Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud

    Microsoft: Users Spend 2 Billion Minutes a Day on Skype

    By
    Pedro Hernandez
    -
    April 3, 2013
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Microsoft released some statistics that provide further insight into why the software titan forked over $8.5 billion for Skype in 2011. It’s a lesson in how the right investment—and a heaping pile of cash—can help a company nab a treasure trove of consumer engagement.

      Collectively, Skype’s user base spends 2 billion minutes each day connecting with one another via voice over IP (VOIP), chat or video calls.

      To put things in perspective, Elisa Steele, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Skype Division, authored a blog post that details what those minutes add up to. Essentially, she said, the time spent on Skype each day can be measured in millennia.

      “2 billion minutes is more than 33 million hours of people singing, laughing, joking and staying in touch. That means 1,388,000 days of togetherness, which make up more than 3,805 years of sharing or nearly 38 centuries of time spent on Skype in one day,” Steele wrote.

      She wrote that Skype’s success is due to the technology’s ubiquity and portability. “Thank you for making Skype a part of your daily life. With numbers like these, it’s clear that Skype is more than just for special occasions—it’s for being together with those who matter most—at work, at home and anywhere in between,” she wrote.

      Skype’s popularity is no accident. It was an early VOIP and video-calling innovator, enabling consumers to enjoy free and low-cost worldwide communications across IP and broadband networks. As users flocked to social media, Skype evolved in lockstep by rolling out social features and forging a partnership with Facebook.

      And when smartphones and tablets threatened the PC as the computing platform of choice, Skype established a foothold on the mobile market by publishing apps for Apple iOS and Google Android. “With Skype you can connect with the people you care about most on any device—PCs, iPhones, iPads, Kindle Fires, Androids, Macs, Windows Phones and even TVs,” Steele said.

      Following the completion of the Skype acquisition, Microsoft has been hard at work integrating Skype into its software ecosystem.

      Skype functionality was baked into Windows 8, the latest edition of the company’s flagship OS. Microsoft is also currently in the midst of transitioning users of its Messenger chat service to Skype.

      This summer, the company plans to link Skype with Lync, Microsoft’s enterprise communications platform. Giovanni Mezgec, general manager of Lync, told eWEEK Feb. 12 that the move will further erode the distinctions between business and consumer communications, potentially opening the door to more collaborative and frictionless experiences.

      “By bringing the assets that we have on the consumer front with Skype and on the enterprise front with Lync, we can have a unified platform that really brings communications from the living room to the boardroom in a way that makes sense and is rationalized and connected rather than having disconnected islands,” Mezgec said.

      Avatar
      Pedro Hernandez
      Pedro Hernandez is a contributor to eWEEK and the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Previously, he served as a managing editor for the Internet.com network of IT-related websites and as the Green IT curator for GigaOM Pro.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×