David Gurle, vice president and general manager of Skype Enterprise, announced a new partnership at his keynote address at Enterprise Connect 2011 in Orlando on Tuesday. Skype (News - Alert) is working with Florida-based Citrix Systems to deliver a new breed of Web and audio conferencing tools, marrying the best of both products to let users set up online meetings with GoToMeeting and Skype video conferencing.

Supplementing the Skype for Business desktop, the Web and audio features based on GoToMeeting allow Skype's business users to set up online audio conferencing meetings that users can join via Skype or through public switched telephone network (PSTN) phone numbers.

"GoToMeeting is used by millions of people around the world, which is testament to our unrelenting focus on ease of use and delivering a superior customer experience," said Brett Caine, senior vice president and general manager of Citrix's Online Services Division in a press release. "Teaming with Skype further extends our high quality capabilities, enhancing the collaboration experience for business users and workshifters everywhere."

Skype currently offers a conference calling service at no cost. The paid version, which is due out by the end of this year, will allow more than two people at a time to converse which will benefit telepresence for businesses and telecommuters.

"Web and audio conferencing has been among the top requested features by our business users. This represents a significant step towards broadening our enterprise offerings, while adding features that will enable business people to collaborate even more efficiently and effectively," said Gurle.

While the price has not yet been released, Skype is already on the map to compete with Cisco (News - Alert) System’s WebEx and Microsoft’s Live Meeting with this new partnership.

With Skype’s recent IPO filing, the company placed Apple (News - Alert), Microsoft and Yahoo also on the “threat” list, citing that telecommunications companies are competitors because they can block its services if they choose.