Blackboard Collaborate vs Skype for Business comparison

Blackboard and Microsoft are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. Blackboard is ranked #20, while Microsoft is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. Blackboard holds a 2.4% mindshare in VM, compared to Microsoft’s 5.2% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of Blackboard users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 79% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Blackboard Collaborate

Read 4 Blackboard Collaborate reviews

480 Views
480 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

Skype for Business

Read 63 Skype for Business reviews

1,935 Views
1,432 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

Blackboard Collaborate

Skype for Business

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Blackboard Collaborate and Skype for Business are tools competing in virtual collaboration. Skype for Business often has the upper hand in corporate settings due to Microsoft's integration and broader application.

Features: Blackboard Collaborate offers an interactive whiteboard, breakout groups, and polling capabilities. Skype for Business includes integration with Microsoft products, IM, and presence indicators, supporting large meetings.

Room for Improvement: Blackboard Collaborate needs improved ease of deployment, more intuitive user interface, and better integration with non-educational tools. Skype for Business can enhance mobile interface quality, reduce complexity in non-Microsoft environments, and improve video quality.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Skype for Business has straightforward deployment in Microsoft-rich environments with comprehensive support. Blackboard Collaborate requires more specialized setup but offers targeted guidance for educational settings.

Pricing and ROI: Blackboard Collaborate offers good ROI for educational institutions through specialized tools. Skype for Business provides better value for those integrated within Microsoft's ecosystem, maximizing ROI through its wide feature set.

To learn more, read our detailed Blackboard Collaborate vs. Skype for Business Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Blackboard Collaborate vs. Skype for Business

February 2026

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Helped 881,821 peers since 2012

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

20th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

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

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Blackboard Collaborate is 2.4%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Skype for Business is 5.2%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Meetings Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Skype for Business	5.2%
Blackboard Collaborate	2.4%
Other	92.4%

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

YN1

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.

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reviewer1854369

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.

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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."

"Document loading and annotation."

"The solution allows me to connect and collaborate with my classes."

"You can do meetings of up to two hundred people in a single conversation."

"The solution is easy to use and includes the ability to text message, video and voice chat, and transfer files."

"The tool's most valuable features are its audio and chat functions. They help us save time and have good telephone integration."

"I rate the solution's stability a nine on a scale where one is not stable and ten is very stable...I rate the solution's initial setup a nine on a scale where one is difficult, and ten is easy."

"Using this solution has helped us to cut long distance calls, as well as video services from third parties."

"The solution’s video quality is fine."

"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."

"We like the easy provisioning of Skype for Business Conferencing."

More Skype for Business pros

Cons

"We faced outages when the user limit went over a certain number."

"The system can overload when too many try logging in."

"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."

"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."

"We are looking for a more collaborative tool, not only in terms of virtual meetings but also for teams to collaborate, share a document, work together, and all those types of things."

"There are not many options, in terms of some other third-party integration."

"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."

"Sometimes the connection crashes, which is understandable if you are traveling. But, it would be nice if this could be stabilized somehow."

"There are issues with the bandwidth, particularly for external meetings,"

"We have found that there is a lag because it cannot integrate with the internal landline."

"I don't recall coming across any big missing features."

More Skype for Business cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Previously, I did not use another solution."

"The licensing is billed on a yearly basis."

"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."

"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 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 purchased an open license."

"We have been able to save money by moving our conferencing solution to Skype for Business Conferencing."

More Skype for Business pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Marketing Services Firm

18%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	18
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	27

Questions from the Community

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Earn 20 points

What do you like most about Skype for Business?

The solution’s video quality is fine.

See all answers

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.

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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...

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Comparisons

Zoom Workplace Business vs Blackboard Collaborate

Compared 25% of the time

Webex vs Blackboard Collaborate

Compared 15% of the time

Microsoft Teams vs Blackboard Collaborate

Compared 15% of the time

ON24 Platform vs Blackboard Collaborate

Compared 14% of the time

Avaya IX Meetings vs Blackboard Collaborate

Compared 11% of the time

More Blackboard Collaborate Competitors

Zoom Workplace Business vs Skype for Business

Compared 16% of the time

TeamViewer Business vs Skype for Business

Compared 15% of the time

Webex vs Skype for Business

Compared 14% of the time

Cisco Unified Communications vs Skype for Business

Compared 10% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Skype for Business

Compared 9% of the time

More Skype for Business Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

January 2026

Download Blackboard Collaborate product report

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business

January 2026

Download Skype for Business product report

Also Known As

Blackboard Mobile

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

Overview

Blackboard Mobile give your learners, educators, and community access to all aspects of the educational experience on their mobile devices and they'll be able to go anywhere. Giving you the power to engage everyone on their terms and devices. Offering instant access to the information they need. Encouraging the interaction they crave.

Blackboard

Skype for Business offers features including presence, IM, voice and video calls, online meetings, conferencing, and telephony solutions that support enterprise-level collaboration requirements. Skype for Business Record meetings, share your screen, and annotate PowerPoint for real-time collaboration with up to 250 people and use whiteboard, polls, Q&A, and built-in IM during your business meetings to make them more productive. Skype for Business provides new client experience, Skype for Business Server provides several new features to improve manageability of on-premises servers and hybrid solutions. Skype for Business also supports the Lync client experience so that you can choose a phased upgrade approach to the new client experience for users. Skype for Business is also an integral part of Microsoft Office 365, providing PSTN Conferencing, Cloud PBX, PSTN Calling, and Skype Meeting Broadcast capabilities to Office 365 users.

Microsoft

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.

Buyer's Guide

Blackboard Collaborate vs. Skype for Business

February 2026

Free Report: Blackboard Collaborate vs. Skype for Business

Find out what your peers are saying about Blackboard Collaborate vs. Skype for Business and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.

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