For years, Skype has been my favorite communications platform.
From friends to colleagues, I use Skype to keep in touch every day no matter where I am. That’s why I’m excited that Skype is finally unveiling a group video calling feature.
Skype’s group video calling is designed to compete head to head against services like Google Hangouts. Skype announced the news on its blog earlier today.
The new feature will be available on Windows PCs, Macs, and the Xbox One. Group video calling is totally free for all users.
Group video calling has been available on Skype for a while – but at a steep price. At least one caller in the party needed to pay $8.99 for a Skype Premium subscription in order to organize a group chat.
You can learn how to make a group video chat by following the instructions in this video:

This news is doubly important because Google+ chief exec Vic Gundotra recently quit, which seems to open up the potential for Microsoft services to move in.
In the future, Microsoft plans to open up Skype group video chat to all users on all platforms.
The new group calling supports anywhere from 3 to 10 participants. However, Microsoft does recommend that fewer than 5 participants is best for connectivity and reception. You can launch group video calls across multiple devices just like you can with Skype messaging and all other Skype services.