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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Fuze

    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Fuze is a cloud-based unified communications platform that includes IP PBX voice service, video conferencing, and collaboration tools such as content sharing and instant messaging capabilities. It also integrates with a wide range of popular CTI, CRM, and click-to-call solutions.

    $15

    per month

    Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)

    Score6.5 out of 10
    N/ASkype for Business was an online messaging and conferencing tool, now superseded by Microsoft Teams.N/A
    Pricing
    FuzeSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    US Outbound
    $0.02
    Per Minute
    Fuze Meetings
    $15
    Per User/Per Month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    FuzeSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    FuzeSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Fuze
    Chose Fuze
    WebEx seems to be a top contender against Fuze, but because it's more meeting based than for just individual calls we decided to disregard it as a solution as a replacement for our traditional phone system. Skype for Business on the other hand is also good and has the features …
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze

    Skype for Business, 8x8, on-prem PBX.

    Fuze has better call and video quality then other UCAS services we have evaluated and is more resilient. No equipment or cap-ex needed vs an on-prem PBX solution, and user provisioning is much easier.

    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    Our company has used three different phone systems during my time. It began with an on-premises system from Interactive Intelligence, Inc. (I3), which is primarily a higher-end call-center product. Due to a business relationship, we were able to utilize what would have been …
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    They all have different usages, Fuze makes it feel like we are using a phone even if we use it from our laptops. We also wanted to have one centralized VOIP system, for example, we have Webex as our meeting system and Slack as our instant messaging system. Definitely much …
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    We liked Fuze the best for its ease of use, but now are looking to move to Teams
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    I listed Skype because Skype has very similar uses like Fuze, copies calling, inter-office chat, video chat, etc. I personally liked Fuze a lot better than Skype. Skype is a bit clunky, I am constantly having audio issues, and when it has been used for video-conferencing …
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    Post deployment we're currently reviewing the other unified communications solutions as Fuze is expensive per user when compared to other options available. Fuze has an advantage due to its PBX capabilities however licensing for non-PBX users is considerably higher then other …
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    For hardware phone replacement, none. It was an HQ decision and we had to work accordingly.
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    I inherited Fuze and am making best efforts to work with it, but it's a challenge. I've used Skype and other unified communication platforms in the past and I've found these more reliable and intuitive.
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    The implementation was much easier and SFB did not have Canadian integration with telco providers at the time we were rolling this out. We were also on-premise SFB which made things more complicated and required much more resources and building out for reliability across all …
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    With Fuze it is actually a cloud based unified communication platform that is designed to empower all business communications. While on the other hand Skype is a software application whose text, voice, and video tools make it simple to communicate with each other. So whenever …
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    Fuze replaced Mitel for our organization. Mitel was costing us quite a bit of money and also needed to purchase physical handsets. Fuze was a lot quicker with setting up a new line. For Mitel, we had to login to an outdated system, had to program specific keys on the …
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    We selected Fuze since they advertised integration with Microsoft Lync which we use within our organization.
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze

    InContact - Cosmocom....IC is top notch, ticket and help is amazing. Fuze has some work to do to be considered on that level.

    Fuze does beat out Cosmocom for sure.

