Integrated Skype calling now available for all Outlook.com users in North America and UK

After testing the waters with a preview back in April, Microsoft is today rolling out Skype video calling and messaging to all Outlook.com users across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, and France. Your Skype contacts should now appear grouped within Outlook’s contact list, though you’ll need to install a plugin before you can chat face-to-face via video calling. And don’t fret if you’ve somehow never signed up for Skype until now; your Microsoft account works just like a Skype ID for messaging and video chat. Supported browsers include Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox. To take advantage of the new feature, start a message conversation as you normally would, and then click on the video or audio icon to start up a Skype session. Microsoft is promising users in other regions that it’s “working hard” towards achieving a worldwide release.