It may have been a long time coming — many Skypers have been waiting to use the VoIP service through the new Outlook.com since the newly revamped service launched last August — but Microsoft is now rolling out a preview version of its Skype service for Outlook.com, allowing users to make calls and send instant messages from within the email service using a browser plugin.
The preview is available initially to UK customers users, but Skype said in a blog post that they are intending to launch the service in the U.S. and Germany in the coming weeks, with a global launch planned for summer.
We first caught a glimpse of Skype integration with Outlook.com back in March in a brief video spot.
The plugin needed to use the service is available for the most recent versions of Internet Explorer, Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Once you’ve downloaded the plugin (and you’ve made sure your Skype account is connected to your Microsoft account), you’ll be ready to make and receive Skype phone calls. Your Skype contacts will also join you in the Outlook.com service’s address book. Users just have to move the mouse over the contact’s picture and click on the Skype audio or video call button.
Now that Outlook.com and Windows Phone 8 have been integrated with Skype, we’re looking forward to seeing where Microsoft’s new rebranding effort will take the company in the coming months.