How Skype on MS Outlook will simplify video calling

BANGALORE, INDIA: So what if Microsoft closes its instant messaging (IM) client? You would soon have the option of switching to Skype on your Outlook inbox to send and receive voice and video calls.

As the integration is set to begin, the United Kingdom will get the first taste of it, after which it would be extended to the United States and Germany in a matter of weeks. By this summer, more users from other countries across the world can expect Skype on their Outlook inbox.

Apparently, Microsoft is pitching the move as less typing, more talking. "Even with the best email service, sometimes text isn't enough," Simon Longbottom, Skype's director of global marketing, wrote on the Microsoft Skype official blog.

"We all face those situations where it's just easier to jump on a call to talk something through. Sometimes that quick call can accomplish more than a long email reply. That's why we are bringing Skype audio and video calling to your Outlook.com inbox."

And by the looks of it, it is going to be a simple procedure to download and install a browser plugin, even as users are promised to make and receive calls directly from the inbox. The plugin, which is not required to use Skype's IM features, is currently available for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome, but not yet for Safari.

Microsoft completed the acquisition of Skype in October 2011 and made it public last November that it would soon retire its instant messaging client.