ONLINE VIDEO-CALL service Skype has closed down today.

Owners Microsoft announced the end of an era in February when it confirmed that it would be closing the pioneer of online video chatting.

Remaining users have been transitioning to the firm’s other service, Teams, which has become Microsoft’s main focus for conference calls in recent years.

President of Microsoft365 Jeff Taper said in February that the lessons from Skype, and its fall from grace, helped the company to better develop the professional-targeted Teams service.

He said the decision to close Skype down, after purchasing it in 2009, came once it was decided that it would be simpler to focus on one video-call app to deliver a better service to customers.

Skype was founded in 2003 Scandinavians Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis in Estonia. It was later purchased in by Ebay in 2005 who later sold it to Microsoft.

It dominated internet communication for years by offering free voice calls between computers and affordable rates for calls to landlines and mobile phones. But, as smartphones became more popular, Skype failed to hold its space.

Zoom, Teams and other free alternatives offering similar services began to increase their user base, particularly during the covid-19 pandemic as most of the professional world worked from home.

Microsoft told The Verge that its rates for landline and mobile phone calls were no longer as relevant in today’s market, where mobile data plans are less expensive.