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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
7.0
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (3rd)
 

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 8.8%, up 7.8% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 13.4% mindshare, up 8.7% since last year.
Unified Communications
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

CM
Shows other's availability and status, offers powerful chat features, and integration across platforms is strong
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. When I want to check in with someone, I first have a look to see what they're up to and then I can throw in a question or engage in chat with them. The UI is okay and I am quite pleased with it. The options that I have for moving things around the screen during calls are good. It is also modern looking and not clunky at all. The power of the chat function is good in terms of sharing, pasting, and the like, as it is very full-featured. The integration across platforms is really strong. The speed and availability are very good. There is also room for lots of customization built-in, which is a big plus.
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."
"It works fine feature-wise. The Cisco Jabber features that we use work okay."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to talk with people in real-time, instead of sending texts."
"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."
"The security seems good."
"The simplicity and ease of use are the most valuable features. It's so much easier and quicker than writing an email to someone and waiting for them to read it."
"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 tool's most valuable features are its audio and chat functions. They help us save time and have good telephone integration."
"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 quality of the meetings is very good."
"I use the chat feature to communicate with my staff, which is very helpful."
 

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."
"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 solution's functionality needs to be moved to Microsoft Teams. Its technology is outdated."
"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."
"If one of the users has a poor internet connection, this failure will compromise the meeting, causing delays and distortions in the communications."
"The initial setup could be simplified."
"The technical support from Microsoft needs to be improved."
"Sometimes Skype is slow, and we cannot use other elements of our devices while using the Skype solution."
"The video quality could be improved, possibly due to internet connection issues."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We purchased an open license."
"I use the product's open-source version."
"A license is required to use the solution."
"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."
"Our company pays for a license for us to use the solution."
"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."
"We are using the subscription-based version of Skype for Business. There is a free version of the 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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Healthcare Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
Educational Organization
93%
Financial Services Firm
1%
Computer Software Company
1%
Government
1%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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?
The video quality could be improved, possibly due to internet connection issues. However, there is no significant weakness in Skype for Business.
 

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, Kamailio and others in Unified Communications. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.