Microsoft is looking to increase the effectiveness of Skype in an ever competitive market. With the likes of WhatsApp and others making waves, the software giant needed something to keep Skype on edge, and bots could be that something.
Recently at the company’s annual Build conference, it was announced that bots, a set of artificial intelligent programs, will be coming to Skype fully in the near future. Microsoft is calling this Skype Bots, and according to the company, each bot will bring something new to the popular voice over IP service.
Skype Bots
The feature is available right now through the latest version of Skype, but it is only in preview, which means, it might not work as expected. We should point out that the preview will only work for folks in Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, India, New Zealand, Singapore, and the US.
For those who are interested in creating Bots, there’s a developer section where you can get started on bringing Bots to life.
Today, we are releasing a variety of previews:
- A new Skype client, available on Windows, Android, iPhone and iPad brings the Skype Bot experience to all of our customers.
- A preview of Skype Bots for you to experience and to provide us with feedback (currently available in Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, India, New Zealand, Singapore, and US).
- A new Skype developer program at skype.com/developer to get started building Bots right away, and we also hope you will join us at a May hackathon to create innovative bots on the Skype Bot platform.
In other news, Microsoft said that over 300 million monthly active users are taking advantage of Skype and its services today. That’s a good number, one that could help propel the service to new heights. Still, Microsoft will need to keep an eye on WhatsApp because the service is coming up with several key features.
