Skype will let you communicate with your friends through Facebook

In 2003 Skype went live and within days redefined the way we telephone our friends. It was advertised as a free way of contacting your friends – so long as they were on Skype.

Now in its fifth version, the application has joined forces with Facebook. Before we see what’s new with this partnership there are other tools that are supplied with this version that don’t require a Facebook account.

By far the most interesting for people and businesses is the video conferencing tool that can now handle up to ten people.

An improved interface brings prominence to lesser-used tools including file-sharing, screen-sharing and SMS.

You can also set a status within Skype, much like you can on Facebook, interestingly called “mood messages”. This is aggregated into a news feed to show you what your friends are feeling.

Once you’ve finished playing with these features you can sync your Facebook account with your Skype like a video game. This unlocks several new features, including the ability to ring any friend who has their telephone number listed on their Facebook profile.

You also have to choose to sync your Skype mood message with your Facebook status, but the difference in names might put people off doing this.

I’ve had to road test this app on my Windows PC as it will not be available on a Mac for at least a month.

After testing the application I noticed on their website they offer a business version that comes without Facebook integration – which took away my main criticism. I thought this would only cause more people to ring their friends for free during time when they should be working.

I love the new development and think it will be a hit with its current user base and will definitely attract new users.

It acts a social media phone book, which is something I’ve not seen before.

This direction shift in the company is probably a result of its impending IPO. The company has 560 million registered users, 124 million are active monthly and 8.1 million are paying for its services.

Will this new set of features bury the rumours of a Facebook phone and escalate Skype’s value going into 2011? Both companies are hoping that it does.