No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Blackboard Collaborate 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

Blackboard Collaborate
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
16th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Skype for Business
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Blackboard Collaborate is 2.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Skype for Business is 3.8%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Skype for Business3.8%
Blackboard Collaborate2.2%
Other94.0%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

YN
Teaching and Learning Systems Manager at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees
Useful in webinars, meetings and online classrooms
One of the features that people enjoy is the whiteboard, providing opportunities for academics to present content and for students to contribute. The platform also allows for the creating of different rooms, enabling large classes to break into smaller groups for discussions. Students can then return to the main classroom to share their opinions. It integrates with LMS.
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

"One of the features that people enjoy is the whiteboard, providing opportunities for academics to present content and for students to contribute. The platform also allows for the creating of different rooms, enabling large classes to break into smaller groups for discussions. Students can then return to the main classroom to share their opinions. It integrates with LMS."
"The software is easy to use, has clear navigation and structure, and is highly customizable from an administrators standpoint (I've administered and used it as a client)."
"Document loading and annotation."
"This solution has provided an additional way to connect with students and they feel like it allows for participation in a variety of ways."
"The solution allows me to connect and collaborate with student live time, or asynchronously."
"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."
"It's is a very good product to have -- a solution for IM, voice telephony and video communication bundled into one."
"It's a good product, we like using it."
"CCE is an interesting proposal to realize an hybrid voice deployment (Cloud services and local telco) with little effort."
"The most valuable feature of Skype for Business is that it has many other tools that you can be integrated with it, which makes the meetings more interactive."
"It's a good and stable product that fits my needs."
"The initial setup is not overly difficult; it's pretty straightforward in general and the deployment is also quick and only takes a minute or so."
"We have been able to save money by moving our conferencing solution to Skype for Business Conferencing."
 

Cons

"The system can overload when too many try logging in."
"I wish I could upload assignments from my Android tablet or iPhone, but I guarantee that specific feature is in the works."
"Originally, I was disappointed in behavior of the early Ultra version. It did not exhibit to students what I am showing on my own machine."
"We faced outages when the user limit went over a certain number."
"I occasionally had difficulties logging in because I think that the system was overloaded with too many people."
"If there were maybe more tutorials outside of what I'm aware the university is suggesting, I would take more tutorials on effective ways to deliver content. I come from the industry and content was always needed when people that were observing were smart and involved and decision-makers instead of so passively just trying to pass the course. In my imagination, the tutorials would be a tool where the learners themselves can have much more hands-on learning during a Collaborate session."
"I feel bored with the look and feel of the tool, so it should be changed."
"If one of the users has a poor internet connection, this failure will compromise the meeting, causing delays and distortions in the communications."
"We have had trouble with scalability when trying to host large meetings."
"Sometimes the connection crashes, which is understandable if you are traveling. But, it would be nice if this could be stabilized somehow."
"The video quality could be improved, possibly due to internet connection issues."
"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."
"I feel that the whole look and feel of Skype should be improved, including its user-friendliness. It should also improve its scalability."
"I would not recommend Skype for Business because Microsoft Teams has more features, a lightweight application that I access on my mobile."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"It may be slightly costly, but the features are awesome."
"I am using a corporate account for which I have not made any payments."
"It may be considered costly for certain markets, such as in India."
"We purchased an open license."
"The solution is priced fairly."
"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."
"Previously, I did not use another solution."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Meetings solutions are best for your needs.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
15%
Construction Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
 

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

Blackboard Mobile
Skype for Business Plan 1, Skype for Business Plan 2, Lync Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Derby Online, Universty of Warwick, University of Liverpool, City College Norwich, Northumberland College, Mid-Kent College, Watson Pharmaceutials, Capella University, Shore Tel Sky, Lincoln PD, City of Somerville MA, Somerset County Council
EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.
Find out what your peers are saying about Blackboard Collaborate vs. Skype for Business and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.