Cisco Unified Communications vs Skype for Business comparison

The compared Cisco and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #1 in UC , with an average rating of 7.0, and holds a 15.0% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #3 in VM , with an average rating of 7.8, and holds a 11.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 79% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Cisco Unified Communications

Read 7 Cisco Unified Communications reviews

585 Views
501 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Skype for Business

Read 62 Skype for Business reviews

2,412 Views
886 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

Cisco Unified Communications

Skype for Business

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Unified Communications and Skype for Business based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, 3CX, Kamailio and others in Unified Communications.

To learn more, read our detailed Unified Communications Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Unified Communications

February 2025

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Helped 838,640 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

Cisco Unified Communications

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Unified Communications (1st), IP Telephony & Unified Communications (1st)

Skype for Business

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Virtual Meetings (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Unified Communications and Skype for Business aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Unified Communications is designed for Unified Communications and holds a mindshare of 15.0%, up 14.6% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 11.5% mindshare, up 8.8% since last year.

Unified Communications

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

Kani Kumar J

Cisco VOIP Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Reliable customer communication and good third-party integrations with minor server update issues

Cisco supports third-party gadgets, including workforce management systems. These can be directly integrated with Cisco, a feature not widely supported by other contact centers. Additionally, redundancy is set up, meaning if one side of the server goes down, the other side will take over to prevent the contact center from completely failing.

Read full review

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

"We use Extension Mobility and Jabber a lot with mobile remote access. In addition to video calls with Jabber, this greatly enriched communications between coworkers."

"The Click to dial feature was one of the most important features for the customer."

"Cisco supports third-party gadgets, including workforce management systems."

"Using Skype allows us to connect with external agencies when a Skype call is set up and aids in sharing large files efficiently."

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

"The solution is stable and scalable."

"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."

"It has benefited my organization because I can use it on the phone, I can use it on a laptop, wherever I want. The communication channel is very easy now and I can call and chat. It's experienced. Together, my team manages everything. It's very easy."

"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 most valuable features of the solution are that it is quick and easy to use. It is a good tool for group calls."

"The most valuable feature is how useful it has been for virtual meetings during the pandemic."

More Skype for Business pros

Cons

"Sometimes, minor temporary issues can arise while updating the servers."

"Some features take a lot of steps to configure, so having areas where a few clicks can configure a feature for a user would be nice."

"An improvement option could be to incorporate the Voicea solution with Communication Manager, allowing it to make a translation between different languages automatically in a conversation."

"The ease of configuration or the lack of decent tooling to pinpoint your problems is probably its biggest issue."

"The solution has been discontinued by Microsoft."

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

"We have found that there is a lag because it cannot integrate with the internal landline."

"We need a feature where you can virtually raise your hand to silently let the presenter know that you have a question."

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

"The user experience during long sessions could be improved to avoid issues like intermittent disconnections or login failures."

"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."

More Skype for Business cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"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 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."

"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."

"Previously, I did not use another solution."

"I use the product's open-source version."

"I am using a corporate account for which I have not made any payments."

"We are using the subscription-based version of Skype for Business. There is a free version of the solution."

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

More Skype for Business pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

University

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

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 needs improvement with Cisco Unified Communications?

Sometimes, minor temporary issues can arise while updating the servers. These updates can cause bugs that lead to temporary issues. Although they do not have a major impact, these issues still need...

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What is your primary use case for Cisco Unified Communications?

It is basically a contact center solution. In contact centers, it acts as a bridge connecting the customer and the product company and the end customer. For example, if we are running a bank, the c...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Unified Communications?

The pricing varies based on the setup. ECCX has lower pricing for up to 400 users, whereas PCC is more expensive. Pricing increases based on requirements and features.

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What do you like most about Skype for Business?

The solution’s video quality is fine.

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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.

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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

Fortinet FortiVoice vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 27% of the time

Cisco Jabber vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 9% of the time

Siemens OpenScape vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 7% of the time

Kamailio SIP Server vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 7% of the time

Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise Communication Server vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco Unified Communications Competitors

Webex vs Skype for Business

Compared 29% of the time

TeamViewer vs Skype for Business

Compared 15% of the time

Zoom vs Skype for Business

Compared 14% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Skype for Business

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Jabber vs Skype for Business

Compared 5% of the time

More Skype for Business Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Unified Communications

February 2025

Download Cisco Unified Communications product report

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business

January 2025

Download Skype for Business product report

Also Known As

No data available

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

Overview

With Cisco Voice and Unified Communications, you can unify all your voice, video, data, and mobile applications for interactive collaboration.

Cisco

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

Afni, Allied Irish Banks, Bellevue, Came Group, Children's Hospital Colorado, Erickson Living, IDEALondon, Instituto Zaldivar, John Lewis, Linz AG, London Hydro, Lone Star College System, Lone Star College System, Mondi Group, North West Redwater, Park Nicollet, Pentana Solutions Australia, Pilatus, Pirelli, Portugal Ministry, Presidio Inc., Republic Bank & Trust Company, Saipem, SickKids Foundation, Top Right Group, Vital Images

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

Buyer's Guide

Unified Communications

February 2025

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We monitor all Unified Communications reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.