Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) vs. Microsoft Teams

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Call Manager is a unified call control center from Cisco that supports enterprise collaboration functions across the spectrum of IP telephony, video & web conferencing, and messaging. Features include call forwarding, call back, call transfer, ad hoc conferencing, and call park.N/A
Microsoft Teams
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Teams combines video conferencing software with team collaboration tools. The communications platform allows MS Office users to conduct conference calls and share files via SharePoint, and join or initiate a group chat.
$4.80
per month per user
Pricing
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Microsoft Teams
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Free
$0.00
per user/per month
Microsoft Teams Essentials
$4.80
per month per user
Microsoft Teams Enterprise
$5.25
per month per user
Microsoft 365 Business Basic
$7.20
per month per user
Microsoft 365 Business Standard
$15
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Microsoft Teams
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMust contact sales team for pricingDiscounts are available for non profit organizations.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Microsoft Teams
Considered Both Products
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Chose Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
CUCM is actually our old system that we're currently transitioning away from. While CUCM certainly has more features than the Microsoft Teams phone system, and it's far more customizable, what we really needed currently was a cloud system that allowed more options for remote …
Chose Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
We have been a Cisco based shop and have looked at other cloud voice options such as MS Teams pbx, and others, but ultimately, the features, endpoints, and reliability of Cisco has been the common factor in staying with them as our voice provider. Their integrations, room …
Microsoft Teams

No answer on this topic

TrustRadius Insights
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Microsoft Teams
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

Cisco Unified Communications Manager (UCM), previously Call Manager, and Microsoft Teams are online communications platforms designed to centralize communications across large businesses. Cisco UCM is an established enterprise option with extensive flexibility for complex communications needs. Microsoft Teams focuses more on collaboration within a business, offering extra features to help users work together better. 

Both products are used mostly by enterprise-level businesses, though Microsoft Teams also has a strong presence in mid-size companies.

Features

Both Microsoft Teams and Cisco UCM include core communications features like high-quality IP telephony and video conferencing, but they each offer unique benefits.

Microsoft Teams offers robust collaboration features. This includes real-time collaborative editing on Microsoft Office files and seamless integration with other Microsoft products. It also uses a centralized UI from which users can start a group chat, share a file, schedule an event, or make a phone call. Its contact search tool helps users find exactly who they need to talk to by name, role, or department.

Cisco UCM is known for being a reliable enterprise-grade solution that can scale and adapt to most business needs. It has a wealth of features and customization options for both implementation and end-user experience. For example, large businesses create custom configurations for multiple call centers and business locations across the world. As an industry-standard solution, there’s plenty of expert knowledge available to help design a solution that fits specific needs.

Limitations

Despite both being comprehensive communications platforms, Microsoft Teams and Cisco UCM won’t be ideal for every buyer.

Cisco UCM may be extensively customizable and scalable, but can also be highly complex to implement. You’ll need experienced engineers with plenty of product knowledge to set up the platform properly and make full use of its feature set. Some users may find the interface dated and disorganized. Finally, its high price point and complicated licensing models can make it a hard sell for small to midsize businesses.

Although Microsoft Teams may be easier to implement, users often report a frustrating learning curve. The user interface can be confusing and unintuitive, making it hard for new users to get going or learn advanced features. Permissions can be clunky to manage, and some users find that the software consumes too many computer resources.

Pricing

Microsoft Teams has four tiered purchasing options. The free tier includes all of the core features, such as audio/video calls, screen-sharing, real-time collaboration within Office documents, and file-sharing (limited to 10 GB). 

The business basic tier is $5.00 per user per month, adds meeting recordings, and increases the file-sharing limit to 1 TB plus 10 GB per license. The business standard tier is $12.50 per user per month and adds desktop versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. The final tier, Office 365 E3, is $20.00 per user per month and adds the ability to host online events for up to 10,000 attendees.

Pricing for Cisco UCM is available via quote from Cisco partners. Overall, Microsoft Teams may be a better fit for small and midsize businesses than Cisco UCM, given its price point. Cisco UCM’s complexity and price point mean that large enterprises will likely get more value for their money than smaller organizations.

