Email, Messaging, & Video Calls Video Calls How to Integrate Skype With Mozilla Thunderbird Click on names or numbers in Thunderbird to place Skpe calls by Nadeem Unuth Freelance Contributor Nadeem Unuth is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire who specializes in information and communication technology with a focus on VoIP. our editorial process LinkedIn Nadeem Unuth Updated on February 26, 2020 Video Calls Skype Facetime Tweet Share Email The concept of unified communications aims to put your contacts within reach wherever you are. It is convenient to click on a contact's name or personal information in an email message to initiate a call, without needing to launch a softphone. You can achieve this by integrating a VoIP softphone service such as Skype into your Thunderbird email client. How to Make Skype Calls From Inside Thunderbird Your computer uses a protocol handler to govern how calls are initiated or how data is transferred over the internet. Each application works with a protocol represented by a prefix such as http: for web pages, sip: for session initiation protocol, and skype: for Skype calls. The integration app identifies phone numbers in email messages and elsewhere and uses the protocol handler to map it to the respective identifier in the service. As a result, a single click triggers the calling app to call the contact. Endai Huedl / Getty Images Here are a couple of Mozilla add-ons for making Skype calls by clicking on contacts in Thunderbird. There are not many of them around. Of the few that exist, these two are the most up to date. They have ongoing support and deliver the goods satisfactorily. How to Use Telify on Thunderbird The Telify add-on works both on Thunderbird and Firefox, which means that you can use it to click on numbers and contact information in email messages and web pages. Telify identifies numbers and presents a context-sensitive drop-down menu that allows the user to choose which service to use for calling. It works with several Skype and SIP clients, Netmeeting, and a couple of third-party VoIP clients. Download Telify How to Use TBDialOut on Thunderbird The TBDialOut add-on adds toolbar buttons and gives context-sensitive menu options and clickable links for phone numbers. It also links directly to your Thunderbird address book. TBDialOut works exclusively with Thunderbird, which is why it is well integrated. However, TBDialOut doesn't get updates anymore, so it may not be compatible with the most recent Thunderbird release. Download TBDialOut Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit