Microsoft switches Skype calls for phone numbers to subscription model

Without further notice, Microsoft has turned one of Skype's functions into a subscription model: calling phone numbers, for example landlines or cell phones, without the Skype app. Previously, you could pay in credit for this, which was useful if you wanted to make cheap international calls.

This is now only possible, for example, if you pay 3.63 euros per month as a flat rate to US numbers, as Microsoft's Skype website explains. Special numbers and SMS are excluded, and the subscription can be canceled on a monthly basis. A refund of previous Skype credit is also possible.

Telephone numbers for Skype accounts are also disappearing

Microsoft has not yet explained the reasons for the changes, which were first announced by a moderator in a support forum. However, when asked by TechCrunch, the company confirmed that the telephone numbers previously offered for a Skype account will also no longer work once any credit has been used up. Setting up a new number is also no longer possible, which means that Skype apps can no longer be called from phone-only devices.

Calls from app to app will remain free of charge – also as a video conference –, which has been the secret of Skype's success since 2003. The software was originally developed in Estonia and quickly became popular because it simply worked on PCs without any further configuration. "Skype" became synonymous with video conferencing before WhatsApp and the like, including smartphones, revolutionized messaging. The company was acquired by eBay in 2005, later by an investment group, and finally by Microsoft in 2011. The latter has since integrated the service into many products, but discontinued the offshoot Skype for Business back in 2019. Microsoft recommends the groupware Teams as an alternative.

(nie)