Facebook finds a VoIP and video chat partner in Skype

Facebook and Skype are teaming up for extensive integration of the social network in the next version of Skype’s software, sources tell AllThingsDigital.

The partnership will allow Facebook users to easily log into Skype using Facebook Connect and will give users the ability to text message, voice chat, and even video chat with their Facebook friends from within Skype. It’s expected to appear in Skype’s upcoming 5.0 version, which will emerge from beta testing in the next few weeks.

[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":216784,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,social,","session":"A"}']

The deal is a win for both companies: Facebook gets access to a robust voice and video calling platform, and Skype will see a massive surge in new users from Facebook’s 500 million users. Skype has 124 million people using its software once a month and 550 million registered users of its own. There will certainly be a great deal of overlap between existing Skype and Facebook users, but the integration will also lead many users to try out Skype who never saw a reason to in the past.

There are still many questions about what this partnership means: Will Skype eventually bring in-browser voice and video chat to Facebook’s site? That’s definitely one advantage that a service like Gmail’s voice and video chat has. And what does the partnership mean for Skype and Facebook mobile apps?

As AllThingsDigital’s Kara Swisher mentions, the arrangement will help Facebook with its international presence since Skype is more popular among international users.

Getting content noticed is a challenge for everyone making apps. Join us at DiscoveryBeat 2010 and hear secrets from top industry executives about how to break through and profit in the new cross-platform app ecosystem. From metrics to monetization, we’ll take an in depth look at the best discovery strategies and why they’re working. The conference takes place on October 18th at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Sponsors can contact us at sponsors@venturebeat.com. To buy tickets, click here.