    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    I feel there are a lot of similarities between the two products, like being able to download the app to your phone, making phone calls, and video conferencing. One area I feel fuze stacks up better against something like Skype is the audio quality. The audio quality through …
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    Zoom is probably a more reliable solution for Video Conferencing as the user interface is about as easy to use, but with the added benefit of being able to connect to nearly any type of system from newer Lifesize Icon units, to older Polycom systems, to the ancient SIP systems …
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    We used Skype before and it was fine for VOIP call from laptops only. IM was also fine with this tool but no support for Web or Video conferences.
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    Fuze voice is better amongst all I have used up to now. Video Conferencing is also very good. It has all the options available which are needed for a meeting, chat, recording, sharing etc.
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    Fuze voice was our choice because of the cost. It was much cheaper than most competitors.
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    Our final selection came down to Fuze and RingCentral as the two vendors who met most of our organization's specific requirements. In the final selection it was a combination of Fuze's single user application format and their overall pre-sales handling of our account that won …
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    Fuze provides both PBX and messaging capabilities - cost may not make it ideal for all use cases however it should be considered.
    Incentivized
    Chose Fuze
    Most of the UC platforms are similar in how they work and what they do. Fuze for us came in at a better price point and I was more convinced by the support offered and the deployment options.
    Incentivized
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    77%
    Would buy again
    20 Answers
    80%
    Would buy again
    85 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    77%
    Delivers good value for the price
    17 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    80 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    88%
    Happy with the feature set
    23 Answers
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    98 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    79%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    46 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    67%
    Implementation went as expected
    12 Answers
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    56 Answers
    Features
    FuzeSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Cloud PBX
    Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Fuze and Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Feature
    Fuze
    5.5
    111 Ratings
    36% below category average
    Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Hosted PBX5.178 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)6.073 Ratings00 Ratings
    User templates5.060 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call reports6.192 Ratings00 Ratings
    Directory of employee names5.1107 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call Management
    Comparison of Call Management features of Fuze and Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Feature
    Fuze
    6.5
    107 Ratings
    23% below category average
    Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Answering rules7.099 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call recording6.089 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call park7.073 Ratings00 Ratings
    Message alerts6.193 Ratings00 Ratings
    VoIP system collaboration
    Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Fuze and Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Feature
    Fuze
    7.1
    91 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    7.8
    1 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Video conferencing7.077 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Audio conferencing7.190 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Video screen sharing00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Instant messaging00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Mobile apps
    Comparison of Mobile apps features of Fuze and Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Feature
    Fuze
    8.0
    103 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Mobile app for iOS8.094 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile app for Android8.077 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
    Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Fuze and Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Feature
    Fuze
    -
    Ratings
    Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    8.0
    195 Ratings
    1% above category average
    High quality audio00 Ratings9.1191 Ratings
    High quality video00 Ratings9.0185 Ratings
    Low bandwidth requirements00 Ratings5.0181 Ratings
    Mobile support00 Ratings9.0146 Ratings
    Screen Sharing
    Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Fuze and Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Feature
    Fuze
    -
    Ratings
    Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    7.0
    191 Ratings
    13% below category average
    Desktop sharing00 Ratings9.0191 Ratings
    Whiteboards00 Ratings5.0120 Ratings
    Online Meetings / Events
    Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Fuze and Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Feature
    Fuze
    -
    Ratings
    Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    9.3
    188 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Calendar integration00 Ratings10.0174 Ratings
    Meeting initiation00 Ratings9.5182 Ratings
    Integrates with social media00 Ratings8.182 Ratings
    Record meetings / events00 Ratings9.0143 Ratings
    Slideshows00 Ratings10.0115 Ratings
    Online Events Collaboration
    Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Fuze and Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Feature
    Fuze
    -
    Ratings
    Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    7.5
    173 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Live chat00 Ratings8.5171 Ratings
    Audience polling00 Ratings7.094 Ratings
    Q&A00 Ratings7.094 Ratings
    Online Events Security
    Comparison of Online Events Security features of Fuze and Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Feature
    Fuze
    -
    Ratings
    Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    6.8
    156 Ratings
    17% below category average
    User authentication00 Ratings9.0142 Ratings
    Participant roles & permissions00 Ratings8.5148 Ratings
    Confidential attendee list00 Ratings3.0109 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    FuzeSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    CallFire
    Score9.7 out of 10
    ClickMeeting
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Nextiva
    Score8.4 out of 10
    JioMeet
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Webex Meetings
    Score8.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    FuzeSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (116 ratings)
    8.4
    (198 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.7
    (20 ratings)
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    7.1
    (12 ratings)
    9.0
    (14 ratings)
    Availability
    8.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.4
    (88 ratings)
    8.5
    (40 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (111 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.7
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.8
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.6
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    FuzeSkype for Business / Lync (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Fuze
    Fuze has way more capability than we need for our small office so it might be best suited for large installations, call centers, and complex environments. Our office is small and our needs [are] minimal, so when we need support we are challenged to understand the support person due to our lack of technical sophistication. We sometimes feel like we should switch to a solution more geared for consumers or SOHO. Nevertheless, Fuze provides reliable service at [a] reasonable cost that meets our needs, and because support is rarely needed we are happy with them most of the time, i.e. when support isn't needed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams is a remote/virtual team collaboration tool must have...especially if you already use Microsoft tools. Of course, since it now part of an MS 365 subscription, it really doesn't make sense to use anything else. It is easy to use and just works. I'm not sure how anyone who works with digital files/documents and needs to work with other people doing similar work can be effective without such a tool. Of course, there are a number of alternatives like Zoom or Webex, but why pay or use another separate tool if you don't need to. :-)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Fuze
