Beyond expectation
Limited features for business collaboration find it lacking in terms of advanced features.Business depend heavily on communication tools …
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft TeamsFormerly Lync
Overview
What is Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams?
Skype for Business was an online messaging and conferencing tool, now superseded by Microsoft Teams.
Recent Reviews
Awards
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Popular Features
- Desktop sharing (189)8.888%
- High quality audio (188)8.080%
- High quality video (183)7.777%
- Low bandwidth requirements (180)6.666%
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
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What is Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams?
Skype for Business was an online messaging and conferencing tool, now superseded by Microsoft Teams.
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Alternatives Pricing
What is Microsoft Teams?
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.
What is GoTo Connect?
GoToConnect, from GoTo, is a cloud-based business phone system with built-in web-based video conferencing solutions. It includes features such as call analytics, call recording, softphone, fax to email, voicemail to email, and desktop integration.
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Product Details
- About
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams?
Skype for Business was a unified communications tool superseded by Microsoft Teams.
For personal use, Skype Desktop and Mobile apps are still available for download, but for business functionality the vendor now fully supports Microsoft Teams as the replacement for Skype for Business.
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams Technical Details
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
|---|---|
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Skype for Business was an online messaging and conferencing tool, now superseded by Microsoft Teams.
Reviewers rate Live chat highest, with a score of 9.2.
The most common users of Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Reviews
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January 17, 2024
Beyond expectation
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Limited features for business collaboration find it lacking in terms of advanced features.Business depend heavily on communication tools and any technical issues often lead to disruption in productivity targets.Need to follow regulatory compliance before using the product and ensure the procedure needs to follow without breaking any Compliance. Sometimes the usage may also depend on Internet connectivity.
- Communication is free of cost
- File and screen sharing facilities
- Video conferencing
- Skype for business
- Translator
- Security and privacy concerns
- Depends on internet connection
- Lack of advanced features
- Large meeting may sometimes disrupt based on connectivity
- Missing of end to end encryption
December 07, 2022
How could I work without Skype/Microsoft Teams?
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We used to have Skype as the main internal chat tool at the company. I remember liking it since the beginning - it is very easy to use, and I had complete familiarity with my personal account for many, many years. The fact that it is integrated with all the other Microsoft applications makes it very useful; I am always connected to the people in my organization. We use it internally for daily chatting, file exchange, and virtual meetings. The only "problem" I could see is the interface - compared to Microsoft Teams' look and feel, Skype is not really nice (but we could just only notice later!).
- Instantaneous messaging.
- Emojis
- Video calls.
- Activity records.
- Notifications (email and app notifications).
- Customization of user's display (colors, photo, quick links etc).
- Export chat records.
- No video recording expiration.
- Voice -to-text for chat messages.
- Better meeting/call schedule experience.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Skype is an easy to install and reliable to use software to interact with one or a number of users at a time.
- Video calls
- Perfect screen sharing
- HD voice calls
- Less data security.
- Voices can be interrupted easily.
- High internet connection required.
April 28, 2022
Great communication tool overall.
In my role, Skype has been useful for team meetings and gatherings. During the work from home part of my employment, it was a necessary tool, as my role included skype calls in order to help internal employees with general tech issues.
- Easy Communication.
- Simple to use when set up.
- Good user interface.
- Good integration with other Microsoft product like Outlook.
- 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 .
March 07, 2022
The First video conference tool I have ever used
We use Skype for business for almost all business meetings, being an international organization and having to work with colleagues mostly outside of the country skype for business is one of the tools which is part of the startup list in our desktops, workstations, and laptops some of us use it even in our handheld devices. The only feature which was missing in the version which our company was using is the ability to transfer files this is one of the most used tools/software for most of us.
- conference calls
- messaging with notification
- syncing with outlook calendar
- status settings
- organization of contacts
- conversation history
- connection to corporate directory
- organization charts
- file sharing
- task tracking as a group
- multi screen sharing
- Multiple presenters
- connection with other productivity applications
January 10, 2022
"Great Communication Tool At The Click Of A Button."
