Cisco Unified Communications vs Skype for Business comparison

The compared Cisco and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #2 in UC , and holds a 13.1% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #3 in VM , with an average rating of 7.9, and holds a 8.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 78% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Cisco Unified Communications

Read 6 Cisco Unified Communications reviews

775 Views
662 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Skype for Business

Read 60 Skype for Business reviews

2,478 Views
868 Comparison Views

78% 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 Kamailio, Cisco, Digium and others in Unified Communications.

To learn more, read our detailed Unified Communications Report (Updated: August 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Unified Communications

August 2024

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Helped 800,688 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Unified Communications

Average Rating

9.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Unified Communications (2nd), IP Telephony & Unified Communications (1st)

Skype for Business

Average Rating

7.8

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 13.1%, down 14.4% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 8.2% mindshare, down 8.3% since last year.

Unified Communications

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

it_user208755

Sr. Voice Engineer at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees

Jun 30, 2015

I find the ability to block incoming calls based on the originating number to be the best feature, but the reporting system needs to be more in-depth.

It would be nice if the reporting system was more in depth. I have a reporting solution sold by a third party which works very well, but the built-in solution should be better. Real Time Monitoring Tool (RTMT) - This tool allows you to monitor different systems. Call manager, Unity Connections, UCCX, CUPS and so on. Each of these systems can run slightly different versions, which can make it difficult to monitor the internment. You can only have 1 instance of RTMT on your computer, so if the versions are different you will get warnings about how some aspects may not function because of the version mis-match. I use the highest version I can, because it's typically backwards compatible, but a web interface for this functionality would be a big improvement.

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reviewer2057283

Software architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Jan 5, 2023

Easy to use , with nice integration, and very scalable

Our primary use case is for meetings, online meetings, internal meetings, and with vendors The integration with Microsoft Outlook for creating and scheduling meetings is nice. I believe that this software is very much like the others, for example, Microsoft teams. I would like to see an updated…

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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

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

"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."

"I like the seamless integration to local telecommunications."

"The most valuable features are the history tracking which allows us to see who participated and who didn't in the meetings as well as the integration with Outlook."

"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."

"The deployment is very fast."

"It saves trouble, and it saves us time."

"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."

"Scalable communication tool that's easy to install. Even old people are using it, because of its ease of use."

"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."

More Skype for Business pros

Cons

"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."

"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."

"There are issues with the bandwidth, particularly for external meetings,"

"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."

"The challenge we had with Skype for Business was with the signing in when a user signed out and when signing in back in again, there was a bit of a problem. We switched from Skype for Business to Teams, and Teams never had that sign-in problem once we did the switch."

"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."

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

"I believe optimizing the solution for lighter endpoints, particularly for embedded endpoints on mobile devices, would be valuable."

"The group feature of Skype for Business needs improvement. It should also be improved for online lectures."

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

More Skype for Business cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"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."

"A license is required to use the solution."

"We have been able to save money by moving our conferencing solution to Skype for Business Conferencing."

"The solution is priced fairly."

"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."

"We purchased an open license."

"Our company pays for a license for us to use the solution."

More Skype for Business pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

University

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Educational Organization

90%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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Earn 20 points

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' pricing is reasonable.

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What needs improvement with Skype for Business?

The solution's functionality needs to be moved to Microsoft Teams. Its technology is outdated.

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiVoice vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 52% of the time

Cisco Jabber vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 29% of the time

Siemens OpenScape vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 10% of the time

Kamailio SIP Server vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 9% of the time

More Cisco Unified Communications Competitors

Webex vs Skype for Business

Compared 34% of the time

Zoom vs Skype for Business

Compared 20% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Skype for Business

Compared 14% of the time

TeamViewer vs Skype for Business

Compared 14% of the time

Cisco Jabber vs Skype for Business

Compared 10% of the time

More Skype for Business Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Unified Communications

August 2024

Download Cisco Unified Communications product report

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business

August 2024

Download Skype for Business product report

Also Known As

No data available

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

Learn More

Cisco

Microsoft

Overview

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

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

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

August 2024

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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.