Polycom RealPresence Desktop vs Skype for Business comparison

Poly and Microsoft are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. Poly is ranked #14 with an average rating of 7.0, while Microsoft is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3. Poly holds a 1.8% mindshare in VM, compared to Microsoft’s 10.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Poly users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 79% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Read 1 Polycom RealPresence Desktop review

323 Views
323 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Skype for Business

Read 63 Skype for Business reviews

1,456 Views
1,034 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Skype for Business

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Polycom RealPresence Desktop and Skype for Business based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Zoom Video Communications, Cisco, Microsoft and others in Virtual Meetings.

To learn more, read our detailed Virtual Meetings Report (Updated: October 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

October 2025

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Helped 869,785 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

Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

14th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Skype for Business

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

4th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Polycom RealPresence Desktop is 1.8%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Skype for Business is 10.3%, up from 7.9% 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	10.3%
Polycom RealPresence Desktop	1.8%
Other	87.9%

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

Norm Hubert

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

Regular use enables effective communication with room for improvement in interoperability

The most valuable part of the desktop is the ability to make voice and video calls. Without getting too technical or divulging too much due to the environment we are in, it allows us to further our reach, from a traditional video conferencing room. Scalability was easy. It was based on calls, not licenses.

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

"It allows us to further our reach, from a traditional video conferencing room."

"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."

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

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

"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."

"The ability to mute everyone else is pretty useful when there is a large audience."

"The most valuable feature is stability."

"People are now able to virtually collaborate with their staff and have a conference call. We don't need a phone line to make that conference call and we are saving on that. People are able to share their presentations. Also, they can chat using the Skype"

"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

"There is probably room for improvement in interoperability."

"The video conferencing quality can be improved."

"Skype for Business is not stable."

"Sometimes Skype is slow, and we cannot use other elements of our devices while using the Skype solution."

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

"There might be some invitation issues with Skype for Business."

"The solution has been discontinued by Microsoft."

"We overcame the audio quality issues by asking users to use the 'Call Me' feature with their desk phone."

"I am not familiar with all of the features or whether they can hold conferences because we use Zoom for that. But, in my opinion, if they can do something similar to what Zoom is doing, it will be a complete solution."

More Skype for Business cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

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

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

"A license is required to use the solution."

"I am using a corporate account for which I have not made any payments."

"Our company pays for a license for us to use the solution."

"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."

"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

Manufacturing Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Government

10%

Performing Arts

10%

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Polycom RealPresence Desktop?

The solution is built right into Clarity.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Polycom RealPresence Desktop?

There is probably room for improvement in interoperability.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Polycom RealPresence Desktop?

We use the desktop. It was used in the same case. We use it with our partners.

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...

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Comparisons

Zoom Workplace Business vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 44% of the time

TrueConf Server vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 23% of the time

Cisco TelePresence vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 16% of the time

Huawei Video Conferencing Platform vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 16% of the time

More Polycom RealPresence Desktop Competitors

Webex vs Skype for Business

Compared 24% of the time

Cisco Unified Communications vs Skype for Business

Compared 23% of the time

Zoom Workplace Business vs Skype for Business

Compared 19% of the time

TeamViewer Business vs Skype for Business

Compared 18% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Skype for Business

Compared 7% of the time

More Skype for Business Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

October 2025

Download Polycom RealPresence Desktop product report

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business

September 2025

Download Skype for Business product report

Also Known As

RealPresence Desktop

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

Overview

Polycom RealPresence Desktop is a powerful, enterprise-grade video chat app for PC & Mac. The video conferencing software extends communications beyond the typical conference room setting to mobile professionals. RealPresence Desktop combines quality HD video, industry-leading interoperability, and security that is both cost effective and highly scalable.

When powered by Polycom's infrastructure, customers can extend desktop collaboration value with app management, interoperability, scalability, resiliency, and multi-point calling.

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

John Laing, China Daily, Lincoln Fire and Rescue, NATO Communications and Information Agency, NHS Home Dialysis, Silver Chain, South Carolina Department of Mental Health, nimed

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

Find out what your peers are saying about Zoom Video Communications, Cisco, Microsoft and others in Virtual Meetings. Updated: October 2025.

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