    • Support Team - the best I have ever worked with. They help 24/7 on any issue I could come across. Usually it is an item I could fix myself and they fix it and show me how to fix the same issue if I have it in the future.
    • Contact Center - We do Commercial Collections involving Sales and Collections. We have 50 people on the phone at one time. Contact Center lets a Manager listen live and gives help if the rep needs help selling or collecting.
    • Pandemic 2020 - without Fuze we would have been unable to work for 3 months. They saved our "rears" since we already had all their services up and running for years.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Instant messaging to anyone who we know only by name/email. Even if they're offline, they get the message in missed convos and a notification automatically goes to them via Outlook mail. All conversations are saved and accessible via Outlook.
    • Video and voice calls are a norm in the WFH scenario, and an average employee has around 4-5 calls a day. Skype gives notifications for upcoming meetings, allows easy scheduling via outlook calendar, and its audio/video quality [is] reasonably good compared to the amount of data it consumes.
    • Status availabilities - in the WFH scenario, you could be off for lunch, out of office, busy, sharing screens - and might not want to be disturbed. Skype allows you to do that, and in case you're off, ensures that you know that you have missed messages.
    • Screen sharing - we have to share screens at least once or twice a day with a coworker when working on some issues/features, and Skype easily lets us do that. One of the best things about Skype is that the screen can be shared without being on a video/voice call - which is of immense advantage because oftentimes, you could prefer sharing the screen, while it [is] too noisy to talk.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Fuze
    • Desktop application stability and compatibility with certain hardware.
    • Better installation - Per-user and per-computer installs sometimes compete with one another and/or upgrades fail to install.
    • [The] desktop app is not best for touchscreen-enabled devices due to lack of ability to scroll through messages using a finger or stylus.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Connection issues can be hard to diagnose when they come up(as some knowledge of server information may be needed to reestablish as the connection troubleshooting options on the sky are not as user-friendly as the rest of the platform.
    • Some issues setting up camera/sound could use more info on troubleshooting options with playback sound, video, etc.
    • Statuses sometimes are unreliable and do not display correctly .
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Fuze
    Fuze is a solid application that is a great asset to the business for our sales staff to make daily calls to clients and candidates. Managers can monitor call data and times to keep up to date with team performance, as well as monitor calls for users on their team. The Fuze/MS Teams integration is an exciting prospect that would be very beneficial to us as a business, for seamless integration between the 2 platforms.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Fuze
    Fuze was built with the end-user in mind. It was built to have a common interface on mobile and desktop. Fuze Web is new, and it also has the exact same interface as the desktop and mobile, and they are still working on the ability to make phone calls from the browser itself, currently it can do meetings just fine. Everything about Fuze was built with the end-user in mind.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Very easy to use. Even though Microsoft Teams has a lot of features and integrations, as a user I feel completely comfortable on finding what I need, getting information about the app extensions and using them. It's a very comprehensive tool, intuitive design and does not make me feel tired to be using it. I am glad with the current experience.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Fuze
    We've had a few outages over the past year. More than other vendors I've used. They usually have outages fixed within an hour. The downside is they do not provide root cause of outages. If they do at takes them at least a month to get it to you
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Fuze
    Since Fuze runs across multiple devices and platforms they really strived to make a lightweight interface that is optimized for phone calls, chat, and collaboration. The web client loads fast, the chat is always up-to-date, phone calls arrive on-time. The desktop client is the most feature rich and basically it just adds desktop sharing functionality as well as VoIP for calling, and the mobile client doesn't consume a lot of battery, and it stays running to get phone calls, chats, and can do meetings over Wifi, Cellular Data, or Cellular voice.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Fuze
    Our experience with Fuze support has been overall very positive. Their technicians seem to be well trained and able to handle a variety of requests and issues without unnecessary delays or extensive troubleshooting. Fuze allows enough customer access to avoid the need to call support for every little issue but is ready to assist when issues are beyond our capabilities to resolve.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    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.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Fuze
    At many of our sites with more than 50 users, Fuze sent someone onsite to train. This worked surprisingly well, as the trainer allowed the users to set the pace and answered TONS of questions. Fuze has a very streamlined training process, their staff is very professional, very knowledgeable and very engaging.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Fuze
    Fuze has vast amounts of training videos and guides on how to use its products and services. There are literally endless-hours of training and I often point end-users to a particular video which addresses the specific needs of the user, for example: how to check voicemail. Or, how to share your desktop, etc.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Fuze
    Personally, I didn't have any trouble getting started with Fuze. It was installed on my computer on my first day and I was good to go! Little to no hiccups. I was not with the company when they first adapted Fuze so I can not speak to the implementation as a whole.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Fuze
    Fuze was far more expensive and more complicated to set up. Our current platform took a few days to set up with SSO. Our contact center took a bit longer but works amazingly.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    For the below reason I will always choose this app over its competitors: Better audio and video quality, Little to no disconnections or freezing when on a call/video conference Integrates well with mailbox/ calendar/ one drive, and SharePoint is easy to use
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    Scalability
    Fuze
    Fuze does have scalability limits but most of that is how many end-points they can put on a virtual PBX, or VCX as they call them, I THINK its limit is somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000, but we've not had issues with that because we have put users into various VCXs some by location, some by department or function. Either way, we have 7,000 currently deployed, and are going to end up with over 15,000 when we are done, Fuze is VERY scalable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Fuze
    • We receive constant negative feedback from mangers about the system not functioning correctly. (This is mainly due to lack of support from Fuze)
    • This has had a positive impact in that the system is cheaper and we are missing less calls due to the functionality of the system.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Skype for Business has enabled a migration in part away from fixed line telephony and introduced the user to mobile working with a headset which cannot be overstated as being a game changer.
    • Being able to schedule Skype for Business meetings through Outlook has meant meetings with colleagues without a meeting room has been a great enabler.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots