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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 3.3%, down 8.6% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 4.8% mindshare, down 11.9% since last year.
Unified Communications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Jabber3.3%
Cisco Unified Communications10.2%
3CX Live Chat7.7%
Other78.8%
Unified Communications
Virtual Meetings Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Skype for Business4.8%
Zoom Workplace Business8.6%
Webex6.5%
Other80.1%
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

"It works fine feature-wise. The Cisco Jabber features that we use work okay."
"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."
"Using Skype allows us to connect with external agencies when a Skype call is set up and aids in sharing large files efficiently."
"Using this solution has helped us to cut long distance calls, as well as video services from third parties."
"The most valuable feature of Skype for Business is overall it is an okay solution."
"The solution is easy to use and includes the ability to text message, video and voice chat, and transfer files."
"The solution is scalable and is capable of working on every appliance on every operating system."
"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’s video quality is fine."
"We like the easy provisioning of Skype for Business Conferencing."
 

Cons

"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."
"I presume that very small businesses would have a tough time justifying the investment."
"I feel that the whole look and feel of Skype should be improved, including its user-friendliness. It should also improve its scalability."
"Microsoft Teams, as I see it now, is more useful than Skype for Business."
"The solution should improve the chat and add more flexibility to make a call."
"Sometimes the connection crashes, which is understandable if you are traveling. But, it would be nice if this could be stabilized somehow."
"I don't recall coming across any big missing features."
"I believe optimizing the solution for lighter endpoints, particularly for embedded endpoints on mobile devices, would be valuable."
"Make it user friendly."
"Skype for Business could improve by having a document channel or repository. Microsoft Teams has a better repository place for documents that you can share with your team. You can access it anywhere from any device."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The licensing is billed on a yearly basis."
"I use the product's open-source version."
"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."
"We negotiated a fair price with Microsoft. It is definitely worthwhile to negotiate with them for the best price for your solution."
"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."
"Previously, I did not use another solution."
"It may be considered costly for certain markets, such as in India."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
11%
University
9%
Marketing Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
14%
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

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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: February 2026.
883,546 professionals have used our research since 2012.