Microsoft has made it easier than ever to have conversations with your friends, family members, and colleagues around the world for free.
Announced earlier this month, you can now use Skype for free without needing to register or download the application.
All you need to do is join Skype as a guest to chat, message, or have a video conversation.
How to Use Skype Without Creating an Account
To use Skype without an account, visit Skype.com and select the Start a conversation button.
Enter your name and select Start a conversation.
Skype will provide you with a link you can share with your friends or family, via email or on your social networks.
The link can be sent individually or sent to a group.
Once your friends select the link, they can join your conversation.
What Features Are Available?
When you use Skype as a Guest, you’ll have all of Skype’s free features available to you, including:
- One-to-one and group instant messaging
- Voice calls
- Video calls
- Screen sharing
- File sharing
You’ll be able to invite up to 300 people to chat with you. Up to 25 people can join you on a voice or video call.
What You Need to Know
To use Skype without creating an account, you must use Skype for Web.
Anyone who joins your conversation can use any Skype client or they can join as a Guest using Skype for Web.
When using Skype as a Guest, your conversation will last for 24 hours.
One thing I noticed that Skype as a Guest doen’t offer is the real-time Skype Translator. You’ll need to sign up for a free Skype account if you want the real-time translation of your conversation.
Skype as a Guest doesn’t seem to work on a smartphone browser. When my friend tried to accept my conversation using Skype for Web on their smartphone browser, he couldn’t connect. Skype kept asking him to download the app.
Summary
Using Skype as a Guest makes it easy to have conversations with your friends, family, and colleagues for free. It’s easy to set up and use.
I’m always on the lookout for online tools that make it easy to keep in touch with my friends, without requiring them to download an application or create an account. Thanks, Microsoft!
