3CX Live Chat vs Skype for Business comparison

3CX and Microsoft are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. 3CX is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.0, while Microsoft is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.8. 3CX holds a 1.9% mindshare in VM, compared to Microsoft’s 11.9% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of 3CX users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 79% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

3CX Live Chat

Read 55 3CX Live Chat reviews

285 Views
185 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Skype for Business

Read 62 Skype for Business reviews

2,322 Views
874 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

3CX Live Chat

Skype for Business

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

3CX Live Chat and Skype for Business both compete in the communication solutions category. 3CX offers simplicity and cost-effectiveness for businesses, whereas Skype for Business holds the advantage in integration and infrastructure, being well-integrated with Microsoft's suite.

Features: 3CX Live Chat offers extensive VoIP features, easy deployment, and integration with CRM systems, ideal for mobile communication. Skype for Business excels in conferencing and collaboration, integrating seamlessly with Microsoft tools, providing a comprehensive framework for video communication.

Room for Improvement: 3CX needs better integration with other systems, improved call recording, and mobile app reliability. Reports on customization shortages in live chat also exist. Skype for Business could enhance integration with non-Microsoft products and improve call quality and ease of installation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: 3CX features straightforward deployment across cloud and on-premises setups but requires better customer support responsiveness. Skype for Business, though complex in deployment, leverages Microsoft’s support system, proving advantageous for Microsoft-centric environments.

Pricing and ROI: 3CX offers competitive pricing based on concurrent calls, yielding quick ROI for growing businesses. Bundled with Microsoft licenses, Skype for Business can be costlier, but benefits businesses integrated within the Microsoft ecosystem despite higher initial costs.

To learn more, read our detailed 3CX Live Chat vs. Skype for Business Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

3CX Live Chat vs. Skype for Business

March 2025

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Helped 842,296 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

3CX Live Chat

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

16th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IP PBX (1st), Unified Communications (2nd), Live Chat (4th), Hosted and Cloud Based VoIP (4th)

Skype for Business

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

3rd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of 3CX Live Chat is 1.9%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Skype for Business is 11.9%, up from 8.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

Ahmed ACHOUR

General Manager at Beyond IT Services

Enhanced service desk workflow which streamlines operations and offers strong integration capabilities

The customers use 3CX for IP telephony and call center activities. Additionally, they use 3CX for service desk activities, including integration with other ITSM products to collect data from customers who need technical support on their platforms 3CX has proven to be a good solution, particularly…

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Magdalena Teodorczuk

Senior at Krajowy Depozyt Papierów Wartosciowych S.A.

Offers great audio and video quality for virtual meetings

I like the instant messaging feature in the product since I prefer to use the chat functionalities provided by the solution. It is easy to integrate the product with some of the other solutions in the market. I rate the integration capabilities of the product a ten out of ten. The product's user interface is user-friendly. I use the product at a personal level, so I can't speak about the support it provides for the maintenance part. I rate the overall tool a ten out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The solution is stable."

"Mobility features and remote extensions work well."

"The integration between the video and voice is the most valuable solution."

"The most valuable features of 3CX include meetings, IVR, and the workflow personalization of the service desk activity."

"Easy management console access through web browsers with a good interface to Outlook and multiple CRM systems."

"The dashboards and interface of the solution are very good, they have covered most of the main features needed for our needs."

"This solution gives our customers mobility. They can use their phone system everywhere. The other key feature is the security."

"3CX is useful and easy to use. I can talk to my colleagues from anywhere."

More 3CX Live Chat pros

"The integration with Microsoft Outlook for creating and scheduling meetings is nice."

"You can do meetings of up to two hundred people in a single conversation."

"I rate the solution's stability a nine on a scale where one is not stable and ten is very stable...I rate the solution's initial setup a nine on a scale where one is difficult, and ten is easy."

"One of the best features of Skype for Business is that you can set it up on mobile phones, and you can set it up on laptops. You can connect to the tool from anywhere."

"The most valuable feature of Skype for Business is that it has many other tools that you can be integrated with it. It makes the meetings more interactive."

"The product helps me make international calls."

"There are free versions of the solution available."

"We chose Skype for Business after other colleagues suggested that we give it a try. It has served us well."

More Skype for Business pros

Cons

"The reporting and dashboards of 3CX could be improved."

"It could be better in terms of providing more options for call recording."

"3CX Live Chat could improve by being more customizable. There should be more skinning options for the appearance of the solution when we embed it onto a website. This would allow us to make it look more like part of our solution, rather than a third-party application."

"Some customers want to integrate a CRM solution with 3CX, but it's not compatible."

"I need a robust provider who can help me use Live Chat. Unfortunately, I have to move from one provider to another because they don't have enough capabilities to maintain good service."

"The solution was simple to install, but the configuration was not as simple. The full installation process took a few days."

"Its features for scheduling and generating reports need improvement."

"In 3CX, customization is not as easy as I would like. With 3CX Call Flow Designer, you can set up the flow of a call, deliver it to the department, and automate the process. I can't do many things with this."

More 3CX Live Chat cons

"We would like to better customize our instructions within the Outlook plugin/invite, but we are unable to do so."

"We have had trouble with scalability when trying to host large meetings."

"Make it user friendly."

"Going forward, I would like to see better call quality and reliability."

"Skype for Business could improve the interface. It could be easier to use. Additionally, it's hard to find the people or add people you want to communicate with."

"The video conferencing quality can be improved."

"This service could be improved by adding some missing features. It lacks integration with Teams, which is a feature I would like to see in the next release."

