Microsoft closes Skype deal

"Microsoft is committed to the ubiquity of the Skype experience - communication across every device and every platform will remain a primary focus," said Mr Bates. That depends on how you define 'platform' - shortly afterwards the Microsoft/Skype deal was announced, Skype notified Digium that it would not be renewing the software licensing agreement that allowed Digium to create and distribute Skype for Asterisk, an add-on that allowed the Asterisk PABX software to join the Skype network as a native client.

The longer term

In the longer term, the plan is to integrate Skype into "an array of Microsoft products". That could include Office 365, which currently only supports voice communication with peers, not to or from phone numbers.