Features
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Microsoft Teams
Cloud PBX
Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
7.6
43 Ratings
6% below category average
Microsoft Teams
-
Ratings
Hosted PBX9.522 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)5.631 Ratings00 Ratings
User templates6.941 Ratings00 Ratings
Call reports6.940 Ratings00 Ratings
Directory of employee names9.141 Ratings00 Ratings
Call Management
Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
8.1
46 Ratings
3% below category average
Microsoft Teams
-
Ratings
Answering rules9.344 Ratings00 Ratings
Call recording5.528 Ratings00 Ratings
Call park9.340 Ratings00 Ratings
Call screening8.837 Ratings00 Ratings
Message alerts7.640 Ratings00 Ratings
VoIP system collaboration
Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
9.0
42 Ratings
12% above category average
Microsoft Teams
-
Ratings
Video conferencing9.232 Ratings00 Ratings
Audio conferencing9.142 Ratings00 Ratings
Video screen sharing8.317 Ratings00 Ratings
Instant messaging9.220 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile apps
Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
7.2
26 Ratings
11% below category average
Microsoft Teams
-
Ratings
Mobile app for iOS7.026 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile app for Android7.324 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
-
Ratings
Microsoft Teams
6.7
192 Ratings
13% below category average
Task Management00 Ratings7.1146 Ratings
Gantt Charts00 Ratings6.175 Ratings
Scheduling00 Ratings6.6163 Ratings
Workflow Automation00 Ratings6.2101 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings7.6184 Ratings
Search00 Ratings6.5169 Ratings
Visual planning tools00 Ratings6.7117 Ratings
Communication
Comparison of Communication features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
-
Ratings
Microsoft Teams
7.5
201 Ratings
6% below category average
Chat00 Ratings8.7200 Ratings
Notifications00 Ratings7.6199 Ratings
Discussions00 Ratings8.0187 Ratings
Surveys00 Ratings7.3111 Ratings
Internal knowledgebase00 Ratings7.0122 Ratings
Integrates with GoToMeeting00 Ratings6.547 Ratings
Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts00 Ratings5.743 Ratings
Integrates with Outlook00 Ratings9.0155 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
-
Ratings
Microsoft Teams
7.2
186 Ratings
9% below category average
Versioning00 Ratings7.2130 Ratings
Video files00 Ratings7.1158 Ratings
Audio files00 Ratings7.4160 Ratings
Document collaboration00 Ratings8.3173 Ratings
Access control00 Ratings7.7156 Ratings
Advanced security features00 Ratings6.9117 Ratings
Integrates with Google Drive00 Ratings5.353 Ratings
Device sync00 Ratings7.4132 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Microsoft Teams
Small Businesses
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 8.4 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 8.4 out of 10
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
HCL Connections
HCL Connections
Score 9.0 out of 10
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User Ratings
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Microsoft Teams
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(47 ratings)
7.9
(279 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(2 ratings)
3.8
(9 ratings)
Usability
9.3
(7 ratings)
8.4
(63 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(14 ratings)
8.3
(113 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
6.3
(7 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(7 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Microsoft Teams
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
Cisco Unified Communications Manager is suited for medium to large customers who are in search for a solid call control platform with added security in mind. Cisco Unified Communications Manager also supports receptions, small groups and also a mini contact center type of set up with its Hunt Group, Pick up Group and call queuing facilities and also with set up of music on hold function while calls queuing.
Read full review
Microsoft
Positive: The virtual workspace created for a work team within the same company, for the resemblance of information and communications in one place.Negative: The access for members of a non-profit organization who have external emails from the host but need the same access as an internal person since their volunteer work is part of the very core of the federation.
Read full review
Pros
Cisco
  • This solution is extremely stable and has been running in our environment for several years without (unscheduled) downtime.
  • The ability to have voicemails automatically sent as an email message is extremely helpful in helping us to keep in touch while away from the desk.
  • The Call Manager provides us very granular settings to route our calls as we want.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Virtual meetings - ease of set up and execution
  • File sharing! We build channels for projects, and being able to invite only project members is huge!
  • Peer-to-peer communications - being able to "ping" one of my colleagues, either text, video or call-only, on-demand, is what runs our business.
Read full review
Cons
Cisco
  • Administration web page is little bit hard to understand at the beginning specially if you are not familiar with naming convention and GU Interfaces.
  • Call Detail Record interface is fine but would be desirable to include more options that fit organization needs in terms of reporting purposes.
  • Self Care Portal interface could be more useful to the end user if it includes options to manage some features without administrators involving.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • The feature of notifications in the mobile application could be improved. Sometimes notifications of different teams are not visible and are only visible when the application is opened.