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Skype for Business is imperative that we use it in our organization during this uncertain time. A good thing about Excel and Outlook is how well they work with each other. During a meeting, switching between mobile and desktop is smooth. At the start of a meeting, useful reminders or notifications are sent. The interface is reminiscent of a sequence of Google Docs and GoToMeeting. I can do so much with this software and with my colleagues. It’s easy to tag people in chats using the Android app, which is user-friendly. Messages can be made “important” to get everyone’s attention. When I left Zoom for Microsoft, security concerns were a major factor in my decision. Connecting to my email provider is convenient, and the software is easy to use.
- Sharing presentations amongst participants and integration with other Microsoft products is a great feature.
- Each team has multiple channels for different topics and excels at graphical input.
- Other apps also help improve workflow, and participants can easily add their content and comment on it.
- More emoticons for messages and faster client upgrades would be nice.
- With low bandwidth internet connections, it appears that platform integration is problematic.
- Automatic transcription of audio and presence sharing between Skype and Microsoft Teams would be nice features.
November 24, 2021
Your familiar Skype, optimized for business users
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
The system is used across our internal organization which has 3 geographically distinct locations in the USA. We frequently use it for conferences with vendors, suppliers, and key opinion leaders. It is intuitive to use, loads easily, and allows one to display presentations, edit same, share other information and see the various members on the 'call'.
- Sharing presentations amongst participants
- Participants can bring in additional materials easily, comment on same
- Very good at graphical input
- To avoid multiple people speaking at once and talking over each other, it would be helpful to have a hand raise function for speakers
- Graphics can sometimes be slow in loading, so a provision for uploading presentations to each of the participants could avoid lags due to slow internet connectivity
July 14, 2021
Great option for Microsoft Office users
We use this tool across the entire organization as it integrates well with other Microsoft products that we use. This integration is great as it allows information (like availability, contact details, etc) to be shared across platforms. One can join a meeting in Teams or chat with someone with just a click rather than going through multiple steps of opening a new app, looking for the person, and then calling/messaging them.
- Integration across other Microsoft products is great feature.
- All communication is well organized within individual Teams and each team can have multiple channels for different topics.
- Integration with third party apps also helps improve workflow.
- Doesn't seem to work well with low bandwidth internet connections.
- Automatic transcription of audio would be a nice feature to have.
- More emoticons to react to messages would be nice.
Skype for Business is the only and primary tool for communication amongst team
members and with the clients. It is used for having quick chats and long meetings.
Sharing the contents while the meeting is going is an effortless and a very useful feature.
So basically it is used for communicating across an organization. Just search a name and you are right away connected to the colleague.
members and with the clients. It is used for having quick chats and long meetings.
Sharing the contents while the meeting is going is an effortless and a very useful feature.
So basically it is used for communicating across an organization. Just search a name and you are right away connected to the colleague.
- Meeting scheduling
- Calendar integration helps in looking at schedules of team members
- Screen sharing, Desktop sharing helps quickly share the work we are working on
- Integration with Other market tools helps SHARE work being done on them
- [I feel it] Must have feature to grab the screen shot and share right away while meeting is in progress
- More stability on low bandwidth connections
- An appstore to connect with market tools such as DevOps etc
June 21, 2021
Title-holding champ has lost its edge
Communication is a hard problem to solve. Everyone communicates, but everyone also does it differently.
We used to utilize Skype for Business (formerly Lync) before making a switch to Microsoft Teams. Skype for Business (formerly Lync) allows teams of people to video conference, chat, and keep in touch. Its methodologies are rapidly becoming out of date as the service declines in users as more and more people make the switch.
- Video conferencing (very few connection problems)
- Chat has historical data
- Signed in users tracking
- Chats are broken into several threads instead of one persistent thread
- Link sharing and document sharing are a major problem
- Groups and collaboration need improvement
June 11, 2021
Skype for Business Review
We are using Skype for Business in our organization for business majorly for secure internet calls. Most of the Professors are doing their research work and for that they have to be in touch with the researchers from around the globe. We are also using it to communicate with our development team who is working on the deployment and regular maintenance of the software we are using on the campus. Accept that during this pandemic time we are using it for interview purpose.
