Automated bots are the new in-thing on messaging apps. We’ve used them on Telegram and Slack and they are starting to be used on Facebook Messenger. Skype, one of those early day messaging apps has been playing catchup with the new age messaging platforms since most of them offer features that were once Skype’s biggest features.
Microsoft has realised they can’t just sit around and let Skype become outdated on their watch and that is why they have constantly updated it to catch up with the others. The new move: A Skype Bot platform.
So what will Skype Bots bring to the table? This is how Skype explained what the Bots will do for you:
Today we are introducing Skype Bots- A new way to bring expertise, products, services and entertainment into your daily messaging on Skype.
There will be a variety of previews that will be released to consumers and developers as well:
- A new Skype client (iOS, Android and Windows) where you will be able to test the Bots. This is only currently available in the US, New Zealand, Australia, England, Singapore, Ireland and India.
- For developers, they need to login to skype.com/developer that will usher them to build Bots right away.
You will be able to experience these Bots on messaging and the company also promised to avail them to audio and video calling in the future. That is not all, Cortana, Microsoft’s digital assistant works with Bots relevant to you to get things done right within Skype. The company also uploaded a video on YouTube that demonstrates a new way of interacting on Skype through Skype Video bots, which is something we’ve not seen in other platforms.
Social media networks are turning to be quite robotic this year and their actual impact on making our lives easier online is yet to be fully determined. Still, we are yet to try Skype’s iteration and probably compare these bot platforms in a post later on in the future.
