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Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board vs. Skype (discontinued)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board

    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Social Squared is a SharePoint Discussion Board App that can be deployed across SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams. Social Squared improves productivity and efficiency by providing structured discussion forums for employee and student discussions. For Microsoft SharePoint Social Squared is a SharePoint discussion board application where users can post questions within relevant forums and receive answers to their questions from subject matter experts. The…

    $2,200

    per year per installation

    Skype (discontinued)

    Score7.1 out of 10
    N/ASkype (the personal edition or Skype free) was a web meeting, video conferencing, and VoIP software, now superseded by Microsoft Teams' free edition and unsupported from May 2025.

    $2.99

    per month

    Pricing
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardSkype (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    Social Squared Discussion Board
    From $2200
    per year per installation
    Social Squared Discussion Board Enterprise Edition
    POA
    per year per installation
    United States Subscription
    $2.99
    per month
    North America Subscription
    $6.99
    per month
    India Subscription
    $7.99
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardSkype (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsPrices stated are minimum per installation for "stock" products. $2.20 per user/year on top of base price. Enterprise editions can be amended to suit business needs if deemed necessary, additional costs incurred and TBD. All packages include free technical support. Free upgrades available to latest versions of tool as they are released.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardSkype (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Lightning Tools
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    86%
    Would buy again
    85 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    80 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    85%
    Happy with the feature set
    84 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    84%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    53 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    70 Answers
    Features
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardSkype (discontinued)
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    17% above category average
    Skype (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Mobile Access9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
    Search9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Skype (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Chat9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
    Notifications9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
    Discussions9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Skype (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Versioning9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
    Video files9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audio files9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
    Document collaboration9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access control9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
    Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.2
    138 Ratings
    24% below category average
    High quality audio00 Ratings6.5135 Ratings
    High quality video00 Ratings7.2133 Ratings
    Low bandwidth requirements00 Ratings5.5130 Ratings
    Mobile support00 Ratings5.5118 Ratings
    Screen Sharing
    Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.2
    119 Ratings
    25% below category average
    Desktop sharing00 Ratings5.5118 Ratings
    Whiteboards00 Ratings6.860 Ratings
    Online Meetings / Events
    Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.0
    118 Ratings
    31% below category average
    Calendar integration00 Ratings6.185 Ratings
    Meeting initiation00 Ratings6.3106 Ratings
    Integrates with social media00 Ratings4.465 Ratings
    Record meetings / events00 Ratings7.077 Ratings
    Slideshows00 Ratings6.268 Ratings
    Online Events Collaboration
    Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    5.3
    111 Ratings
    42% below category average
    Live chat00 Ratings5.4110 Ratings
    Audience polling00 Ratings5.364 Ratings
    Q&A00 Ratings5.362 Ratings
    Online Events Security
    Comparison of Online Events Security features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    7.4
    101 Ratings
    9% below category average
    User authentication00 Ratings8.988 Ratings
    Participant roles & permissions00 Ratings7.183 Ratings
    Confidential attendee list00 Ratings6.260 Ratings
    VoIP system collaboration
    Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.5
    4 Ratings
    12% below category average
    Video conferencing00 Ratings5.64 Ratings
    Audio conferencing00 Ratings6.54 Ratings
    Video screen sharing00 Ratings6.14 Ratings
    Instant messaging00 Ratings7.94 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardSkype (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    ClickMeeting
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    JioMeet
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    Webex Meetings
    Score8.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardSkype (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    9.3
    (140 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    6.0
    (4 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (42 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardSkype (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Lightning Tools
    Their customer service it top notch and always responsive. I struggled in the beginning a little bit because I'm not tech savvy and we had to add it to our SharePoint site but they helped me along the way and even had share screen meetings with me to assist!!
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Having interacted with a new replacement tool, Microsoft Teams, it is challenging to recommend Skype, as it lacks some essential features, such as being less equipped with the latest updates, and it is not platform-independent, causing issues on PCs and phones, as well as during calls that might hinder work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Lightning Tools
    • Organizing Data
    • Opens up discussion, whether publicly or anonymously
    • Easy to setup
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • 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
    Read full review
    Cons
    Lightning Tools
    • I would love to be able to assign various people as administrators of different topics (this may be an option now but a couple years ago it wasn't)
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Skype is a RESOURCE hog. People who have limited bandwidth will have poor call quality.
    • It is hard to figure out how to use emojis and upload images in the chat.
    • The background images do not fool anybody....it is clearly not your real background.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    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.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Lightning Tools
    Our employees really like the fact that they can find things easily with the search feature and add questions and comments as they see fit.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    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
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    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
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    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
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    We use Skype in combination with Grasshopper. While Grasshopper acts as a routing toll free number with extensions, if we are making calls directly, we do it through Skype. Skype's desktop and mobile apps are easier to use, and provide unlimited local calls at a flat, affordable rate. Allowing our team to use their existing mobile or desktop devices without additional hardware for business office phone calls is important, and Skype makes that possible
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Professional Services
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    The service provided is up to date, as discussed before buying.
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Lightning Tools
    • We signed up for a 3 year contract and hope to do another 3yr contract when this one is up. :)
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Skype made keeping in touch with an advisor in Mexico very easy. The initiative there resulted in 5 new partnerships.
    • Skype has helped me with account management for at least 3 customers in LATAM--usually it's a fast way to answer a question about a support renewal.
    • For about 9 months Skype helped me stay in touch with a colleague in Prague. We would meet once a week to go over sales activities.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board Screenshots

