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Skype tries competing with Zoom by reminding people that they don’t need the app or an account to make a call

Skype tries competing with Zoom by reminding people that they don’t need the app or an account to make a call

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A tweet reminder

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Skype is trying to make it as easy as possible to use its video calling software and remind people that using the app isn’t complicated. The company tweeted a reminder today that users can now start a video meeting and invite people to it without using the app or even having an account; the process is done completely on the web. (People can start a call from here.) Skype is likely hoping this feature gives it a leg up on some of its competitors, namely Zoom, which has dominated the video calling conversation ever since the pandemic started. Skype has mostly been left out of most video calling mentions.

Zoom requires a meeting host to have an account, as well as the app to start a call, although participants don’t need either. Still, Skype has been playing catch-up to Zoom by making its videoconferencing feature more obvious in the app, and with this feature, smoothing out the process from wanting to start a call to making it happen. My colleague Tom Warren wrote about how Skype ceded this moment to Zoom, which is worth a read. But the company’s not giving up yet and is likely hoping to bring people over to Skype, especially in the midst of Zoom’s latest security and privacy issues.

Correction 4/3, 4:42 PM ET: This article initially stated this was a new feature; that was a mistake. We regret the error.