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 7.9. 3CX holds a 2.3% mindshare in VM, compared to Microsoft’s 10.4% 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

299 Views
199 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Skype for Business

Read 62 Skype for Business reviews

2,382 Views
871 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

3CX Live Chat

Skype for Business

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between 3CX Live Chat and Skype for Business based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Virtual Meetings solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

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

Buyer's Guide

3CX Live Chat vs. Skype for Business

January 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 831,158 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

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IP PBX (1st), Unified Communications (2nd), Live Chat (3rd), Hosted and Cloud Based VoIP (5th)

Skype for Business

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

3rd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of 3CX Live Chat is 2.3%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Skype for Business is 10.4%, up from 8.7% 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

"3CX is easy to use. It's pretty a much regular PBX system. It is quite easy to configure aspects of it, and it has a good soft client."

"The integration with SMS has been helpful. That's how a lot of customers prefer to communicate nowadays. It makes it convenient for the customer to reach us."

"3CX is a reliable solution."

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

"It’s straightforward to set up."

"The most valuable features of 3CX Live Chat are the ability to go straight to a call or screen-sharing and creating multiple channels from the same chat widget effectively. The ability to raise a call straight out to the cloud is fantastic, it is really useful. Additionally, it integrates very well with WordPress."

"It lets you see how many calls you made, the time you called, and how many minutes you spent on the phone."

"The most valuable features of 3CX Live Chat are the integration with our existing CRM allowing us to get all of the numbers synced together. The communication aspect of the solution was always working very well, the sound quality was perfect. We were able to log into the application to check which users were using the solution and if they were in a call or not. Additionally, the solution integrates well with other CRMs."

More 3CX Live Chat pros

"People are now able to virtually collaborate with their staff and have a conference call. We don't need a phone line to make that conference call and we are saving on that. People are able to share their presentations. Also, they can chat using the Skype"

"It's a good and stable product that fits my needs."

"Skype for Business is good for meetings and instant messaging."

"Desktop sharing is a valuable feature."

"What is most valuable about Skype for Business is that almost everyone knows about it and almost everyone has it. You will be able to reach a large number of people."

"The Microsoft tech support are very good. They get back to you. I log a support call, and I usually have someone on the phone within a half an hour, so it is pretty good."

"The solution is stable and scalable."

"I like the seamless integration to local telecommunications."

More Skype for Business pros

Cons

"The support team can appear to be condescending."

"Reporting and integration are the main challenges, which are at the mid-level or in the enterprise depending on the system that we choose."

"There are a lot of quality of life things that could be improved. When adding extensions, you need to use the extension import setting, you can't just use an import function to update extensions. You have to delete and recreate the extension, which can have all kinds of unintended consequences."

"There should be an option to save some extensions."

"It needs the option for the CS rep to stop recording when a credit card number is recited by the customer."

"You cannot make a group call on 3CX. That feature would make my life easier because I could talk to two suppliers or a supplier and management together. I wouldn't need to end the call and call another person."

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

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

More 3CX Live Chat cons

"I feel bored with the look and feel of the tool, so it should be changed."

"I venture to say that 30% of the people using this solution at our company have had issues with stability, due to the volatility and crashes."

"Skype for Business is good for the PCs with higher bandwidth, but an improvement is required for low bandwidth usage."

"It would be ideal if the solution could make instant messages more permanent. Currently, if you close the conversation, you lose the instant messages that you shared during the meeting. If those could last beyond the meeting, that would be a great addition, due to the fact that frequently, people give each other key details, important information, or email addresses, etc., during the meeting. If you don't write it down during the meeting, after the meeting closes, it's gone forever. That can be quite frustrating."

"Whenever someone is using a messaging platform, the messages needs to be stored. In Skype for Business, the message will not be seen later on if you're not online. It isn't useful, in my opinion."

"If one of the users has a poor internet connection, this failure will compromise the meeting, causing delays and distortions in the communications."

"There are not many options, in terms of some other third-party integration."

"The technical support from Microsoft needs to be improved."

More Skype for Business cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

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

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

"We have purchased an annual license to use 3CX Live Chat. There are different options available, you can pay monthly or yearly. I am completely satisfied with the pricing of 3CX Live Chat, it is cheaper than competitors and it is a better solution."

More 3CX Live Chat pricing and cost advice

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

"We purchased an open license."

"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."

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

"The licensing is billed on a yearly basis."

"Previously, I did not use another solution."

"The solution is priced fairly."

"It may be slightly costly, but the features are awesome."

More Skype for Business pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Real Estate/Law Firm

Educational Organization

92%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

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

Kamailio SIP Server vs 3CX Live Chat

Compared 28% of the time

Yeastar S-Series VoIP PBX vs 3CX Live Chat

Compared 28% of the time

Webex vs 3CX Live Chat

Compared 23% of the time

Fortinet FortiVoice vs 3CX Live Chat

Compared 22% of the time

More 3CX Live Chat Competitors

Webex vs Skype for Business

Compared 29% of the time

Cisco Unified Communications vs Skype for Business

Compared 22% of the time

TeamViewer vs Skype for Business

Compared 16% of the time

Zoom vs Skype for Business

Compared 14% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Skype for Business

Compared 8% of the time

More Skype for Business Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

3CX Live Chat vs. LiveChat

January 2025

Download 3CX Live Chat product report

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business

December 2024

Download Skype for Business product report

Also Known As

3CX PBX

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

Learn More

3CX

Microsoft

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

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.

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

January 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: January 2025.

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