No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Cisco TelePresence vs Skype for Business comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

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 TelePresence
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Skype for Business
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Cisco TelePresence is 2.9%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Skype for Business is 3.7%, down from 13.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Skype for Business3.7%
Cisco TelePresence2.9%
Other93.4%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

OSCAR DE LA PENA - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solution Architect at Ricoh España, S.L.U.
One-click meeting access and seamless integration enhance video conferencing experience
Cisco TelePresence could improve the WebRTC connections, as they are quite slow. The end user experiences delays when using WebRTC, sometimes taking one minute or more to receive a connection. This issue is mainly due to Cisco taking a long time to download and start the WebRTC client on their devices. Ensuring it is embedded in the device could help.
MD
Assistant Information Technology Officer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Internal communication has become more efficient while mobile usage still needs improvement
The honest answer is that the product has not really evolved in some time. Microsoft has been pushing everyone towards Teams and Skype for Business has been in maintenance mode for a while. The mobile experience is also not great. Staff who try to use it on their phones find it less reliable than the desktop version, calls drop more, and the interface is clunky. For a modern workforce that expects everything to work on mobile, that is a gap. Despite the initial setup challenges and mobile issues, we have noticed positive outcomes for our organization since adopting Skype for Business. I rate Skype for Business seven out of ten. I think that Skype for Business has served us well for what it is. A government office has different expectations from a fast-moving private company. We value stability and security over the newest features. On those terms, Skype for Business has delivered.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The speaker tracker feature in Cisco Telepresence is highly valuable, especially the ability to track multiple participants and change focus during meetings."
"The configuration is a valuable."
"We have a dual screen option to enable video and content sharing."
"Telepresence's most valuable feature is keeping highly paid employees, such as executives, on the ground instead of wasting time flying around the world. So if you have the right telepresence plan and form, it's not just the video cameras and the systems behind them, it's the way you lay out your meeting room.You can have multiple offices interconnecting in a single meeting, and it looks like everybody's in the same big conference room together because the telepresence yields such a fantastic amount of clarity."
"The SpeakerTrack feature is the most valuable feature."
"Superior video and audio experience."
"PresenterTrack cameras improve the meeting experience."
"The most valuable features of Cisco TelePresence are the basic standard features and the ease of use. Additionally, the configuration and integration are exemplary."
"I like the fact that it opens up your video conferencing, and, in many cases, the audio at the same time."
"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."
"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."
"I use the chat feature to communicate with my staff, which is very helpful."
"We have been able to save money by moving our conferencing solution to Skype for Business Conferencing."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of organizing and setting up a meeting."
"Skype for Business is a scalable solution and we have approximately 350 people using this solution across all departments."
"Scalable communication tool that's easy to install. Even old people are using it, because of its ease of use."
 

Cons

"MX800 comes only with one available DVI port. A few more HDMI ports will improve the system's capability."
"Cisco TelePresence could improve its integration capabilities."
"Cisco TelePresence could improve the WebRTC connections, as they are quite slow."
"Cisco TelePresence license is expensive and should be reduced."
"The calling features can be improved."
"The tool is expensive."
"I was in touch with one of our clients and they mentioned that they would like to have a holographic video conferencing. It would be great if that feature would be added."
"I would rate my experience with the initial setup a three out of ten, with ten being expensive. It was complex with badges and certificates. Too crazy."
"This service could be improved by adding some missing features. It lacks integration with Teams, which is a feature I would like to see in the next release."
"Sometimes Skype is slow, and we cannot use other elements of our devices while using the Skype solution."
"I don't recall coming across any big missing features."
"The integration with Outlook could be improved."
"Lacks a zoom-in feature for whoever is presenting."
"We overcame the audio quality issues by asking users to use the 'Call Me' feature with their desk phone."
"The solution's functionality needs to be moved to Microsoft Teams. Its technology is outdated."
"There is one issue regarding the audio settings. The application tends to select the internal microphone on devices rather than detecting external headphones."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco TelePresence license is expensive and should be reduced. There is only a cost for the license and it is annually."
"We used high definition, 1080p, but again, it required license purchases. For example, with three licenses (TP licenses), each allowing one 1080p screen, if I had six participants, I'd need to lower the resolution to 720p or lower to accommodate more participants. More licenses meant more cost."
"The pricing is expensive, therefore I rate it an eight out of ten."
"I will rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The price of Cisco Telepresence is high, especially in Brazil. However, the quality of the product justifies the cost."
"We are using the subscription-based version of Skype for Business. There is a free version of the solution."
"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."
"The solution is priced fairly."
"I use the product's open-source version."
"We purchased an open license."
"It may be slightly costly, but the features are awesome."
"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."
"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Meetings solutions are best for your needs.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Performing Arts
12%
Construction Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Construction Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise28
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco TelePresence?
Cisco TelePresence could improve the WebRTC connections, as they are quite slow. The end user experiences delays when using WebRTC, sometimes taking one minute or more to receive a connection. This...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco TelePresence?
Cisco is a leader in video conferencing solutions because they apply the latest technologies to their devices and services, such as artificial intelligence and versatile functionalities. Security i...
What is your primary use case for Cisco TelePresence?
My primary use case for Cisco TelePresence ( /products/cisco-telepresence-reviews ) is providing video conferencing solutions for internal and external users, especially for enterprises. I am a par...
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...
What is your primary use case for Skype for Business?
We use Skype for Business for internal meetings, conference calls, remoting into PCs, and phone calls. Our virtual meetings typically include two or three participants, keeping them small. It is ea...
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Afni, AGCO, Bellevue, Came Group, Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC Children's), Del Papa Distributing, Instituto Zaldivar, ING Bank, Moffitt Cancer Center, Park Nicollet, Pentana Solutions Australia, San Jose State University, Sub-Zero Wolf, Transwestern and Metropolis Investment Holdings, Vital Images
EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco TelePresence vs. Skype for Business and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.