Microsoft adds cross-platform video chatting to Skype and Lync

Last year, Microsoft announced that its consumer-facing Skype communications service and its enterprise-focused counterpart would begin to interoperate, first with IM and audio, and later expanding to support video. Now, the company says, the video integration is complete. Skype users can now video call contacts on Lync, and vice versa, Microsoft announced this morning. The change follows a series of deeper integrations between the two products, the latter of which will be rebranded “Skype for Business” sometime in 2015.

Microsoft today announced new cross-app integration between Lync and Skype: video calling. The new feature works between Lync 2013 and the latest Skype for Windows desktop client, which you can download now from Skype.com. Back in May 2013, Microsoft made it possible for Lync and Skype users to instant message and make audio calls between the apps. At the time, the company said video calling was the “next priority.” Microsoft says that whether you’re using Lync or Skype, a video call works the same as any other call. The same options are available in both apps for starting, stopping, resizing, and maximizing video. You might be wondering what took so long for the functionality to arrive. Microsoft says the screenshots don’t do the implementation justice, as the company had to change a lot in the underlying media stack to enable the connectivity (particularly to ensure enterprises would be comfortable using it).