If you’re one of the people who relies on Skype regularly for voice and video chat, you’re probably looking for some answers on what went wrong and what Skype is doing to make things right. Fortunately, the company has been fairly transparent throughout the outage, with regular updates on its blog and Twitter feed.
Here’s a rundown of what you should know about this week’s Skype outage:
What’s the current status of Skype?
When will Skype be fixed for everyone?
It’s not clear when the remaining Skype users will get their service back.
Any problems for Skype users who are back online?
Audio, video and IM services are restored for people who can access the service. Offline IM and group video calling will take longer to restore, but Skype didn’t give a timeline.
What happened?
Any evidence of foul play?
Skype won’t say, but according to TechCrunch, nothing’s being ruled out yet, including malicious attacks.
How is Skype fixing the problem?
To fix the problem, Skype is building “mega-supernodes” to pick up the slack, while suspending the aforementioned offline IM and group video features to focus on its core services.
How will Skype make up the lengthy outage to its users?
Skype will offer Credit vouchers “to all of our loyal paying customers to thank you for your continued support.” In other words, if you’re riding the Skype train for free, don’t expect anything in return for your trouble. For paying customers, details are forthcoming.