Item: Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Rating: 6
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Skype for Business is used across the organisation for VOIP telephony, instant messaging, screen sharing and video. As a collaboration tool it has been used for meetings, one to one calls and quick messaging.

Pros and Cons

Instant messaging is clear, quick, and easy to use.
Internal telephony call quality on Skype for Business is generally quite good.
Screen sharing is easy to do including selecting specific monitors if you happen to be using more than one.

Probably the biggest area is the video element as it has historically struggled in this area.
The need to be forced to federate with another organisation by providing yours and enabling the other organisation settings is a bit tedious but once done, allows for simple collaboration between third-parties.
Functionality wise, as it's an older product and being superseded by MS Teams, it feels as if it's run its course but was very good for what it does/did at the time.

Return on Investment

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.

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Teams and Zoom

Skype for Business is effectively being phased out by MS Teams which is a natural evolution of the same but to compare against Zoom I would say that the VIDEO first element in Zoom is vastly superior and hence why Microsoft had to set a timescale for phasing out Skype for Business. For now we are still running Skype for Business until fully migrated to Teams, but it's been an excellent platform in the lead up to that.

Key Insights

Do you think Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams's feature set?

Yes

Did Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Zoom Phone, Zoom Video Webinar

Likelihood to Recommend

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.

Skype for Business - a great collaboration tool for its time.

Overall Satisfaction with Skype for Business (formerly Lync)