"Skype's overall connectivity functionality or ability is one area with room for improvement."

More Skype for Business cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution has been reasonable. We have not had any problems or complaints with the licensing model. We have not reached a point where we need to upgrade. We have all the correct channels."

"3CX sells an annual subscription, but we usually split it out monthly for clients, so they don't see an annual bill for the 3CX licensing, it's just part of their monthly phone bill. As they're paying us for carrier service anyway, we just roll it all together. Your standard phone service would be an additional cost, you either need to maintain a local carrier with POTS lines or PRI or a SIP, or you have to go with a cloud-based SIP."

"Switching from POTS or PRI to SIP Trunk save the customer real costs. ROI is seen in less than a year."

"The price of the solution is in the middle range compared to other solutions. There are different license options available. For example, there is a professional version and an enterprise version, and with the enterprise version, you have the ability to modify the dashboards. You can purchase a license at many different time frame increments, such as monthly, yearly, or two years."

"There aren't any additional costs. With the license I purchased, I have all features that I need. I don't have to buy an add-on or another license."

"There is no add-on costing on the standard fees."

"We used a yearly license depending on the customer's requirements, and the customers did not complain about the pricing."

"The price of the solution is reasonable. There are a few license options and we are using an enterprise license."

More 3CX Live Chat pricing and cost advice

"We negotiated a fair price with Microsoft. It is definitely worthwhile to negotiate with them for the best price for your solution."

"The solution is priced fairly."

"To realize value from the purchase of Skype Business, you need to take advantage of all the important functions of the program."

"A license is required to use the solution."

"The pricing is really good. It is quite affordable because it came with our Office 365. It is on a per-user license, which is nice. I quite like that they have made it very granular with all of their licensing."

"We purchased an open license."

"Previously, I did not use another solution."

"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."

More Skype for Business pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

93%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about 3CX Live Chat?

The solution is stable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for 3CX Live Chat?

The pricing of 3CX is around six out of ten. For some customers, the first year may be free of charge, allowing them to try the solution before deciding to implement it.

See all answers

What needs improvement with 3CX Live Chat?

The reporting and dashboards of 3CX could be improved.

See all answers

What do you like most about Skype for Business?

The solution’s video quality is fine.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Skype for Business?

Skype for Business is affordable and has decent pricing. The video quality is a bit lower than Teams or Zoom, but it remains a good solution overall.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Skype for Business?

The video quality could be improved, possibly due to internet connection issues. However, there is no significant weakness in Skype for Business.

See all answers

Comparisons

Yeastar S-Series VoIP PBX vs 3CX Live Chat

Compared 36% of the time

Kamailio SIP Server vs 3CX Live Chat

Compared 25% of the time

Fortinet FortiVoice vs 3CX Live Chat

Compared 24% of the time

Webex vs 3CX Live Chat

Compared 15% of the time

More 3CX Live Chat Competitors

Webex vs Skype for Business

Compared 28% of the time

Cisco Unified Communications vs Skype for Business

Compared 27% of the time

TeamViewer vs Skype for Business

Compared 15% of the time

Zoom vs Skype for Business

Compared 13% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Skype for Business

Compared 7% of the time

More Skype for Business Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Live Chat

February 2025

Download 3CX Live Chat product report

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business

March 2025

Download Skype for Business product report

Also Known As

3CX PBX

Skype for Business Plan 1, Skype for Business Plan 2, Lync Server

Overview

Connect with your website visitors for free with the 3CX Live Chat plugin. With more than 1,900,000 downloads, 3CX Live Chat is the most popular, effective and reliable live chat plugin for WordPress. Increase conversions and boost customer satisfaction by communicating directly with your website visitors in real-time.

Integrate with 3CX for a multichannel communications suite including voice and video (requires 3CX V16). Get 3CX for free for one year for unlimited users hosted by 3CX, in your own cloud account or on-premise on Windows or Linux.

Easy and convenient for visitors
Build rapport with potential customers via live chat
Increase sales
Reduce customer support line costs by using live chat
Learn to understand the pain points of your customers

FEATURES

Simple and clean UI for all users
Option to elevate a live chat to a call or video call
Free iOS or Android apps to respond to messages through a smartphone
Ability to transfer chats to other agents
Agent’s picture is shown in the live chatbox
Customizable chatbox. Add a company logo, change the colors of the chatbox
All chats are saved in chat history
Dedicated storage system for all offline messages
Create unlimited agents to handle live chats and calls
Customizable offline message form
Supports animations in the chatbox
Ability to choose whether you want to accept or decline a chat

3CX

Skype for Business offers features including presence, IM, voice and video calls, online meetings, conferencing, and telephony solutions that support enterprise-level collaboration requirements. Skype for Business Record meetings, share your screen, and annotate PowerPoint for real-time collaboration with up to 250 people and use whiteboard, polls, Q&A, and built-in IM during your business meetings to make them more productive. Skype for Business provides new client experience, Skype for Business Server provides several new features to improve manageability of on-premises servers and hybrid solutions. Skype for Business also supports the Lync client experience so that you can choose a phased upgrade approach to the new client experience for users. Skype for Business is also an integral part of Microsoft Office 365, providing PSTN Conferencing, Cloud PBX, PSTN Calling, and Skype Meeting Broadcast capabilities to Office 365 users.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.

Buyer's Guide

3CX Live Chat vs. Skype for Business

March 2025

Free Report: 3CX Live Chat vs. Skype for Business

Find out what your peers are saying about 3CX Live Chat vs. Skype for Business and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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