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3CX Live Chat vs 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

Live Chat Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
3CX Live Chat6.8%
LiveChat14.8%
ChatX Live Assist 3659.5%
Other68.9%
Live Chat
Unified Communications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Jabber3.0%
Cisco Unified Communications9.5%
3CX Live Chat7.6%
Other79.9%
Unified Communications
Virtual Meetings Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Skype for Business3.9%
Zoom Workplace Business7.8%
Webex5.5%
Other82.8%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmed ACHOUR - PeerSpot reviewer
General Manager at Beyond IT Services
Enhanced service desk workflow which streamlines operations and offers strong integration capabilities
The customers use 3CX for IP telephony and call center activities. Additionally, they use 3CX for service desk activities, including integration with other ITSM products to collect data from customers who need technical support on their platforms 3CX has proven to be a good solution, particularly…
reviewer912129 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Manager at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Stable, easy to set up, and works fine
Everyone in our company uses Cisco Jabber for phone calls and internal chat. We have around 1,000 users. For features like video conferences, schedules, and presentations, we use Microsoft Teams.  It works fine feature-wise. The Cisco Jabber features that we use work okay. There are issues in…
reviewer1854369 - PeerSpot reviewer
Executive at a government with 201-500 employees
Relying on dependable communication features for efficient collaboration
I work with Microsoft Exchange. We use Microsoft Azure, though I am not involved with the back-end operations. I work with Microsoft Exchange and ServiceNow for the service desk. I do not work with Cloud Observability or Automation Engine. We use Microsoft Copilot with Teams. We do not use Microsoft Security Copilot as it is not cloud-based. We have moved from Skype for Business to Teams recently, though some of us still use Skype for Business because it is convenient. Skype for Business is particularly useful for remoting onto people's devices. I prefer Skype for Business over Teams for screen sharing. Sometimes there are compatibility issues when running Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business together. Phone calls in Teams might ring and then go silent, or the microphone might not detect calls from either application. I rate Skype for Business a 9 out of 10 because it works effectively with minimal issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"3CX is a software-based PBX which can cover every company's needs."
"We've had good experiences with 3CX support."
"Mobility features and remote extensions work well."
"3CX Live Chat lets me speak with my colleagues and suppliers from anywhere."
"It's a VOIP PBX based on Windows, it runs rock solid, and is easy to setup and manage."
"The most valuable features of 3CX include meetings, IVR, and the workflow personalization of the service desk activity."
"Reception dashboard is excellent. I can see all the calls on the system and can pull back calls that are going into voicemail or transfer by drag and drop."
"3CX is a software-based PBX which can cover every company's needs."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to talk with people in real-time, instead of sending texts."
"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 power of the chat function is good in terms of sharing, pasting, and the like, as it is very full-featured."
"In summary, this product worked well for what I needed to do."
"This product makes my life much easier by shortening the distance between my boss and the rest of my team."
"Everyone in our company uses Cisco Jabber for phone calls and internal chat."
"Video conferencing to hold virtual meetings helps to prevent employee displacement, where everyone can now enjoy the comfort of their own offices."
"Making calls and having meetings is easy."
"The stability was good; there are no bugs or glitches, it doesn't crash or freeze, and it's reliable."
"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."
"Skype for Business is good for meetings and instant messaging."
"Using this solution has helped us to cut long distance calls, as well as video services from third parties."
"I think Skype for Business is scalable. However, I believe Microsoft is discontinuing the Skype platform altogether, so I don't think it's super-relevant."
"Skype for Business optimizes our network, encourages adoption, standardizes optimized headsets, supports strong change management, and enhances mobility."
 

Cons

"It needs the option for the CS rep to stop recording when a credit card number is recited by the customer."
"There's some complexity in interfacing with external devices."
"Bluetooth audio support for 3CX IOS app is needed."
"We would like to see continued improvements in the 3CX phone mobile apps, such as allowing for deletion of multiple voicemails, shared parking control, and disabling softphone mode."
"There are a handful of simple features – BLF to handle parking orbits, handling of custom SIP headers."
"3CX should combine the basic version and the enterprise version so that there is only one standard version instead of two."
"It would be really good to have an expanded range of VoIP handset hardware to include more Cisco phones."
"3CX has some other limitations. One of our teams totally stopped using 3CX because they couldn't use it to capture the recordings of the conversations they were having with the client and also sync images on HubSpot CRM."
"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."
"I presume that very small businesses would have a tough time justifying the investment."
"I presume that very small businesses would have a tough time justifying the investment."
"Cisco Jabber is not a collaborative tool."
"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."
"There are some issues with stability during phone calls. Sometimes the connectivity drops, and it is frustrating."
"We need a feature where you can virtually raise your hand to silently let the presenter know that you have a question."
"The technical support from Microsoft needs to be improved."
"It would be ideal if the solution could make instant messages more permanent. Currently, if you close the conversation, you lose the instant messages that you shared during the meeting. If those could last beyond the meeting, that would be a great addition, due to the fact that frequently, people give each other key details, important information, or email addresses, etc., during the meeting. If you don't write it down during the meeting, after the meeting closes, it's gone forever. That can be quite frustrating."
"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."
"Skype for Business is not stable."
"The solution requires deployment on a Microsoft server and its performance is heavy because it consumes too many resources from the RAM."
"The solution should improve the chat and add more flexibility to make a call."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution has been reasonable. We have not had any problems or complaints with the licensing model. We have not reached a point where we need to upgrade. We have all the correct channels."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. There are a few license options and we are using an enterprise license."
"We have purchased an annual license to use 3CX Live Chat. There are different options available, you can pay monthly or yearly. I am completely satisfied with the pricing of 3CX Live Chat, it is cheaper than competitors and it is a better solution."
"3CX sells an annual subscription, but we usually split it out monthly for clients, so they don't see an annual bill for the 3CX licensing, it's just part of their monthly phone bill. As they're paying us for carrier service anyway, we just roll it all together. Your standard phone service would be an additional cost, you either need to maintain a local carrier with POTS lines or PRI or a SIP, or you have to go with a cloud-based SIP."
"Switching from POTS or PRI to SIP Trunk save the customer real costs. ROI is seen in less than a year."
"The price of the solution is in the middle range compared to other solutions. There are different license options available. For example, there is a professional version and an enterprise version, and with the enterprise version, you have the ability to modify the dashboards. You can purchase a license at many different time frame increments, such as monthly, yearly, or two years."
"There aren't any additional costs. With the license I purchased, I have all features that I need. I don't have to buy an add-on or another license."
"We used a yearly license depending on the customer's requirements, and the customers did not complain about the pricing."
Information not available
"We purchased an open license."
"Our company pays for a license for us to use the solution."
"It may be slightly costly, but the features are awesome."
"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."
"We negotiated a fair price with Microsoft. It is definitely worthwhile to negotiate with them for the best price for your solution."
"We are using the subscription-based version of Skype for Business. There is a free version of the solution."
"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."
"A license is required to use the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Marketing Services Firm
11%
Construction Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise2
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for 3CX Live Chat?
The pricing of 3CX is around six out of ten. For some customers, the first year may be free of charge, allowing them ...
What needs improvement with 3CX Live Chat?
The reporting and dashboards of 3CX could be improved.
What is your primary use case for 3CX Live Chat?
The customers use 3CX for IP telephony and call center activities. Additionally, they use 3CX for service desk activi...
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 ...
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...
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 me...
 

Also Known As

3CX PBX
Jabber
Skype for Business Plan 1, Skype for Business Plan 2, Lync Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
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.
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895,399 professionals have used our research since 2012.