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Cisco Jabber vs Skype for Business comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Cisco Jabber
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Unified Communications (7th)
Skype for Business
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Jabber and Skype for Business aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Jabber is designed for Unified Communications and holds a mindshare of 3.5%, down 8.6% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 5.2% mindshare, down 11.5% since last year.
Unified Communications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Jabber3.5%
Cisco Unified Communications9.6%
3CX Live Chat7.2%
Other79.7%
Unified Communications
Virtual Meetings Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Skype for Business5.2%
Zoom Workplace Business8.6%
Webex6.8%
Other79.4%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer912129 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Manager at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Stable, easy to set up, and works fine
Everyone in our company uses Cisco Jabber for phone calls and internal chat. We have around 1,000 users. For features like video conferences, schedules, and presentations, we use Microsoft Teams.  It works fine feature-wise. The Cisco Jabber features that we use work okay. There are issues in…
reviewer1854369 - PeerSpot reviewer
Executive at a government with 201-500 employees
Relying on dependable communication features for efficient collaboration
I work with Microsoft Exchange. We use Microsoft Azure, though I am not involved with the back-end operations. I work with Microsoft Exchange and ServiceNow for the service desk. I do not work with Cloud Observability or Automation Engine. We use Microsoft Copilot with Teams. We do not use Microsoft Security Copilot as it is not cloud-based. We have moved from Skype for Business to Teams recently, though some of us still use Skype for Business because it is convenient. Skype for Business is particularly useful for remoting onto people's devices. I prefer Skype for Business over Teams for screen sharing. Sometimes there are compatibility issues when running Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business together. Phone calls in Teams might ring and then go silent, or the microphone might not detect calls from either application. I rate Skype for Business a 9 out of 10 because it works effectively with minimal issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature for me is that it shows who is available and who is not, as well as what their current status is."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to talk with people in real-time, instead of sending texts."
"It works fine feature-wise. The Cisco Jabber features that we use work okay."
"The product helps me make international calls."
"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."
"A good option for virtual meetings."
"File sharing and email invitations for a conference. I can have a meeting with people at the opposite end of the Earth, sharing documentation; it is quite 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 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."
"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"
"I like the seamless integration to local telecommunications."
 

Cons

"I presume that very small businesses would have a tough time justifying the investment."
"Cisco Jabber is not a collaborative tool."
"There are issues in switching from one type of communication system to another. When I connect my wired earphone or Bluetooth earphone, Cisco Jabber doesn't switch automatically. There are some user experience issues that need to be fixed."
"The solution's functionality needs to be moved to Microsoft Teams. Its technology is outdated."
"There are not many options, in terms of some other third-party integration."
"I would like to see an updated user interface and layout even though no functionality is missing."
"The stability could be improved."
"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."
"Going forward, I would like to see better call quality and reliability."
"We need a feature where you can virtually raise your hand to silently let the presenter know that you have a question."
"The ease of configuration or the lack of decent tooling to pinpoint your problems is probably its biggest issue."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We purchased an open license."
"When it comes to the pricing of the solution, I rate it as a five out of ten. It falls somewhere in the middle between being cheap and expensive."
"We are using the subscription-based version of Skype for Business. There is a free version of the solution."
"Our company pays for a license for us 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."
"I use the product's open-source version."
"To realize value from the purchase of Skype Business, you need to take advantage of all the important functions of the program."
"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
14%
University
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
Marketing Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Performing Arts
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

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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.
What needs improvement with Skype for Business?
I cannot think of many ways in which Skype for Business could improve in general. It works fairly efficiently for our purposes with Skype for Business. There is one issue regarding the audio settin...
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Odeabank, Eagle Investment Systems, Pella Corporation, The Republican National Convention, avodaqAG
EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, 3CX, Digium and others in Unified Communications. Updated: January 2026.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.