Cisco Unified Communications vs Skype for Business comparison

The compared Cisco and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #1 in UC , with an average rating of 7.0, and holds a 14.2% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #4 in VM , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 11.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 79% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Cisco Unified Communications

Read 7 Cisco Unified Communications reviews

806 Views
524 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Skype for Business

Read 62 Skype for Business reviews

1,833 Views
1,301 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

Cisco Unified Communications

Skype for Business

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Unified Communications and Skype for Business based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, 3CX, Fortinet and others in Unified Communications.

To learn more, read our detailed Unified Communications Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Unified Communications

June 2025

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Helped 864,053 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

Cisco Unified Communications

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Unified Communications (1st), IP Telephony & Unified Communications (1st)

Skype for Business

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Virtual Meetings (4th)

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Unified Communications and Skype for Business aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Unified Communications is designed for Unified Communications and holds a mindshare of 14.2%, up 13.4% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 11.7% mindshare, up 8.1% since last year.

Unified Communications

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

Kani Kumar J

Cisco VOIP Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Reliable customer communication and good third-party integrations with minor server update issues

Cisco supports third-party gadgets, including workforce management systems. These can be directly integrated with Cisco, a feature not widely supported by other contact centers. Additionally, redundancy is set up, meaning if one side of the server goes down, the other side will take over to prevent the contact center from completely failing.

Read full review

Magdalena Teodorczuk

Senior at Krajowy Depozyt Papierów Wartosciowych S.A.

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"We use Extension Mobility and Jabber a lot with mobile remote access. In addition to video calls with Jabber, this greatly enriched communications between coworkers."

"Cisco supports third-party gadgets, including workforce management systems."

"The Click to dial feature was one of the most important features for the customer."

"We chose Skype for Business after other colleagues suggested that we give it a try. It has served us well."

"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."

"Skype for Business is good for meetings and instant messaging."

"The solution’s video quality is fine."

"The most valuable features of the solution are that it is quick and easy to use. It is a good tool for group calls."

"The GUI is very user-friendly."

"A good option for virtual meetings."

"The Microsoft tech support are very good. They get back to you. I log a support call, and I usually have someone on the phone within a half an hour, so it is pretty good."

More Skype for Business pros

Cons

"Sometimes, minor temporary issues can arise while updating the servers."

"An improvement option could be to incorporate the Voicea solution with Communication Manager, allowing it to make a translation between different languages automatically in a conversation."

"Some features take a lot of steps to configure, so having areas where a few clicks can configure a feature for a user would be nice."

"There are some issues with stability during phone calls. Sometimes the connectivity drops, and it is frustrating."

"I feel that the whole look and feel of Skype should be improved, including its user-friendliness. It should also improve its scalability."

"The initial setup could be simplified."

"The group feature of Skype for Business needs improvement. It should also be improved for online lectures."

"I believe optimizing the solution for lighter endpoints, particularly for embedded endpoints on mobile devices, would be valuable."

"We have had trouble with scalability when trying to host large meetings."

"The ease of configuration or the lack of decent tooling to pinpoint your problems is probably its biggest issue."

"The solution requires deployment on a Microsoft server and its performance is heavy because it consumes too many resources from the RAM."

More Skype for Business cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"We purchased an open license."

"We negotiated a fair price with Microsoft. It is definitely worthwhile to negotiate with them for the best price for your 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."

"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."

"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."

"A license is required to use the solution."

"I use the product's open-source version."

More Skype for Business pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

University

Non Profit

Manufacturing Company

15%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco Unified Communications?

Sometimes, minor temporary issues can arise while updating the servers. These updates can cause bugs that lead to temporary issues. Although they do not have a major impact, these issues still need...

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What is your primary use case for Cisco Unified Communications?

It is basically a contact center solution. In contact centers, it acts as a bridge connecting the customer and the product company and the end customer. For example, if we are running a bank, the c...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Unified Communications?

The pricing varies based on the setup. ECCX has lower pricing for up to 400 users, whereas PCC is more expensive. Pricing increases based on requirements and features.

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What do you like most about Skype for Business?

The solution’s video quality is fine.

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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?

The video quality could be improved, possibly due to internet connection issues. However, there is no significant weakness in Skype for Business.

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiVoice vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 19% of the time

Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise Communication Server vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 9% of the time

Kamailio SIP Server vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Jabber vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 6% of the time

Siemens OpenScape vs Cisco Unified Communications

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco Unified Communications Competitors

Webex vs Skype for Business

Compared 26% of the time

TeamViewer Business vs Skype for Business

Compared 15% of the time

Zoom Workplace Business vs Skype for Business

Compared 15% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Skype for Business

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Meeting Server vs Skype for Business

Compared 3% of the time

More Skype for Business Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Unified Communications

June 2025

Download Cisco Unified Communications product report

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business

July 2025

Download Skype for Business product report

Also Known As

No data available

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

Overview

With Cisco Voice and Unified Communications, you can unify all your voice, video, data, and mobile applications for interactive collaboration.

Cisco

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

Afni, Allied Irish Banks, Bellevue, Came Group, Children's Hospital Colorado, Erickson Living, IDEALondon, Instituto Zaldivar, John Lewis, Linz AG, London Hydro, Lone Star College System, Lone Star College System, Mondi Group, North West Redwater, Park Nicollet, Pentana Solutions Australia, Pilatus, Pirelli, Portugal Ministry, Presidio Inc., Republic Bank & Trust Company, Saipem, SickKids Foundation, Top Right Group, Vital Images

EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.

Buyer's Guide

Unified Communications

June 2025

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We monitor all Unified Communications reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.