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3CX Live Chat 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

3CX Live Chat
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
12th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
IP PBX (1st), Unified Communications (2nd), Live Chat (5th), Hosted and Cloud Based VoIP (4th)
Skype for Business
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of 3CX Live Chat is 1.8%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Skype for Business is 12.5%, up from 8.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmed ACHOUR - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
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 call queue and reporting systems are robust compared to what you have to pay to get the same level of functionality with a competing system."
"The integration between the video and voice is the most valuable solution."
"The most valuable features of 3CX Live Chat are the integration with our existing CRM allowing us to get all of the numbers synced together. The communication aspect of the solution was always working very well, the sound quality was perfect. We were able to log into the application to check which users were using the solution and if they were in a call or not. Additionally, the solution integrates well with other CRMs."
"We have not had any bugs or glitches, the solution is stable."
"It is SIP compliant to multiple SIP phone vendors, though it is not locked into a proprietary vendor."
"It lets you see how many calls you made, the time you called, and how many minutes you spent on the phone."
"This solution gives our customers mobility. They can use their phone system everywhere. The other key feature is the security."
"3CX is useful and easy to use. I can talk to my colleagues from anywhere."
"The solution is stable and scalable."
"You can do meetings of up to two hundred people in a single conversation."
"Using this solution has helped us to cut long distance calls, as well as video services from third parties."
"The most valuable feature of Skype for Business is that it has many other tools that you can be integrated with it. It makes the meetings more interactive."
"Scalable communication tool that's easy to install. Even old people are using it, because of its ease of use."
"Desktop sharing is a valuable feature."
"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."
"We like the tools our administrator can use to identify which calls had quality issues and why. This makes troubleshooting our user experience somewhat easier."
 

Cons

"Reporting and integration are the main challenges, which are at the mid-level or in the enterprise depending on the system that we choose."
"Having a video call would be a nice idea."
"There are a lot of quality of life things that could be improved. When adding extensions, you need to use the extension import setting, you can't just use an import function to update extensions. You have to delete and recreate the extension, which can have all kinds of unintended consequences."
"The solution was simple to install, but the configuration was not as simple. The full installation process took a few days."
"It needs the option for the CS rep to stop recording when a credit card number is recited by the customer."
"The support team can appear to be condescending."
"In 3CX, customization is not as easy as I would like. With 3CX Call Flow Designer, you can set up the flow of a call, deliver it to the department, and automate the process. I can't do many things with this."
"You cannot make a group call on 3CX. That feature would make my life easier because I could talk to two suppliers or a supplier and management together. I wouldn't need to end the call and call another person."
"The stability could be improved."
"There are issues with the bandwidth, particularly for external meetings,"
"The solution should improve the chat and add more flexibility to make a call."
"The solution requires deployment on a Microsoft server and its performance is heavy because it consumes too many resources from the RAM."
"I should be able to make a desktop phone call when I click a member of my Lync directory."
"We need a feature where you can virtually raise your hand to silently let the presenter know that you have a question."
"The cost of Skype for Business has room for improvement."
"Sometimes Skype is slow, and we cannot use other elements of our devices while using the Skype solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Switching from POTS or PRI to SIP Trunk save the customer real costs. ROI is seen in less than a year."
"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."
"There is no add-on costing on the standard fees."
"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."
"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."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. There are a few license options and we are using an enterprise license."
"We used a yearly license depending on the customer's requirements, and the customers did not complain about the pricing."
"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 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."
"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."
"It may be slightly costly, but the features are awesome."
"To realize value from the purchase of Skype Business, you need to take advantage of all the important functions of the program."
"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."
"We negotiated a fair price with Microsoft. It is definitely worthwhile to negotiate with them for the best price for your solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Real Estate/Law Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
67%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
4%
Manufacturing Company
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 to try the solution before deciding to implement it.
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 activities, including integration with other ITSM products to collect data from custom...
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

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.
Find out what your peers are saying about 3CX Live Chat vs. Skype for Business and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,034 professionals have used our research since 2012.