piece of software in Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari will now give you a pretty complete Skype experience.
In early use it’s been a nice way to balance notifications and alerts without having to keep the Skype client running constantly in the background on my PC. We still don’t quite have the dream of just being able to log into Skype on the web from any browser to check our messages like Google Voice, but this is a nice step in the right direction.
You can catch the full Skype press release below.
Please welcome Skype for Web (Beta)
Skype has been breaking down barriers to communication for more than a decade by being at the forefront of real-time voice and video. In this time we’ve made Skype available on computers, mobile phones, TVs and even games consoles. Expanding to different platforms has helped us grow to over 2 billion daily minutes (that’s over 33 million hours) of voice and video calls. Today, we’ve got some exciting news. We’re starting to roll-out a brand new way of using Skype. Now, not only can Skype be used on just about any screen you lay your hands on, but you can also enjoy Skype on a browser. Welcome, Skype for Web (Beta).
Skype for Web makes it quicker and easier than ever before to connect with friends, family and colleagues around the world, for free – directly from Skype.com. It’s perfect if you prefer using the web rather than an app: perhaps you’re sitting at a computer that doesn’t already have Skype downloaded. Or maybe you’re on the go and using an internet café or hotel computer whilst on vacation where you can’t download Skype at all. Using Skype for Web makes it more convenient to get to your conversations.
Get chatting straight away
You can use Skype for Web without having to download an app before you get started, which means anyone new to Skype can get chatting even faster. Simply sign in to Skype for Web on Skype.com and you’ll be able to connect and start instant messaging directly from your browser.
Connect from anywhere
You can connect to Skype for Web from Internet Explorer, Chrome on Windows, Firefox or Safari on your computer – so whichever browser you prefer, Skype.com is the place to go for all your calls and messaging. If you already use Skype, go to Skype.com and sign in to see all your contacts and latest conversation history. We’re making Skype for Web available to small number of existing and new users to begin with, and gradually rolling out worldwide in the coming months – look out for an invite when you sign in to your Skype account on Skype.com.
Bringing voice, video and instant messaging to Skype.com
Once you’ve signed in on Skype.com, you can start instant messaging friends straight away. Making great quality voice or video calls is just as easy; simply press the call button to connect. As you may have read in the last few weeks, Skype and our friends at Internet Explorer are starting to implement the technology to make Real-Time Communications (RTC) on the web a reality, but for now, before your first call, you’ll need to install a small plug-in to start your conversation. In the future, using Skype on the web will become even easier and convenient. Imagine you wanted to meet your child’s teacher, or conduct an online interview with a potential candidate -you’ll be able to chat over Skype directly from a browser in just a click. With WebRTC, there won’t be any downloads or installs – you can just get straight to your conversation.
While that work continues, look out for access to Skype for Web on Skype.com in the coming weeks – give it a try and let us know what you think on Twitter, Facebook, the Skype Community and through the feedback links in Skype for Web.