You can now make calls on Skype for Web without using plugins

You can now make calls on Skype for Web without using plugins

Skype has announced that it’s now possible to use Skype for Web, Outlook.com, Office Online and OneDrive for real-time, plugin-free voice, video and group video calling on Microsoft’s Edge browser, the new browser that’s shipping in Windows 10.

To be specific:

• You can now do Skype one-to-one and group voice and video calls to and from Microsoft Edge browsers without any plugins.
• You can also do Skype one-to-one calls from Microsoft Edge to the latest versions of Skype for Windows and Mac clients without any plugins.

In short, this works best if both parties are using the Edge browser. If for some reason the other party isn’t, he or she can use the latest version of Skype for Windows or Mac client. Else, a plugin may still be required on his or her end.

Plugin-free calls on Skype are possible for the Microsoft Edge browser on Windows 10 version 10.0.10586 and above because of the inclusion of the ORTC media engine in the browser, something that Microsoft has been working on for quite a while.

While this works for Microsoft’s own Edge browser (you can find its real-time communications roadmap here), the company’s long-term intention is to enable audio and video interoperability with other browsers, like Chrome and Firefox, too.

Source: Skype Blogs.