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Cisco Unified Communications vs Fortinet FortiVoice 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 Unified Communications
Ranking in Unified Communications
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
IP Telephony & Unified Communications (1st)
Fortinet FortiVoice
Ranking in Unified Communications
4th
Average Rating
10.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Unified Communications category, the mindshare of Cisco Unified Communications is 10.2%, down from 15.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiVoice is 5.0%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Unified Communications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Unified Communications10.2%
Fortinet FortiVoice5.0%
Other84.8%
Unified Communications
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1194252 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Sales & Solution Sales - MEA at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Has supported collaboration across distributed teams and continues to deliver reliable communication features
Currently, all future propositions for UC are not Cisco-based. Easy integration with Microsoft Windows would be beneficial. It integrates with SharePoint and Outlook, which was not available at one point in Cisco Webex. Regarding improvements, the focus should be on how cloud-friendly Cisco Unified Communications products are and how technically and commercially simple they are compared to competitors such as Genesys. All features are present. The concerns lie in the ease of using features, pricing, and whether it is available directly on the cloud or requires going through a Cisco channel partner. Features themselves are not an issue, and Cisco can develop new ones quickly if needed. If current customers are using Cisco Unified Communications and enjoying its features with devices that are not end of life or end of sale, they will continue using it. However, when moving to the cloud, comparisons become necessary. The simplicity, customer journey, transformation journey, and architecture complexity define whether Cisco Unified Communications is the right product or if third-party solutions are more suitable.
IY
Channel System Engineer at a tech company with 501-1,000 employees
Has raised concerns about integration and pricing while showing potential in unified communication
The key feature of Fortinet FortiVoice is secure communication. Fortinet FortiVoice depends on secure communication as security, and simplicity. It offers a simplicity solution compared to competitors. It is very simple for deployment, configuration, operation, and troubleshooting. Additionally, you don't need a license to add IP telephony on Fortinet FortiVoice. This is a significant advantage against competitors, making the ROI comparatively better. The centralized call management feature in Fortinet FortiVoice is useful. Fortinet FortiVoice can integrate with the security fabric solution and FortiGate, which can monitor Fortinet FortiVoice. Fortinet FortiVoice has many features out of the box without an additional license. The call recording and call queuing based on agent skill are among the best features. Fortinet FortiVoice includes the call recording feature at no additional cost, unlike other competitors who charge for this feature. The multi-location conference calling feature in Fortinet FortiVoice has a cloud solution and can be used with the FortiFone soft client. With Fortinet implementing SD-WAN, it becomes very useful for Fortinet customers to implement a Fortinet FortiVoice solution.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best feature I would say about Cisco Unified Communications is the Telepresence."
"Cisco Unified Communications is stable and works well for us."
"It is very reliable, and this is what I appreciated about it when I was working with it because reliability is crucial."
"Cisco supports third-party gadgets, including workforce management systems."
"Technical Support: Cisco TAC is the very best support I have seen from any company I have ever had to work with."
"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 have work on Cisco Unified Communication Manager (Call Manager) for one and a half years and it is a remarkable device which provides fully integrated communications, converging voice, video, and data over a single network infrastructure using standard protocols."
"Using the Communication Manager, it gave us the possibility to move around the office, and even outside the office, keeping our phone number always accessible using Jabber."
"It is simple, useful and its cost/benefit is very good."
"Based on my experience, Fortinet FortiVoice is the best VoIP solution I have seen, and I can confidently recommend it to users."
 

Cons

"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."
"Licensing can be an unbelievable mess."
"Currently, all future propositions for UC are not Cisco-based."
"One of the major flaws in the unified CM is handling the configuration of the Voice mail port."
"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."
"To have 2 call management server configured as failover would be expensive."
"I want to see improvements, especially for the GUI interface, as it should be much easier and user-friendly in Cisco Unified Communications."
"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."
"Actually, Amazon Alexa is integrated by the factory, but we prefer Google Home voice assistant."
"Fortinet can improve FortiVoice by adding integration with social media accounts such as WhatsApp and Facebook, and implementing native integration with popular database and CRM systems."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Government
12%
Educational Organization
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
9%
Retailer
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco Unified Communications?
I want to see improvements, especially for the GUI interface, as it should be much easier and user-friendly in Cisco Unified Communications. It would be beneficial if it could be more web interface...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Unified Communications?
We use this only for communication purposes, which includes a few use cases for it. We haven't used the video calls and other features because we based our use on basic communication, so I cannot g...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Unified Communications?
Regarding price and value, it is already expired and has reached end of life.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiVoice?
Fortinet can improve FortiVoice by adding integration with social media accounts such as WhatsApp and Facebook, and implementing native integration with popular database and CRM systems.
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiVoice?
The main use case for Fortinet FortiVoice is that the customer needs to implement IP telephony and secure communication. They need unified security communication solutions. They want call center us...
What advice do you have for others considering Fortinet FortiVoice?
I mainly work with FortiSwitches, FortiAP, Fortinet FortiVoice, Manager, Analyzer, SIM, SOAR, FortiClient, and EDR. I work with all models of FortiSwitches, primarily models 323, 1024, 1048, and fo...
 

Overview

 

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
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Unified Communications vs. Fortinet FortiVoice and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.