Your memories as Microsoft shuts down the video calling service

From blossoming long-distance love to helping families stay connected, for years Skype held a unique place in people’s hearts.

In the days before Zoom, WhatsApp and Teams, the video call service was once one of the world’s most popular websites.

It allowed people to make computer-to-computer calls free, and then became the way users could make low cost calls to landlines and mobiles to people in other parts of the world.

In recent years though, Skype has been diminishing as its owner Microsoft focussed on Teams. Its services will close for good on 5 May, with the Skype for Business feature the only part to remain.

Here are just some of the many people whose lives were touched by Skype since it launched in 2003.

Weng and Owen Williams have a lot to thank Skype for – it is one of the main reasons they are married.

In 2012, Weng left Macau, China to start a six-month internship at a National Trust site in Carmarthenshire, Wales.

Feeling a bit homesick, she would speak to friends and family on Skype. She then met Owen, who was also working for the National Trust.

At first they were friends, but after Weng returned to Macau, romance blossomed over months of Skype chats and visits to see one another.

“Skype was a very important part of our relationship,” she said.

When they decided to embark on a long-distance relationship, Skype was the glue that held it together.

They video called every day – including when Weng sent Owen a birthday cake and he cut it in front of her during their chat.

“That was quite sweet,” she said. “Skype just kept us going.”

The pair ultimately got engaged, and Weng moved back to Wales in 2015.

Now, they are happily married.

Like many over the years, Erica from New Zealand used Skype to communicate with a loved one while they were in another part of the world.

In her case, it was her husband when one of them was on a work trip.

Following his death in 2017, Skype took on another role for Erica, who spoke to the BBC anonymously.

“I was clearing out his files to decommission his work computer,” she told BBC News.

“I had the opportunity to review these messages we had exchanged and realised how they inadvertently documented a period of distress and heartache in our relationship.”

What Erica did next tried to bring some closure to this difficult period in her life.

“I sent a posthumous message to his Skype address to which, I – or he – replied from his computer,” she said.

Erica said she then began a brief conversation back and forth “over a period of weeks” – where she would send a message to his Skype address, then reply to herself from his account.

“In this exchange, we responded to each other’s messages and questions with all the apologies and regret that we needed to hear from each other,” she said.

“It helped me to move on. I believed it.”

Since 2003, Susan Bertotti has lived in Chile. Skype has been her way of keeping in touch with her mum Vera, who lives in in Milton Keynes.

For the past 15 years, they have spoken to each other every day they are apart on Skype.

From sharing Christmas memories to showing each other their gardens in Chile and England, the video call app has been a constant.

“Skype has given my mother and I the most wonderful close connection all these years,” Susan said.

When she became her mum’s carer, Susan used the app to deal with all her life admin back in the UK.

As the years went on, the family starting using WhatsApp, but they still use Skype to set up their chats. Vera is now 99.

“It is going to be a huge loss to me,” Susan said.

“I’ll be back to making lost-distance calls now on her behalf, and that will be horrible, or I’ll have to email.

“I’m so disappointed about losing Skype.”

Being able to call internationally without big fees are an important part of Stan Calderwood’s business.

On the day it was announced the service would close, he had used it eight times to call estate agents, accountants and lawyers in Canada about the sale of a property there.

“You can’t call everyone on WhatsApp, Zoom or Teams,” he said.

“You do have to call people on their mobiles and their landlines, particularly businesses.”

Stan is now looking for a new low-cost alternative for cheap international calls.

While Skype fell away in recent years, it still had millions of users – with the website Statista stating it had almost 28 million as of March last year.

So what will happen now?

Microsoft says Skype’s free services will be retired, and users have a choice – move over to Teams, or export their Skype data including chats, contacts and call history.

“The timing of this shift is driven by the significant advancements and adoption of Microsoft Teams,” said a Microsoft spokesperson.

“Teams free offers many of the same core features as Skype.”

Meanwhile, the firm says its Skype for Business users are unaffected by the change and the service will continue.

One of those customers is the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Its spokesperson told the BBC the MoD is retiring most of its Skype service as it moves to Teams, but a “small group of users” will continue using the business version of Skype.

For Skype customers who pay a subscription or have credits to make calls to landlines and mobiles, they will be able to use Skype Dial Pad on Teams. When their credit or subscription ends, there will be no way to continue using it.

Skype as we know it is going – and with it, one of the the most recognisable tech products of this century.