    Screenshot of MODERN, RESPONSIVE SHAREPOINT DISCUSSION BOARD
Discussion Forums can be created for a variety of different reasons. This example is a Forum Group for the Microsoft 365 technologies such as Teams, Planner, and SharePoint. Forums are then created within the Forum Groups for more specific discussions. Under the SharePoint Forum Group, there is a Forum for SharePoint On-Premises and SharePoint Online. Anyone looking to ask a question regarding SharePoint 2019 for example would be able to post their question under SharePoint On-Premises rather than SharePoint Online. This also allows subject matter experts to focus more on the questions that they can respond to and provide value.Screenshot of SHAREPOINT DISCUSS BOARD – TOPICS VIEW
When navigating into a forum, the topics and discussions that are taking place are shown. Any new topics that not yet read will be highlighted. It also displays whether topics have been answered, their average ratings, how many views and posts are within the topic, and also provides the ability to subscribe to the forum to be notified of new posts within it.Screenshot of READING DISCUSSIONS AND PROVIDING FEEDBACK
Social Squared offers a threaded discussion view with the ability to provide feedback to other users.

Posts can be rated, voted upon, or liked by users in order to give feedback to the user creating or responding to a post. Additionally, replies can be marked as answered or marked as featured, which gives readers of forums assurance that the response they are reading is validated to be the correct answer.

Users also receive feedback through the earning of badges. The more users post or mark posts as answered, the more points are rewarded. This makes it easy to spot subject matter experts.Screenshot of SUGGESTED TAGS
Social Squared provides a rich text editor for creating and replying to topics. The Rich Text toolbar provides functionality such as inserting images, YouTube videos, Stream Videos, Formatted Code Inserts, as well as font formatting.

While typing, suggestions on how to tag a post appear. Selecting an existing tag will provide consistency in the tags used making it easier for other users to discover the post.Screenshot of SOCIAL SQUARED TAG CLOUD VIEW
The Social Squared Tag Cloud view makes it easy to navigate to posts within a specific category even if they span multiple forums. The more a tag appears in different posts, the more prominent it will be in the tag cloud. Users can navigate to posts with the tag in one click.Screenshot of DISCUSSION BOARD WITHIN MICROSOFT TEAMS TAB
Social Squared is a Discussion Board App for Microsoft Teams Tab’s and Microsoft Teams Personal Apps. Social Squared provides information workers the ability to post questions within relevant forums, and receive answers from their team. The Discussion Board layout for posts makes it easier to find answers to questions that may have already been asked before. Through features such as “Mark as Answered”, “Forum Moderation”, “Post Rating”, “Post Likes”, “Post Voting”, users will be assured that the answers they are reading are validated.