Slack, the messaging platform that is designed to help people in an organization communicate better and it is valued at around $2.6 billion. It has always lacked a key functionality that is available in other messaging apps and this is making voice and video calls right within the app. This is where the Microsoft owned Skype comes in to rectify this.
Skype announced on their blog that “we are releasing a preview version of Skype integration for Slack that lets teams on Slack easily make a Skype voice or video call and reach conclusions faster.” It is rather easy to add this functionality where you only need to visit this page and click on the “Add to Slack” button so as to add the Skype integration.
Once installed, it is easy to initiate the Skype video or voice call by typing /skype and then the name of the person you want to communicate too. You can also invite others from the team to join a video call where the Skype bot will generate a link of which members click to connect. You don’t need to have a Skype account to access this feature and you can join the video call from the web or on the Skype mobile apps.
This update comes at a time Skype introduced free group video calling after celebrating 10 years of proving video calling services. This Skype integration will make it worthwhile for active users who may have used other services for video calling at work like Hangouts or Messenger.
