Skype Consumer Service

Skype (not Skype for Business) is a Microsoft-hosted communications service for consumers and small businesses that offers voice, video, IM, presence, and file sharing.

Skype claims over 300 million monthly active users and a global deployment, and it is often able to provide better international dialing rates than traditional telecommunications providers. Skype telephony offers many of the same capabilities as an on-premises private branch exchange (PBX) and Skype for Business installation. However, it lacks critical enterprise features found in Skype for Business or PBX systems, including call transferring, call parking, enhanced 911 emergency location service, and porting of existing phone numbers. Skype also does not offer organization-controlled accounts and integration with Active Directory on-premises, has lower limits on the number of meeting attendees, and does not archive call details records. Consequently, it is unlikely to meet security, privacy, and records retention requirements in many organizations.