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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 (6th)
Skype for Business
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (4th)
 

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 5.4%, down 9.3% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 10.3% mindshare, up 7.9% since last year.
Unified Communications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Jabber5.4%
Cisco Unified Communications12.8%
3CX Live Chat9.6%
Other72.19999999999999%
Unified Communications
Virtual Meetings Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Skype for Business10.3%
Zoom Workplace Business15.0%
Webex13.1%
Other61.6%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Fellipe Madureira - PeerSpot reviewer
We don't have to use an IP phone device all the time, and the productivity has been increased.
The most valuable features found are the Immersive Telepresence, Video Conference, VoIP Phone with video, Corporate Collaboration tools and UC services for mobile devices. They all help to improve the communication time within the company. This product makes my life much easier by shortening the distance between my boss and the rest of my team. More than half of the team I work with is located in another state, some 1,500 miles away. We can have meetings much more often due to this device, and in addition, it's possible to have meetings with other companies all over the world using WebEx and Jabber. We had a meeting with three other companies to discuss a new project via videoconference. Each company is located in different states in Brazil so we can save time and money. We had a drastic decrease of expenses by substituting videoconferences for work travel, so we rarely have to pay for tickets and hotel rooms for employees. The communication itself is the biggest asset and improvement in this case. It also has ability to choose which device the calls are sent to - an IP Phone or Cisco Jabber, although you should be logged into the network on an IP phone.
Magdalena Teodorczuk - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

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 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."
"I use the chat feature to communicate with my staff, which is very helpful."
"It's a good product, we like using it."
"Using this solution has helped us to cut long distance calls, as well as video services from third parties."
"The most valuable feature is stability."
"The most valuable features of Skype for Business include its persistent chat, Edge Server, Reverse Proxy, front-end server, back-end server, and business calling capabilities, among others."
"Scalable communication tool that's easy to install. Even old people are using it, because of its ease of use."
"I think Skype for Business is scalable. However, I believe Microsoft is discontinuing the Skype platform altogether, so I don't think it's super-relevant."
 

Cons

"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."
"I presume that very small businesses would have a tough time justifying the investment."
"Cisco Jabber is not a collaborative tool."
"If one of the users has a poor internet connection, this failure will compromise the meeting, causing delays and distortions in the communications."
"We have had trouble with scalability when trying to host large meetings."
"We overcame the audio quality issues by asking users to use the 'Call Me' feature with their desk phone."
"The solution isn't connected to Microsoft Teams, and I feel like there is better communication on that particular solution. The group capabilities are a bit less than Teams."
"The solution's functionality needs to be moved to Microsoft Teams. Its technology is outdated."
"The solution requires deployment on a Microsoft server and its performance is heavy because it consumes too many resources from the RAM."
"The video conferencing quality can be improved."
"The solution has been discontinued by Microsoft."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Previously, I did not use another solution."
"We had a license for every one of our users to use Skype for Business. The license we used was part of an overall Microsoft license package."
"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 negotiated a fair price with Microsoft. It is definitely worthwhile to negotiate with them for the best price for your solution."
"I use the product's open-source version."
"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."
"The licensing is billed on a yearly basis."
"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Healthcare Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
10%
Performing Arts
10%
 

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, Fortinet and others in Unified Communications. Updated: September 2025.
871,469 professionals have used our research since 2012.