Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series vs Skype for Business

Likelihood to Recommend

Great for group calls - the rollover feature is good. It makes it easy to have hotlines. The audio is clear and consistent. Easy to access voice messages and you can see you have voice messages without having to dial in through your number. The speed dial is easy to use - this comes in handy because we are often calling the same departments over and over - with a touch of a button we are able to connect right away; with out looking at a hand out for the digits.

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Verified User

Employee in Human Resources

E-Learning Company, 5001-10,000 employees

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For instant messaging without going into depth it's very quick and simple and the CPU footprint is quite low and therefore easily able to run on older hardware. The audio only capability has always been very good, but the video aspect where you have more than one person on video does seem to struggle. It's understandable given the codec has been in operation for a number of years but for basic collaboration it has served the purpose pretty well and until forced to migrate, most companies will happily continue to use it.

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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Broadcast Media Company, 10,001+ employees

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Feature Rating Comparison

Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series

Skype for Business

High quality audio

High quality video

Low bandwidth requirements

Mobile support

Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series

Skype for Business

Desktop sharing

Whiteboards

Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series

Skype for Business

Calendar integration

Meeting initiation

Integrates with social media

Record meetings / events

Slideshows

Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series

Skype for Business

Live chat

Audience polling

Q&A

Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series

Skype for Business

User authentication

Participant roles & permissions

Confidential attendee list

Pros

Audio quality is solid
It is portable and has good distance capability
It's compact and easy to carry
Battery life is decent

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Verified User

C-Level Executive in Professional Services

Information Technology & Services Company, 11-50 employees

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Group Chat option allows multiple people to have a conversation away from the main presentation
Integration with Microsoft Office allows easy usage of excel, PowerPoint and other MS programs
Easy calendar integration for Microsoft Outlook
Mobile interface is very easy and intuitive

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Mark DiNallo

Service Director

Morong Falmouth Audi Porsche VW MazdaAutomotive, 51-200 employees

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Cons

Ability to change ringer based on internal or external call

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Verified User

Employee in Human Resources

E-Learning Company, 5001-10,000 employees

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Reporting, especially if you are in need of knowing who logged in and participated in a session
The browser-based application (for those that didn't want to download the desktop app) always seemed to have issues for our clients in other locations of the country
Call clarity was frequently not good, and sometimes the meeting organizer/host couldn't even get audio connected.

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Randy Palmer

Manager, Training & Learning Development

DHI Computing Service, Inc.Computer Software, 201-500 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Skype for Business 9.0

Based on 7 answers

The software is simple to install and configure. It is rather simple to explain for correct use. It is possible to profile users for the different functions offered. It is integrated quite completely with Outlook and with Active Directory security. It performs all communication functions well with one or more interlocutors and the possibility of granting control of your computer is convenient.

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Emiliano Monterubbianesi

Senior Programmer Analyst

RemaTarlazzi SPARetail, 501-1000 employees

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Usability

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Skype for Business 8.0

Based on 14 answers

Skype for Business is fairly user-friendly and has a good UI. It has strong audio and video conference call capabilities. It's easy to conduct meetings with various stakeholders across different locations and timezones. The chat and share a file or share my screen functions work seamlessly. If your company uses Office 365, then I would highly recommend it.

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Verified User

Manager in Marketing

Real Estate Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Support Rating

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Skype for Business 8.0

Based on 78 answers

I have only had to reach out to the Support team at Skype for Business once with an issue, and I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the quickness and thoroughness of their response. The wait time was short and my question was dealt with politely and clearly, so I would say the support team has it together.

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Sarah Bandy

Executive Director

Youth Empowerment through Arts and HumanitiesNon-Profit Organization Management, 1-10 employees

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Implementation Rating

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Skype for Business 7.0

Based on 4 answers

Skpe for business is utilized company wide in regards to my company. Everyone not only uses it, but uses it often. It is an effective way of communicating. It also integrates very nicely with outlook and all conversation history is pushed to a folder within the outlook system. We also have it so that if someone misses a message, they are sent an email reminder saying that there is a message that went unread.

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Greg Golding

Account Executive

Solarus Technologies IncInformation Technology and Services, 11-50 employees

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Alternatives Considered

It's less expensive, more compact but not as robust and well-adopted/supported since Spectralink kind of owns the industry. Cisco needs to make more of these lines of DECT phones in order to compete.

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Verified User

C-Level Executive in Professional Services

Information Technology & Services Company, 11-50 employees

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As Skype for Business is most widely used all over the world it gives you access to connect you with people out of your organization. It's much faster than any other messengers. You can connect with your mobile phone with low speed of internet also. Other messengers [require] more space and bandwidth than skype.

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Vrushali Raskar

Architect

anil ranka architectsArchitecture & Planning, 1001-5000 employees

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Return on Investment

I set up the desk for new hires in our group - it is super easy to plug in this phone and have them up and running.
Having the ability to pre-program speed dial numbers ensures that new hires are able to reach help without having to search for a number.
The ability to program ring tones is great, so if we are in the shared space meeting and we hear a phone ring, we know who's phone is ringing - the meeting can go on without everyone leaving to check.

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Verified User

Employee in Human Resources

E-Learning Company, 5001-10,000 employees

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With federation with external partners, it has helped us close deals in terms of sales.
It is a stable product that has had very few outages, which has kept end users happy with minimal service interruptions.
Meetings have high security compliance which meets our organization's security requirements

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Verified User

Administrator in Information Technology

Aviation & Aerospace Company, 10,001+ employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Rating Summary

Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series

Skype for Business

Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series

Skype for Business

Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series

Skype for Business

Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series

Skype for Business

Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series

Skype for Business

Likelihood to Recommend