- Safe and secure Internet calls
- It is integrated with office 365
- Mobile UI is relatively simple and easy to use
- File sharing and VOIP requires really good bandwidth
- Definitely needs improvements in conference calls quality
May 19, 2021
Great comms product
Skype for Business (formerly Lync) is currently being used throughout all departments in the entire organization. It is used as the front end communications application, whether it be for internal calls, external calls, message bank, or instant messages. It is also used for video conferencing, which has been especially useful during lockdowns and times that staff have had to work from home.
- Strong VOIP capabilities
- Address book
- Video conferencing
- Obviously relies on an internet connection
- Some settings are not very intuitive when needing to change them
We have a large group, and during the COVID pandemic, Skype for Business has been a great help to connect with all group members. We use Skype for Business for our group meetings and if we are arranging a seminar from our group. We use it to share documents and live chat during work hours as well.
- Great video quality.
- Excellent audio quality.
- Easy to use; great for small file sharing.
- Great chat service during live meeting.
- Large files take a longer time to share.
- Have connection issues in large group meetings.
- Interactive service (emoji, history) needs improvement.
Skype is used to communicate between teams in our organization from last 2 years. There are couples of softwares, which are used by our organization but most of the time we use Skype for chat, video conferencing, screeen sharing etc. We discuss our day working plan, our ideas and which team will work on which project all these discussions are made on Skype.
- Skype uninterrupted live screen sharing
- Skype uninterrupted live video conferencing.
- File sharing on Skype.
- Write messages through voice command.
- Location sharing.
- They should provide Skype light version for computers also.
[Our organization is using Skype for Business (formerly Lync)] for medium to large sized video calls and conferences with some of the manufacturers we represent. The group chat option helps to facilitate a smoother flow of conversation as it enables people to have "side conversations" without disrupting the presentation being put forth to the group as a whole. Very similar in nature to other video conferencing software. Some additional benefits.
- 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
- Intermittently seems to have a lot of trouble maintaining a connection, clarity will suffer due to this
- Security is weak compared to others
- Browser based version is not ideal, can be problematic, especially for those in rural areas
May 05, 2021
Skype for Business - Your Team Connected.
Skype for Business (formerly Lync) was being used on occasion for quick meetings. We enjoyed the easy-to-navigate user interface. If only our wifi was strong at the time of use. If you are looking for a great video conferencing tool that allows you to chat during calls and again the ease of use was a major selling point.
- Group chat during conferences to keep from interrupting the flow of the meeting.
- Ability to use MS Office Applications and collaborate as you move through the meeting when needed. Especially helpful when building manuals.
- Cell phone interface for chat makes it so much easier to have your meeting anywhere you are able to connect to the internet.
- Skype has come a long way and all the improvements make me feel that there isn't a need to use any other program. Unless...almost forgot...if you have really low RAM on your laptop it can cause some programs to slow down. Not a fault of Skype...more an internal tools issue.
May 03, 2021
Skype for Business is riding towards the sunset.
We started using Skype for Business [(formerly Lync)] as a replacement tool for Cisco WebEx, specifically for webinar hosting and customer service assistance. With a company that has four separate business divisions, we hosted webinars quite regularly. With multiple customer service teams, use of the platform for system troubleshooting where our customers could share their screen and show us their issues were quite common as well.
- Conference video calling
- Screen sharing
- Meeting scheduling, especially because of the plugin for Microsoft Outlook
- 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.
We sometimes host conferences or virtual meetings with Skype for Business, though we usually only use it when another org insists. We rely on Zoom more often, due to stronger security features and the sensitive nature of our work, as well as regular Skype when we need to "call" people into meetings. Both versions of Skype are primarily used when we think that the the security trade-offs are worth the ease of adding users without an internet connection or smartphone.