  • It uses lots of computational resources while running and thus, slows down the system sometimes.
  • It allows a few channels per team. The number of channels could be increased for better productivity.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
We have been using this product for 20+ years and will continue too. This is a great product and new features are always coming out.
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft Teams is included with our Office 365 subscription and we have no intention of migrating off of Office 365 and Microsoft products. Since Microsoft Teams is included for free with our Office 365 subscription, and since we enjoy all the features, benefits, and functionality, there is no question that our team will continue to use the product
Read full review
Usability
Cisco
The usability part of Cisco Unified Communications Manager is very much simple from a usability point of view. Day-to-day Move Add Change Delete (MACD) can be performed by the administrators very easily with simple training. From the initial deployment point of view, some of the thing can be improved to simplify the process.
Read full review
Microsoft
User experience has been much better than the previous Skype for Business app. It has an easy-to-use interface with persistent chats. The search feature is very fast and useful. MS Teams has mostly focused on Collaboration and team building features which are very useful for organizational communications. Since Teams is accessible from multiple platforms like Laptop, Desktop, Mobile phones, etc it has been very convenient from a Mobility perspective.
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Reliability and Availability
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Rare, but outages do happen
Read full review
Performance
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Sometimes about once a week I get a message that says "Sorry, there seems to be something wrong". But it goes away in a few minutes.
Read full review
Support Rating
Cisco
CUCM is supported by most third-party vendors for related products, so it makes finding solutions to specific needs easy. Also Cisco TAC is very knowledgeable, and we have never run into a problem they have not been able to resolve. Usually they are resolved without the need to escalate tickers either.
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Microsoft
Using Microsoft Teams has resulted in much faster business communications with both co-workers and consultants. There has been little need for support with this software as the interface is very intuitive and the product is overall very well designed. We did encounter an issue with the built-in phone service, however, this was quickly resolved by the support team.
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Implementation Rating
Cisco
This was the first phone system we implemented that could span multiple locations. We were very satisfied once fully implemented
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Microsoft
I find everything I need for my day-to-day work.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
We have been a Cisco based shop and have looked at other cloud voice options such as MS Teams pbx, and others, but ultimately, the features, endpoints, and reliability of Cisco has been the common factor in staying with them as our voice provider. Their integrations, room systems, and hybrid design allows for us to be flexible and keep a high up time vs reliance on 100% cloud.
Read full review
Microsoft
Our company and IT department previously used Skype for our communication needs. Skype was not dependable in my opinion, because it seems each time I used it during a call and/or a meeting, I and several other team members would get disconnected more than once. This caused a great interruption of our meeting, caused team members to have to ask others to repeat themselves and caused a general lack of interest in employee attendance during meetings.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Honestly, this tool is worth every penny. Yes, it's not free and you pay for the quality of services and the license. But the ROI and the benefits are all there. Also, the renewal, negotiation, and contract terms are all very well explained by our Microsoft account manager, and she's a charm.
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Scalability
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
It does not appear to have a limit to how many teams and employees we can have using it
Read full review
Professional Services
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
I used Skype for Business to take calls, hold conferences, and provide remote assistance to users. Microsoft Teams, on the other hand, is superior to Skype for Business in my opinion. My job entails a lot of screen sharing.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Communication and collaboration - Our offices are able to communicate both internally and externally due to this system.
  • Down time - Struggles with CUCM has caused a lot of down time due to the instability of the system.
  • High Costs - the cost of both the license and the maintenance was much higher than other systems.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • I'm not sure I can point to a specific ROI, but it has improved our ability to communicate and work more effectively together.
  • It's also nice to have records of every interaction, photo, and document that has been shared. Less chance of something completely disappearing.
Read full review
ScreenShots