On May 5, Microsoft finally stopped supporting and operating the Skype messenger, whose functions have been taken over by many more modern services. However, Skype had support for voice over IP (VoIP) technology, which allows you to make calls from the program to phone numbers. This feature is not available to all modern messengers.
On May 5, Microsoft finally stopped supporting and operating the Skype messenger, whose functions have been taken over by many more modern services. However, Skype had support for voice over IP (VoIP) technology, which allows you to make calls from the program to phone numbers. This feature is not available to all modern messengers.
In February 2025, Microsoft officially announced plans to shut down Skype. On May 5, the famous messenger ended its work, and all accounts were automatically transferred to Microsoft Teams — to access them, you just need to enter your Skype username and password.
P2P calling is now integrated into almost all popular instant messengers, but as Fast Company notes, some Skype users were using the VoIP feature to call real phone numbers, and they will now have to find new solutions. At one time, this feature contributed to Skype’s popularity, as it helped reduce the cost of expensive international phone calls.
P2P allowed one Skype user to call another using their username as the caller ID. VOIP allowed a Skype user to call a real phone number from within the Skype application.
P2P calls are very common in modern messengers like FaceTime, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Signal. However, calling a real phone number from a smartphone or computer app is only possible with a much narrower range of services, and only a few of them are owned by well-known companies.
Google Voice. Provides a phone number that anyone can call. With a Google Voice account, a user can make VoIP calls to most phone numbers in the world. However, it has limitations for users in the United States and Canada.
Viber Out. Viber Out is an additional service from the developers of the Viber messenger, which adds VoIP functionality to Viber. Its functionality is most similar to Skype’s solution at the initial stage of its development. Viber Out allows you to purchase various calling plans. Currently, the price of a subscription, which allows you to call mobile and landline phones around the world, starts at $5.99 per month.
Zoom Phone. This is an add-on plan to Zoom that allows you to make VoIP calls to mobile and landline phones directly from within the Zoom app. This makes Zoom Phone similar to Skype and Viber Out. The service offers different plans, depending on the functionality.
Microsoft will also continue to offer users the ability to call landline numbers through an additional Microsoft Teams feature called Teams Phone. However, Teams Phone is heavily geared towards business use, so its features may be excessive and the cost a bit impractical for everyday users who need VoIP calls.
Microsoft also confirmed that all Skype users with active Skype credits and subscriptions (which were required to make VoIP calls through Skype) after May 5 will be able to make VoIP calls using the new Skype Dial Pad tool, which will remain available on the web version of Skype and on the free version of Microsoft Teams, known as Teams Free. However, they will only be available as long as their previously purchased Skype credits or subscriptions are valid.
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