Skype talks with yourFacebook-friends now

With version 5.5 of Skype, you can easily import your Facebook-contacts to Skype.

Facebook and Skype are useful tools for entrepreneurs: Facebook lets you stay in constant touch with your contacts; and Skype gives you the chance to place cheap international calls or organize ad-hoc video conferences with your partners and clients without even leaving your desktop PC. Lately, the two systems have been moving closer together; and the latest version 5.5 of Skype, which is officially ready for download, sets the next step of integration.In Skype version 5.5, you can finally - in addition to adding contacts out of your email address-book - add selected Facebook-contacts with just one click. After that, you can see their Facebook status updates directly in Skype. As we tested the new software, installation and import of the Facebook contacts worked without any problems. When we afterwards turned off the PC, we could watch our contact list growing on the Skype-app of our mobile phone as more and more friends confirmed our contact requests. Beware: In case you have many contacts in different time zones and installed the software shortly before going to bed, be sure to turn off the app, set your phone on silent mode or set your Skype status to "Invisible" - otherwise, your dreams might be interrupted, as hundreds of contacts bombard you with direct messages.

After all, the new version fills an important add-on: Finally, it is possible to integrate all Facebook-contacts into your Skype-system and - as a consequence - not only communicate with them in a written form, but also orally via your desktop PC or mobile phone. Of course, there is competition for the dynamic duo: With Hangouts, Google+ also offers free video meetings on the web. And their app "Huddle" at least offers Instant Messaging via your smartphone. On the other hand, we can expect much more synergies to come from Facebook and Skype, since they both have strong ties with Microsoft: In 2007, Microsoft payed 240 million US-dollars for a 1.6 percent share of Facebook; and in May, Microsoft acquired Skype at 8.5 billion dollars.

Stay cautious as there seems to be certain security issues with the new version of Skype: On his blog www.secalert.com, security expert David Vieira-Kurz writes that he could find several gaps in the programm’s security: By commenting on Facebook wall, he could read the Skype sessions of other users. According to Skype, a team is working on solving the issue; the mobile Android- and iOS-versions are not affected, since they don’t have Facebook-integration yet. For now, it is advisable to stay cautious when using the new software; but we expect improvements to appear soon.

Stefan Mey | YourStory