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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Jabber
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Unified Communications (6th)
Skype for Business
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Jabber and Skype for Business aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Jabber is designed for Unified Communications and holds a mindshare of 7.2%, down 7.9% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 12.5% mindshare, up 8.2% since last year.
Unified Communications
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

CM
Shows other's availability and status, offers powerful chat features, and integration across platforms is strong
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. When I want to check in with someone, I first have a look to see what they're up to and then I can throw in a question or engage in chat with them. The UI is okay and I am quite pleased with it. The options that I have for moving things around the screen during calls are good. It is also modern looking and not clunky at all. The power of the chat function is good in terms of sharing, pasting, and the like, as it is very full-featured. The integration across platforms is really strong. The speed and availability are very good. There is also room for lots of customization built-in, which is a big plus.
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 most valuable feature for me is that it shows who is available and who is not, as well as what their current status is."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to talk with people in real-time, instead of sending texts."
"It works fine feature-wise. The Cisco Jabber features that we use work okay."
"Using this solution has helped us to cut long distance calls, as well as video services from third parties."
"Video conferencing to hold virtual meetings helps to prevent employee displacement, where everyone can now enjoy the comfort of their own offices."
"We like the easy provisioning of Skype for Business Conferencing."
"It has benefited my organization because I can use it on the phone, I can use it on a laptop, wherever I want. The communication channel is very easy now and I can call and chat. It's experienced. Together, my team manages everything. It's very easy."
"The solution is stable and scalable."
"The security seems good."
"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."
"I like the fact that it opens up your video conferencing, and, in many cases, the audio at the same time."
 

Cons

"I presume that very small businesses would have a tough time justifying the investment."
"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."
"We have had trouble with scalability when trying to host large meetings."
"The technical support from Microsoft needs to be improved."
"The initial setup could be simplified."
"I should be able to make a desktop phone call when I click a member of my Lync directory."
"The cost of Skype for Business has room for improvement."
"There are not many options, in terms of some other third-party integration."
"The tool needs to have a dynamic file updating feature, so people you share a file with could update the file dynamically, all at once, all at the same time."
"The ease of configuration or the lack of decent tooling to pinpoint your problems is probably its biggest issue."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I use the product's open-source version."
"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."
"Previously, I did not use another solution."
"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."
"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."
"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."
"We are using the subscription-based version of Skype for Business. There is a free version of the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Healthcare Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
9%
Educational Organization
72%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Computer Software Company
3%
Manufacturing Company
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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 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

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, 3CX, Kamailio and others in Unified Communications. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.