Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued) vs. Skype

Cisco business edition are well suited for the environment where we need regular communication as they are easy to dial and has got great features. The product is well suited for both small business and large enterprises. Speed dial, good voice quality are key features of Cisco phones. They are not well suited in scenarios where we do not have LAN connectivity or internet. Sometimes we may face latency and jitteriness which is not good.

Incentivized

Skype is well suited for quick calls back and forth, in both video and audio, among team members who have it already installed and who know how to use it. It is less well-suited when trying to do a presentation for somebody who does NOT have it installed or who lacks internet speed.

Incentivized

• The platform supports up to 5,000 users connected at the same time in voice and video calls.
• Everything is virtually deployed on Cisco servers with reliability.
• Intuitive configuration and user-friendly web interface.
• It has several types of IP phones and is compatible with legacy and multi-brand hardware with SIP protocol.

Incentivized

• The instant chat function is great. Very straightforward, easy to use, easy to learn, no technical issues.
• Video calls are pretty easy also, user friendly and a mostly stable connection with no issues.
• Voice calls are easy also, eliminates the need for an external landline or the need to use your cell phone. Clear connections, not really any dropped calls.

Incentivized

• More cloud based services need to be added to the default service package.
• Companies frequently require a small contact center within the UC environment. It would be nice to see a build it contact center in the box.
• It would be nice to see some advanced AI based services (IVR voice recognition service) in the BE7K application list.
• Call recording should be also built in.

Incentivized

• This is really small, but I'd love to see the emoticons updated to emojis.
• Make calling free like some other communications app providers.
• Grant the ability to not show that you're online even when you are. Sometimes you want to make a call, but you don't want other people to see you're online and start messaging you.

Incentivized

I have given this rating as this need to give more than that as it's very helpful for us and makes our work more efficient and fast.

Skype is not as good as Facetime in terms of ease to glance at it and figure out how it works. I think that's a result of Skype trying to be too many things at once. A lot of the menu and UI could be streamlined, and I would jettison some of the additional functions that have been tacked on over the years to simplify. That being said, while some options are slightly hard to find, they all work flawlessly once found.

Incentivized

I am not aware of the current support level for Skype for business, as I have never used even though I have the product. However, the support for Skype's personal paid users is not where it could be. Users who pay for Skype features do not have a clear path to reach out to support. So, rating 6, can be better as soon as I need to use Skype for business support and get a good experience. I will say that I will renew Skype for Business subscription, which is a significant inconsistency on my end. The explanation is that Skype for Business comes bundled with Office for Business, with no additional cost, so why not.

Incentivized

It can be used on the phone via mobile application as well as on the desktop by logging in to the website. Easily installed and ready to use.

Incentivized

I've used 220s and 240s too, but it takes a lot of time to set them up, a lot of time to download the iso files, and set up of datastores. 7k saves the engineer a lot of pre-build assessment and evaluation time. Gets a lot done in a lot less time, returns are a happy engineer and a happier customer.

Incentivized

Microsoft Teams provides basically the same services. Local number calling is not available (that I know of) but that only matters if you have any need to use it. Teams is a little more stable, especially with a lot of people on a call. Skype is easier to set up and to operate. Skype also has a larger install base.

Incentivized

The service provided is up to date, as discussed before buying.

• It has allowed for mostly smooth communication from department to department/office to office.
• It allows for saved phone # / last contact to appear quickly.
• It has allowed for safety warnings/announcements to emerge all across every office so that everyone within the organization is on the same page about events when they occur.

Incentivized

• Overall Skype is a good investment. We use regular Skype so its a product that comes with Windows PC's as a standard app. We dont use Skype for Business so this cuts cost overall.
• Using the basic functions of Skype and not Skype for business does have some downsides but you do save money. There are many other apps we use as well as Skype in order to accomplish all of our goals.
• The downside of course is that the more you want Skype to do, the more money it will cost the organization as a whole. It does have many more functions which you have to upgrade to Skype for business for. That is my only criticism.

Incentivized