- Easy to add people to a call.
- Easy screen-sharing and other hosting actions.
- Skype in general is probably still the most internationally-known teleconferencing software.
- It has the worst security of any teleconferencing apps we use; a huge problem in our line of work.
- Logging in is always a nightmare for some reason.
- Need totally separate software to use Skype for Business vs regular ol' Skype; you'd think they could just layer them both into one system.
April 25, 2021
A communication app that woks well.
Internal meetings and webinars are hosted by our marketing department using Skype for Business (formerly Lync) conference. This is a wonderful free interchange meet-up, particularly for pandemic days where we won't all be available at the same time. Its sound quality is exceptional, making it suitable for synchronized substance and conversation exchanges on internet services.
- If you need to chat with colleagues easily and conveniently, Skype for Business (formerly Lync) is ideal. The Outlook integration is fantastic.
- Participants can securely be welcome to the meeting by sharing links.
- Collaboration is greatly facilitated by screen sharing and the opportunity to provide meetings.
- The ability to send images, folders, and documents easily.
- It will take some time for the screen to reset. text buffering can be excruciating at time[s].
- It's not easy to share large files.
- When I have several chats open at the time, Skype becomes unresponsive.
April 23, 2021
Skype for Business - easy to use and effective
[Skype for Business (formerly Lync)] is being used in our organization to communicate, share documents, and provide remote support. It helps us stay in contact quickly and makes collaboration a breeze.
- Ease of use to chat
- Sharing files quickly
- Providing remote support
- Occasional connection issues
- Video quality sometimes choppy
- Security issues in the past
April 14, 2021
Skype For Business
We used it for group calls all over the country and (world). We are able to review all HR /Payroll issues that may arise that need a fast resolution
- Able to connect all levels of Management
- we are able to hold "in house " conferences from anywhere
- connection issues is number 1
August 13, 2020
Skype for Business Review
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Skype for Business is the most used tool in communication at my company. We used it for instant messages and calls, but now we are using it more frequently in our meetings that were previously held in person. Currently, we have most people working from home and this requires a higher level of structure to have stable communications, allowing the work to continue to happen in the right way. As I work with civil engineering within a chemical industry, there are many decisions that must be made both technical and safety, which require that many people are involved in monitoring the works.
- Video and voice connections
- Mobile application
- Outlook integration
- Call redirection to cell phones
- The synchronization of the conversation history on mobile and computer
I have been using the Office Professional package in the company since 2012 when I arrived in the company and we used Office 2010 where Lync had a separate installation package compared to the various Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access. Skype for Business is used by the whole company (all branches) and many users have also been enabled to make calls on telephone numbers outside the company itself. Skype for Business solves many communication problems within the company, from knowing whether the person you want to contact is active in his place, rather than out of the office on the move. The functions of messaging, sharing and remote control of the PC, video calls, conferences both audio and audio-video also with interlocutors outside the company, are the main features.
- Immediate check on the status of colleagues (present, available, in a meeting etc ...)
- Ability to call, video call and share one or more screens with the ability to grant control
- It integrates with Outlook to be able to organize meetings with multiple interlocutors
- The granting of the remote connection can be improved, perhaps automatically using the Remote Desktop rather than the implementation made on Skype for business, since they are both Microsoft software.
- Video calls could be improved by being able to select any image quality, in order to limit internet traffic.
- The delegations with which Skype for Business and Outlook interfaces should be improved
January 13, 2020
Skype is the way!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
It's being used by the whole organization to communicate with one another in a very quick and professional manner. Instead of sending an email, we can chat via Skype for Business with that individual and reach them much faster when trying to get a quick answer. This helps solve the communication issues with others.
- Quick.
- Informal.
- Connection issues.
- File sharing could be improved.
October 22, 2019
Skype Business Review
Meetings with colleagues who work remote. Issues only involve those that are not technology proficient.
- User-friendly
- Clear connection
- Dependable
- Skye for dummies (tutorials)
- Recording sessions