Skype rolls out real-time translation services

Microsoft has successfully rolled out Skype Translation's real-time translating service for all Windows users. The feature was first launched in October 2015 and has only served to increase Skype's popularity since, according to the company.

Windows users operating on Windows 7, 8 or 10 can now make use of Skype's real-time translation service, provided they have the software's desktop app installed on their PCs. Although the feature hasn't yet been made available to other platforms, Microsoft is looking to roll out the service for Mac, Linux and mobile devices soon, The Enquirer reported.

Commenting on the success of the rollout, Skype said in its blog: "This takes Skype one step closer to our mission of empowering people to do more, even across languages. We hope that our customers can achieve their goals through relationships that would have previously been impossible." The video calling service is also currently working on incorporating more languages into its real-time translation service.

The feature is capable of translating seven languages on a voice-to-voice basis, which includes English, French, German, Chinese Mandarin, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Skype said that of all its offered languages, the most popular pair, surprisingly enough, has been French to English.

Since the company first released the real-time translation feature, the number of calls made on a daily basis has seen an exponential growth of 400%. Remarkably enough, the company noted that the top international calling corridor using its translator service runs between Germany and Ghana. The feature also allows users to make text-to-text translations in "over 50 instant messaging languages", according to Skype's blog.

Skype Translator is a free service and is available for download on their official website. The feature has been designed around a machine learning platform, which enables it to improve with increasing operational input. This means that as more people use the feature, it will become faster and more accurate. Although neither Skype nor Microsoft have announced a date for the rollout of the feature to other platforms, it is expected to be made available soon.