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Avaya Spaces 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Avaya Spaces
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Social Software (12th)
Skype for Business
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Avaya Spaces is designed for Enterprise Social Software and holds a mindshare of 1.9%, up 0.7% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 3.7% mindshare, down 13.0% since last year.
Enterprise Social Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Avaya Spaces1.9%
Slack Business - Enterprise9.6%
Microsoft Teams6.9%
Other81.6%
Enterprise Social Software
Virtual Meetings Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Skype for Business3.7%
Zoom Workplace Business7.4%
Webex5.2%
Other83.7%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

TM
Channel Director at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Video meetings and presentation sharing impress but user-friendliness and pricing need attention
I don't have experience with how Avaya Spaces handles integration with other software tools, but perhaps my partners have experience regarding integration with different vendors. If Avaya can integrate Spaces with other media solutions, such as WhatsApp or WeChat, it will be more friendly and useful for customers or partners.
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 microphone's noise cancellation and static feature that record a human's voice are some of the most valuable features."
"Stability for Avaya Spaces is quite good, and I would rate it a 9."
"We use the solution for document sharing, video conferencing, instant messaging, and file sharing."
"Using it is very straightforward, and it just sits on your desktop as an icon, so it's easy to access when you need it."
"Making calls and having meetings is easy."
"Using Skype allows us to connect with external agencies when a Skype call is set up and aids in sharing large files efficiently."
"The performance is pretty good, this is a mature application with no bugs, and I have no complaints."
"We like the easy provisioning of Skype for Business Conferencing."
"I have found Skype for Business to be stable."
"Skype for Business optimizes our network, encourages adoption, standardizes optimized headsets, supports strong change management, and enhances mobility."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of organizing and setting up a meeting."
 

Cons

"The initial setup for Avaya Spaces is very good for me, but for sharing with other users, the setup is a little bit complex compared to other solutions I have used, such as Zoom or Teams, as the installation is more complex."
"There were some additional features coming up, as they informed us through email. But we didn't get any update on them."
"The audio calling service needs to improve its quality."
"Skype for Business is good for the PCs with higher bandwidth, but an improvement is required for low bandwidth usage."
"Microsoft Teams, as I see it now, is more useful than Skype for Business."
"Your telco, in such a scenario, could be Microsoft itself but this kind of solution involves some interesting downsides."
"We have had trouble with scalability when trying to host large meetings."
"Whenever someone is using a messaging platform, the messages needs to be stored. In Skype for Business, the message will not be seen later on if you're not online. It isn't useful, in my opinion."
"I feel that the whole look and feel of Skype should be improved, including its user-friendliness. It should also improve its scalability."
"We need a feature where you can virtually raise your hand to silently let the presenter know that you have a question."
"Skype for Business could improve the interface. It could be easier to use. Additionally, it's hard to find the people or add people you want to communicate with."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license grants you a subscription and costs about $120. I am not aware of additional costs."
"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."
"We negotiated a fair price with Microsoft. It is definitely worthwhile to negotiate with them for the best price for your solution."
"I am using a corporate account for which I have not made any payments."
"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."
"When it comes to the pricing of the solution, I rate it as a five out of ten. It falls somewhere in the middle between being cheap and expensive."
"To realize value from the purchase of Skype Business, you need to take advantage of all the important functions of the program."
"The licensing is billed on a yearly basis."
"A license is required to use the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
18%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
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

What needs improvement with Avaya Spaces?
I don't have experience with how Avaya Spaces handles integration with other software tools, but perhaps my partners have experience regarding integration with different vendors. If Avaya can integ...
What is your primary use case for Avaya Spaces?
Most of the time, I use Avaya Spaces to hold meetings with Avaya and with partners, which fulfills our collaboration needs.
What advice do you have for others considering Avaya Spaces?
I can share my opinion about Avaya Spaces and recommend it for small or medium company users, as most of them are small users. I am currently working with Azure for our cloud needs. Overall, I woul...
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

Avaya Cloud Application Link
Skype for Business Plan 1, Skype for Business Plan 2, Lync Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Stop Soldier Suicide, British Columbia Ski Resort, Helse Vest, Spital Limmattal, Conduit Global
EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.
Find out what your peers are saying about Slack, Microsoft, Atlassian and others in Enterprise Social Software. Updated: May 2026.
899,258 professionals have used our research since 2012.