If you, like many others, have found that you cannot connect with Skype today, then you are not alone, because it is affecting Skype users all around the world.  Skype, which has a reputation for providing video chats for users online, began to experience a network flaw which has resulted from many viewers not being able to sign in properly.  Microsoft, who acquired Skype back in 2011, is working with Skype to find a solution.  Considering the updates Skype has been given on Windows 10, this is bad timing for users that want to take advantage of the new features.  

According to BBC.com, the reports of Skype being unavailable started at about 9:00 BST on Monday morning, at least in the UK.  Microsoft, owner of Skype, has said that they have "detected an issue with the status settings on Skype that show if someone is online or not".  The problem is that it locked many users' status as offline, stopping them from making calls even though they were connected.  Not only that, but all the contacts of affected users would show as offline, meaning that they would not be able to call those people. 

There is a work-around for those who really need to use Skype to get your business working.  Windows Central reports that the web version of Skype still works.  Microsoft also states that instant messages are still being delivered as usual, and so users will be able to make calls and send messages on the web. 

Skype did acknowledge the issue in a tweet and also stated that they were working on a "quick fix".  It then said "the status issue also doesn't affect Skype for web, which can be used to make calls and send instant messages". 

There were several hours of downtime before Microsoft was able to restore Skype access after figuring out what precisely went wrong.  There is a message on Skype saying:  "We have identified the network issue which prevented users from logging in and using Skype today. We're in the process of reconnecting our users, and focused on restoring full service. The issue did not affect Skype for Business users."

At this writing, there are still a number of Skype users that cannot sign into Skype, but some who have had their service restored.  The precise cause of the problem with Skype has not been given a lot of detail in its coverage.  The best word is that the problem is a "network flaw", according to V3. 

This problem comes at a bad time, as Microsoft's Windows 10 browser, Microsoft Edge, will run Skype without any need for plug-ins or time-consuming installations.  According to The Mirror, Microsoft Edge comes standard on Windows 10, and using the video conferencing software is planned to happen "automatically and seamlessly".  Skype currently has 4.9 million active users daily, even though it faces heavy competition with WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and SnapChat. 

So if you are having trouble logging into Skype, don't worry, the problem is being taken care of.  The issue is just when everything will be working properly, and hopefully it is sooner and not later.