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Digium Asterisk vs Skype for Business comparison

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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

Digium Asterisk
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Unified Communications (3rd), IP Telephony & Unified Communications (2nd)
Skype for Business
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Digium Asterisk and Skype for Business aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Digium Asterisk is designed for Unified Communications and holds a mindshare of 7.6%, down 8.1% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 3.9% mindshare, down 8.6% since last year.
Unified Communications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Digium Asterisk7.6%
Cisco Unified Communications8.6%
3CX Live Chat8.4%
Other75.4%
Unified Communications
Virtual Meetings Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Skype for Business3.9%
Zoom Workplace Business5.8%
Webex5.0%
Other85.3%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

AK
Technical Lead at a marketing services firm with 11-50 employees
Call recording, call logging, and the stability are pivotal features for our clients
We mainly replace old telephony equipment. If, for instance, there is an old Alcatel telephone system (digital or analog), and the customer asks us for a new option for IP telephony, then we offer both the Cisco- and Asterisk-based systems. We know the billing, we know the pricing of the items and what we can offer with both solutions. There are multiple factors involved when selecting a vendor * stability * support * features. If the product is stable, the product has good support, and it has enough features which we can offer to our clients, then the product is under our consideration.
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

"With the passage of time I am sure that these cons will be solved, particularly because it has added a lot savings for communication needs."
"If the client requires an economical solution with many features, we can offer them Digium Asterisk, where there is no licensing, and it is a good, economical solution."
"Highly customizable for customer needs"
"Best Telecommunication solution in the world."
"The most valuable features are call recording, call logging, and the stability."
"The most valuable feature of Skype for Business is overall it is an okay solution."
"We have been able to save money by moving our conferencing solution to Skype for Business Conferencing."
"It's a good and stable product that suits my needs because I've been working from home for the past couple of years."
"Scalable communication tool that's easy to install. Even old people are using it, because of its ease of use."
"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."
"I like the seamless integration to local telecommunications."
"The solution’s video quality is fine."
"The ability to mute everyone else is pretty useful when there is a large audience."
 

Cons

"Difficult to configure and maintain."
"CTI, computer telephony integration, is a necessary component. It must be a part of the basic code. Currently, we need to use external connectors for call centers."
"The asterisk VoIP has a delay of about 400 milliseconds."
"We overcame the audio quality issues by asking users to use the 'Call Me' feature with their desk phone."
"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."
"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."
"The solution's functionality needs to be moved to Microsoft Teams. Its technology is outdated."
"Skype for Business is not suitable for giving lectures."
"There are not many options, in terms of some other third-party integration."
"Sometimes the connection crashes, which is understandable if you are traveling. But, it would be nice if this could be stabilized somehow."
"We can't rely on Skype for that and that's why we sometimes use Google Meet instead."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If the client requires an economical solution with many features, we can offer them Digium Asterisk, where there is no licensing. It is a good, economical solution."
"We have been able to save money by moving our conferencing solution to Skype for Business Conferencing."
"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."
"The solution is priced fairly."
"It may be slightly costly, but the features are awesome."
"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 negotiated a fair price with Microsoft. It is definitely worthwhile to negotiate with them for the best price for your solution."
"Our company pays for a license for us to use the solution."
"We purchased an open license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
19%
Healthcare Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Outsourcing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise28
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Skype for Business?
If I think back, my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing involves accessing it through our Microsoft Enterprise Agreement which covers the whole Office suite including Skype for Busin...
What needs improvement with Skype for Business?
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 mob...
What is your primary use case for Skype for Business?
My main use case for Skype for Business is internal communication across departments and between different government offices. We have staff spread across multiple locations in Malacca, and before ...
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Yahoo, Penn Univeristy of Pennsylvania, US Army, Google, eBay
EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, 3CX, Digium and others in Unified Communications. Updated: October 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.