Outlook users to be able to make Skype calls from their in-box

REDMOND, Wash., May 1 (UPI) -- Skype audio- and video-calling will come to Outlook.com in-boxes across Britain Monday and in the United States and Germany in the coming weeks, Microsoft says.

Microsoft-owned Skype said the trial is a preview version of Skype for Outlook.com and will allow Outlook users to make voice-over-Internet-protocol or VIP calls directly from their in-box, Mashable reported Wednesday.

"Even with the best email service, sometimes text isn't enough," Skype said in a blog posting. "We all face those situations where it's just easier to jump on a call to talk something through.

"Sometimes that quick call can accomplish more than a long email reply," Simon Longbottom, Skype's senior director of product marketing, said in the post.

A browser plug-in that supports the most recent versions of Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox will merge users' Skype and Outlook/Miocrosoft accounts.

To use Skype, users must click on the audio- or video-call buttons in an instant messaging conversation or above a friend's contact details in an email exchange.

After the roll-outs in Britain, Germany and the United States, worldwide availability will begin this summer, Skype said.