Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)

Score8.6 out of 10

2,583 Reviews and Ratings

What is Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)?

Skype for Business was an online messaging and conferencing tool, now superseded by Microsoft Teams.

Categories & Use Cases

Calendar integration
Scheduling capabilities integrate with users’ Calendars.
Category average: 8.4
Slideshows
Presenters can present slideshows during the meeting within the web conferencing platform.
Category average: 8.3
Meeting initiation
Meetings can be easily initiated, whether they are scheduled or on the fly.
Category average: 8.3

Low bandwidth requirements
Software is optimized so that meetings do not require a huge amount of bandwidth.
Category average: 7.4
Whiteboards
Presenters or attendees can share notes or annotations they’ve made on a whiteboard/meeting space within the web conferencing UI.
Category average: 7.7
Confidential attendee list
Presenters, moderators, or admins can see a confidential list of attendees that is not visible to all attendees.
Category average: 8

Austin Lin View profile

IT Operations Lead in Corporate at Providence Technology Group, Inc. (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our team currently works remotely with no physical office. In order to collaborate effectively we needed a solution that allows us to meet virtually and share information (files, documents) in real-time. Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams provides this solution perfectly...especially because we were already using Microsoft Office/Microsoft 365 tools.

Pros

Planned and impromptu virtual meetings that require sharing of "visual" information with other team members. Check in and project meetings using Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams are easy to schedule and execute.
Interactive collaboration and communication with remote team members. When you need to interact collaboratively with one or more person, Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams is arguably just as good as meeting in person...whether you use Video and Audio or just Audio. Also integrated chat which can be both active and passive works great. Modern communication for the modern world.
Integration with Microsoft 365 documentation related tools. It is easy to organize, manage, and share documents from the Microsoft suite of tools such as PPTs, XLSs, DOCs, etc.
Integration with Outlook (which is technically part of MS 365) is excellent. Email is not dead just yet so having a tool like Microsoft Teams that makes email even more useful and productive is great. Scheduling and managing meetings and activities and email threads are easy with Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams.

Cons

There is something about Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams' overall layout that seems kind of clunky/old school...like it could use a UI makeover
This might be a non-issue moving forward, but the integration process from Legacy to Go Forward applications was a bit painful and disjointed. Normally, there is one go forward tool and you migrate to it from the legacy tool and then that go forward tool just releases new updates vs going from Skype for Business to Teams (Classic) to Teams (New).
The control bars sometimes seem to have issues. For example, the share control bar/button seems to get in the way of the browser tabs when sharing so you have to minimize or resize the whole browser page and move it away from the Share button to be able to get to the browser tab that the Share button covers. And then the small floating control bar to see who is talking and houses the quick access mute control button sometimes disappears (or gets buried) from the top shared screen and is hard to get back to easily get on and off mute.

Return on Investment

Increased efficiency
Increased collaboration
Increased productivity

Alternatives Considered

Webex App and Zoom Rooms

Other Software Used

Nitro Productivity Suite, Brightmove, Mailchimp, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft Planner, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Dropbox Business, Bitwarden

Evelyn Chapman

Administrative Assistant in Customer Service at Ardurra (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

There are no problems so far. This software comes in handy when other organizations request to be used for meetings and they don't have other software's we use in the office. This software is easy to use and quick to learn. I would recommend this software to friends and family.

Pros

The app lets you add up to 250 people to online meetings which is a great idea.
The app also provides enterprise grade security, which is great feature.
The app is integrated into your Office apps. Great idea!

Cons

It would be nice to see that we can invite outside of the company. There might be invitation issues with Skype for Business.
When someone is using a messaging platform, the messages need to be stored. In Skype for Business, the message will not be seen later on if you're not online. It isn't useful, that's my opinion.
The app does not allow to give online lectures as Zoom and Microsoft allows this. It would be nice to have this capability.

Return on Investment

Sorry, this would be an accounting question.

Khairul Islam Tonmoy View profile

Software Developer in Product Management at STAR TECH IT solution Ltd (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Skype for Business as one of the best ways to connect. We can use it anywhere, boosting communication. It is excellent for chats, calls, and videoconferencing, but I can also remotely access other users' desktops to help them as if I were there. The adaptability of the meetings held by our organization has vastly improved as a direct result of this development. We can use it on our laptops or desktop computer and phone. Skype for Business's ability to be set up on mobile devices and laptops is one of its most appealing features. As far as tools go, Skype for Business is right up there.

Pros

Easy group formation.
Office 365-compatible.
Interviews are easy to start.
Remote screen-sharing is easy.
Excellent sound quality and user-friendly.
Cross-platform synchronization is possible.

Cons

Sometimes login takes too long.
Video calls need more bandwidth.
Screen sharing is causing the host trouble.

Return on Investment

It's a longtime video conferencing staple. The user interface is uncomplicated, and the voice quality is excellent.
It's the best tool for team-to-team chats and calls. We can share our screen to discuss issues or show them to remote users.

Alternatives Considered

Webex Meetings

Other Software Used

Zoom, Atlassian Confluence, Cisco Jabber, Microsoft Teams

Pavel Khan Opu View profile

Software Developer in Information Technology at Asian Information Technology Ltd. (AITL) (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Skype for Business has become our organization's de facto standard for internal communication across our departments. It lets us share screens, make voice and video calls, and update office status. It has screen-sharing, file transfer, video calling, and group calling, we use Office 365, and Outlook handles email and calendars. I appreciate how the uncluttered dialer and lightning-fast contact recognition are consistent across all of our devices and how easy it is to navigate. Its unique emojis are instantly recognizable and memorable and have many more characters. This program's features—including texting, calling, and integrating with international and local lines—make it worthwhile for professionals without overwhelming them.

Pros

It is an installation-friendly, scalable communication tool.
It enables more accessible internal communication, safe content sharing, and collaboration.
Very interactive, with a wide range of functions, including informal workplace instant messaging.
The intuitiveness with which one can interact with the software has fantastic UI and video call quality.

Cons

It cannot communicate with an offline user, and sometimes, calling lags.
It is necessary to make improvements to the group functionality.
The chat history is erased upon closing the chat window; it's less functional than Zoom.

Return on Investment

It enables my team to easily message one another and communicate in real-time, even though we are not physically located in the same office space.
It provides a global platform for communication that projects, organizations, groups, etc., can use to share insights individually or in groups.
It allows internal calls and messages, whether those calls are made using a centralized phone system, a local line, an international line, or a combination of the three.

Alternatives Considered

Slack and Zoom

Other Software Used

Microsoft Teams, Webex App, Cradlepoint NetCloud Engine, Zscaler Private Access, ActiveCampaign

Jian Groenewald View profile

Provisioning Administrator at Cloud Direct (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Skype as part of Microsoft teams, business issues that this addresses since covid began it has been the new "meeting" standard and is used on a daily basis to connect with colleagues and clients.

Pros

Video playback is excellent.
No robotic voices or disconnects with sound.
Ease of use.

Cons

Would like to see more gifs added as well as improved emojis.
A place in which you could save templates within the app for ease of access.
Voice note functionality for PC and not just mobile.

Return on Investment

Positive - Easy to use, great audio and video quality.
Negative - Hard to connect to a mobile phone if you do not use a mobile phone with google suites (eg: Hauwei P40 Lite)

Alternatives Considered

Zoom

Other Software Used

Zoom, Cisco Jabber, Slack

Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)

What is Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)?

Categories & Use Cases