Offline messages were implemented in a beta of version 5 but removed after a few weeks without notification.The usual features familiar to instant messaging users—user profiles, online status indicators, and so on—are also included. Skype In, service allows Skype users to receive calls on their computers dialed by conventional phone subscribers to a local Skype phone number; local numbers are available for Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.This was made available from Windows Store when the new OS launched on 26 October 2012.The following year, it became the default messaging app for Windows 8.1, replacing the Windows 8 Messaging app at the time, and became pre-installed software on every device that came with or upgraded to 8.1.It has become the largest international voice carrier (by minutes of calls). In 2012, Skype introduced a new version for Windows 8 similar to the Windows Phone version.which was released as a preview version for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update and dubbed as the stable version with the release of the Windows 10 Creators Update.On 15 September 2015, Skype announced the release of Mojis, "a brand new way to express yourself on Skype." Mojis are short clips/gifs featuring characters from films and TV shows to be entered into conversations with the same ease as emoticons.
Skype additionally provides instant messaging services. Users may transmit both text and video messages, and may exchange digital documents such as images, text, and video. At the end of 2010, there were over 660 million worldwide users, with over 300 million estimated active each month as of August 2015.On 21 December 2015, Gurdeep Singh Pall, Corporate Vice President of Skype, announced that Microsoft acquired the technology from Talko, "maker of an innovative mobile app for on-the-go business communications (...) Together, the new technology and talent will help us deliver great new features and capabilities in both Skype and Skype for Business." In January 2016, Skype announced it would roll out free group video calling to users on mobile devices, including i OS and Android.In February 2016, Microsoft announced that it had started to introduce group calling on smartphones and tablets in North America and Western Europe.On 11 November 2014, Microsoft announced that in 2015, Lync would be replaced by Skype for Business.The latest version of the communication software combines features of Lync and the consumer Skype software.