Top tips & tricks to master your Skype

Skype has no equal when it comes to web communication. Since this awesome VoIP service first appeared in 2003, it has come a long way to transform into an immensely valuable piece of software that not only lightens your burden of a monthly line rental charge but also offers you lots of video calling and messaging features.

Now owned by Microsoft and set to be the core messaging service integrated into the long-awaited Windows 10, Skype comes with a wider range of features you should know how to use and tweak to your advantage. So, if you seek to get the maximum efficiency out of your Skype, our today's list is right up your alley. Follow the top Skype tips and tricks and make your daily VoIP experience even more enjoyable.

Record a video message

Besides being powerful at instant text messaging and voice calling, Skype lets you record something like video voicemail for your friends. If you and your mate can't both be online together, you can record a video message for him by right-clicking on the contact and choosing Send Video Message. As soon as your recording is complete, send it to your friend so he could pick it up at any convenient time for him.

Start a group call

Skype is a wonderful invention, especially since it allows sharing a group call with up to 25 people from across the world absolutely free of charge. Well, to call a new group just under a minute, go to 'Contacts' and click 'Create New Group'. Then, choose the 'Empty group' name in the header, which will open a pop-up window with the group's settings. Once you type in the name of the group, you can add people to the chat by clicking on the 'Add' button or by dragging and dropping your contacts onto the group window.

Chat commands

If you prefer communicating through chat boxes, you're most likely to know that the Skype instant messenger supports a rather wide list of chat commands you can apply to control the program. For instance, try typing /alertson [text] in the desktop client to specify what needs to appear in a chat to get you notified. Thus, /alertson party will only alert you when the word 'party' is mentioned throughout the conversion. Whereas, the /topic [text] command can be used as /topic Garry's Birthday to let you quickly change the chat topic. Below, you will find the top chat commands we've rounded up for you (yet, always keep in mind that you're using the latest Skype version, as some of these commands aren't supported by the older versions):

/alertsoff turns off message notifications
/find [text] finds specific text in a chat
/get role specifies your role in a chat
/showmembers shows all chat members and their roles
/get uri creates a URL of a chat to let other contacts join it
/kick [Skype Name] ejects a chat member
/leave lets you leave a chat
/remotelogout signs out all other instances except the current one
/setrole [Skype Name] MASTER | USER | ADMIN allows setting a role to each chat member
/showplaces lists other instances where this Skype name is currently signed in

Edit your last message

If you happen to send an instant Skype message with a mistake or a typo, and that seems to have you at wit's end, keep you head — it does ONLY seem so. As a full-featured and powerful service, Skype knows that people make mistakes and, accordingly, created a nice feature to easily fix anything in the last message they sent. Just hit the Up arrow on your keyboard, and the 'unlucky' message will appear in a chat box, from where you can edit and resend it again.

Hidden emoticons

Feeling (sad)? Or totally (inlove)? That's where Skype emoticons explain better than a thousand words. You can express your feelings in a mood message and liven up your chatting with the emoticons palette in the IM window or by typing in a certain set of characters as well as a specific word in brackets. Still, Skype has its own secrets and, along with the loads of visible emoticons, has some hidden smiles you won't find in the menu. Take a look at the full list of hidden emoticons:

Skype hidden emoticons