Microsoft provided an updated road map for its Lync unified-communications platform today, the opening day of the company's first Lync Conference in San Diego.

Microsoft's call app increased its traffic in 2012 by twice the amount of all international phone carriers combined -- it's calls are now equal to one third of all global phone traffic.

 (Credit: TeleGeography)

Microsoft has unveiled a commercial networking site where small businesses can promote their products and services and interact with potential customers and partners primarily using Skype.

The new website, called Skype in the Workspace (SITW), is free and already being used by about 500 small businesses that began participating in it during its six-month beta period, Microsoft said on Thursday.

Skype selected MACH to enable direct billing. With the new billing platform, which gives mobile operators the option to provide users a consolidated bill that includes Skype credits paid via their mobile phone bill or pre-paid account, Skype users will also be able to purchase Skype credits from desktop PCs and mobile devices. Direct operator billing will maintain the same price points as current payment methods used for Skype credits, ensuring a consistent user experience.

Microsoft is hoping to create a bridge between Lync, its enterprise IM, voice and video communications product, and Skype as part of its broader initiative to extend the Office platform, a company executive said yesterday.

Facebook, Skype, and Microsoft (which now owns Skype) have been working together again to offer Facebook-to-Facebook calls from within Skype. In November 2010, Facebook launched new features that brought together users chats, texts, emails and messages all in one place. And in July 2011 by working with Skype, Facebook introduced video calling and other improvements to its chat services. The latest calling features were included in Skype's 5.4 Beta for Mac and 5.7 Beta for Windows.

Will Skype stay this popular under Microsoft?

Skype announced it has agreed to acquire group messaging service GroupMe. Financial details of the deal were not revealed.

Cable giant Comcast is teaming up with Skype to offer its subscribers video calling on their TVs, in a move that could bring more affordable video conferencing to the home.

Comcast will be offering the Skype service through the TV to its broadband subscribers. The companies are still working out all the details of the service, and they're expected to begin testing it in the next few months.

Skype has decided not to renew an agreement that allows open-source telephony system Asterisk to be integrated with the service using software developed with Digium.

The decision is more about a change in strategy, rather than the company closing the door on third-party integration after the Microsoft acquisition of Skype, according a Gartner analyst.