Polycom RealPresence Clariti vs Skype for Business comparison

Poly and Microsoft are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. Poly is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.5, while Microsoft is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. Poly holds a 1.7% mindshare in VM, compared to Microsoft’s 5.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Poly users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 79% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Polycom RealPresence Clariti

Read 5 Polycom RealPresence Clariti reviews

371 Views
371 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Skype for Business

Read 63 Skype for Business reviews

1,719 Views
1,238 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

Polycom RealPresence Clariti

Skype for Business

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Skype for Business and Polycom RealPresence Clariti are business communication solutions. Polycom RealPresence Clariti is often seen as having an edge due to its rich features.

Features: Skype for Business integrates seamlessly with Microsoft's ecosystem, including Office 365, offering robust messaging, voice, video calls, and virtual meetings. Its ease of integration with existing tools makes it useful for businesses looking for cohesive communication. Polycom RealPresence Clariti provides high-quality scalable video conferencing with excellent audio and video quality. It supports diverse endpoints and integrates with third-party systems, appealing to businesses needing top-tier video communication.

Room for Improvement: Skype for Business could improve its video conferencing capabilities to better match its competitors' quality. Additionally, enhancements in user interface design and latency on calls could add further value. Polycom RealPresence Clariti may enhance its cloud-based deployment options to simplify implementation processes. Reducing initial acquisition costs and improving user-friendliness could make it more accessible.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Skype for Business leverages Microsoft's cloud-based deployment, simplifying the implementation process and providing reliable customer support. Polycom RealPresence Clariti, requiring more complex on-premises setups, counters this with extensive customer support and tailored solutions, beneficial for sophisticated conferencing requirements.

Pricing and ROI: Skype for Business tends to be more affordable with its subscription-based model, attracting small to medium-sized enterprises. Polycom RealPresence Clariti necessitates a higher initial expenditure due to its hardware and software configurations but potentially offers a substantial ROI for businesses valuing advanced communication infrastructures.

To learn more, read our detailed Polycom RealPresence Clariti vs. Skype for Business Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Polycom RealPresence Clariti vs. Skype for Business

December 2025

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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

Polycom RealPresence Clariti

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

11th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

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 January 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Polycom RealPresence Clariti is 1.7%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Skype for Business is 5.9%, down from 10.5% 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	5.9%
Polycom RealPresence Clariti	1.7%
Other	92.4%

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

Norm Hubert

VTC Network manager at a government with 10,001+ employees

The ability to track call flow and history simplifies call management while bridging issues persist

I find the ability to follow the calls, the call flow, the ability to look at the history, and more on the fault-finding tools to be valuable. It improved from a support model perspective. It simplified the licensing, reduced administration since it's based on calls, not based on users. It's about managing the calls and verifying we have enough space as opposed to always adding licenses for endpoints or users.

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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.

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

"The most valuable feature is its integration with solutions like Zoom and Teams for endpoints. The picture quality is high, and the conference sessions are stable."

"Some proprietary Polycom features include speaker tracking, acoustic fencing, noise cancellation, active noise cancellation, and noise cancellation AI."

"It's on-prem, which is great."

"It does a good job of integrating with other software."

"I find the ability to follow the calls, the call flow, the ability to look at the history, and more on the fault-finding tools to be valuable."

"A good option for virtual meetings."

"The conversation history feature in Skype for Business is particularly useful because it links with Outlook, and it is beneficial to access conversations with colleagues from six months ago through Skype for Business."

"Desktop sharing is a valuable feature."

"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."

"The GUI is very user-friendly."

"Our employees use this solution for a communal space to collaborate for organizational decision making."

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

"The product helps me make international calls."

More Skype for Business pros

Cons

"Polycom RealPresence Clariti is very bad when moving towards the cloud."

"The most valuable feature is its integration with solutions like Zoom and Teams for endpoints. The picture quality is high, and the conference sessions are stable."

"The only issue we have is with some of the bridging stuff, particularly with respect to DTMF and outgoing calls."

"The customer needs this platform to be a little bit more customized."

"Could have a wider range of use cases."

"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."

"It would be ideal if the solution could make instant messages more permanent. Currently, if you close the conversation, you lose the instant messages that you shared during the meeting. If those could last beyond the meeting, that would be a great addition, due to the fact that frequently, people give each other key details, important information, or email addresses, etc., during the meeting. If you don't write it down during the meeting, after the meeting closes, it's gone forever. That can be quite frustrating."

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

"The user experience during long sessions could be improved to avoid issues like intermittent disconnections or login failures."

"The initial setup could be simplified."

"We need a feature where you can virtually raise your hand to silently let the presenter know that you have a question."

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

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

More Skype for Business cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Polycom RealPresence Clariti is definitely more expensive than others in the market because of its high quality."

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

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

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

"It may be considered costly for certain markets, such as in India."

"We purchased an open license."

"We are using the subscription-based version of Skype for Business. There is a free version of the solution."

"To realize value from the purchase of Skype Business, you need to take advantage of all the important functions of the program."

"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."

More Skype for Business pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Manufacturing Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Performing Arts

10%

Government

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

What needs improvement with Polycom RealPresence Clariti?

They are discontinuing the product and they are moving over to Pexip. The only issue we have is with some of the bridging stuff, particularly with respect to DTMF and outgoing calls. That's our big...

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What is your primary use case for Polycom RealPresence Clariti?

We use it both nationally and internationally with our partners, however, it's used in a closed environment.

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What advice do you have for others considering Polycom RealPresence Clariti?

I would recommend it, however, it depends on the environment. We have a lot of users but not a lot of usage, so the price model is really good for that environment. Overall, I would give it a nine ...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

January 2026

Download Polycom RealPresence Clariti product report

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business

January 2026

Download Skype for Business product report

Also Known As

RealPresence Clariti, Clariti

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

Overview

RealPresence Clariti is simple, powerful, cloud-ready collaboration infrastructure software for businesses of all sizes that connects people with HD voice, video, content and web collaboration.

Poly

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

Baptist Health Corbin, North Carolina Central University

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

Buyer's Guide

Polycom RealPresence Clariti vs. Skype for Business

December 2025

Free Report: Polycom RealPresence Clariti vs. Skype for Business

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