Skype doubles its group call limit to 50 participants

Fifty people in a virtual room at the same time may not be the best thing, no matter how you get into the conversation. But, obviously, this is the highest limit that Skype allows.

After testing the feature last month, Skype has now increased the limit for group calls, video or audio, to 50 people. The previous limit was 25. “Each Skype group of up to 50 people now supports calls, which you call only your best friend or 45 colleagues,” the company said in a message posted on its website on Thursday. . With friends, a team status update or a teleconference with speakers around the world, Skype makes it easy to get everyone together in one place.

As the increase in the maximum number of participants has doubled, Skype has also made some changes to how these larger calls begin.

For example, the platform added a notification to replace the ringtone as the default way to contact a person, allowing each member of the group to receive a quick ping to join the call. Skype describes notifications as “a simple, unobtrusive way” of making calls and meetings. In addition, if the notification to start a call is not enough, you can select individual members to call or, if your group has fewer than 25 people, you can call the entire group.

Regarding the number of participants, the update is a major breakthrough for Skype. FaceTime for iOS and Mac can handle group chats of up to 32 people, although Google conferencing solutions and business conferences like Zoom can bring up to 100 people in a virtual room.

To take advantage of Skype’s greater capacity for group calls, make sure the latest version of the software is installed on your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer.