SKYPE VS SKYPE FOR BUSINESS FEATURES FOR MAC
SKYPE VS SKYPE FOR BUSINESS FEATURES FULL
SKYPE VS SKYPE FOR BUSINESS FEATURES ANDROID
SKYPE VS SKYPE FOR BUSINESS FEATURES LICENSE
SKYPE VS SKYPE FOR BUSINESS FEATURES DOWNLOAD

The two products also run on different servers to each other, as demonstrated by a 15 hour Skype outage in September 2015 that failed to impact business users. While Skype offers a reliable service, it lacks this type of ironclad commitment.

SKYPE VS SKYPE FOR BUSINESS FEATURES LICENSE

Skype for Business also has a financially-backed service license agreement, which guarantees 99.9 per cent uptime for customers. Calls and meetings can be launched in seconds from within the Office applications, OneNote can be used for sharing screens and notes within calls, and Skype for Business will link with Outlook to set up meetings in advance. They’ve been beefed up and tweaked for enterprise use, but the core functionality remains largely unchanged.Īs part of Microsoft’s stable of core products, the company is also heavily pushing Skype for Business’ integrations with the rest of the Office portfolio. Naturally, Skype for Business is sporting all of regular Skype’s features, including instant messaging, high-definition voice and video calls, and file transfer capabilities. As it's designed for organisations, it supports conferences of up to 250 people and if you need to go one step further, you can use it to broadcast to up to 10,000 people online. The original version of Skype only supports up to 20 users at one time, making it a pretty useless app if you want to have a companywide conversation.Īlthough you'll find it good enough for teams, you'll probably want to seriously consider Skype for Business if you need to put your whole business in touch. Where the two versions do differ quite substantially is the number of users supported.

SKYPE VS SKYPE FOR BUSINESS FEATURES FOR MAC

The Skype for Business application for Mac was released in June this year, so although it was rather late to the party compared to the original Skype application, which was available almost instantly on Mac computers, at least it's pretty much available across the board now.

SKYPE VS SKYPE FOR BUSINESS FEATURES ANDROID

Although an iOS and Android app is available for iPhone and iOS users, it isn't a fully-fledged version like its retro counterpart, but takes away some features such as viewing shared PowerPoint slides. However, Skype for Business doesn't have that same history and as a result, users may be a little disappointed that it's only available on Windows-based mobile and desktops. IT works fantastically well on each and every platform and that's thanks to its heritage as one of the world's most used free VoIP apps. Platform compatibility and maximum number of usersĬonsidering Skype has been around for so long in its standard iteration, it's not surprising it's available on pretty much every platform under the sun - including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and even in-browser. It’s also included in ProPlus and Enterprise tier subscriptions. However, while these standalone plans are available, anyone with a subscription to Office 365’s Business Essentials or Business Premium plans has access to Skype for Business as part of their package, free of charge. There are also a few additional features available to businesses running the server-based version of Skype for Business, such as interoperability with other video teleconferencing systems and persistent chat.

SKYPE VS SKYPE FOR BUSINESS FEATURES FULL

If users want the full range of features available from Skype for Business, they’ll have to opt for the more expensive plan, which clocks in at £3.40 per user per month – once again, charged annually. This basic package nets customers basic Skype for Business functionality but does not include some of the more impressive extras like desktop sharing and the ability to record meetings. Standalone Skype for Business plans are available from £1.30 per user, per month, based on an annual commitment. These plans range from 400 minutes from £3.59 per month, unlimited UK minutes for £4.79 per month, unlimited calls to the UK, Ireland, Canada and the US for £5.99 per month, or unlimited worldwide calls for £10.19 per month. For actual phone calls, users must pay connection fees, either on a pay-as-you-go basis or via a monthly subscription. The only thing that does cost money is making phone calls to non-Skype numbers, such as mobiles and landlines.

SKYPE VS SKYPE FOR BUSINESS FEATURES DOWNLOAD

Anyone can download Skype and use it for instant messaging, video calls and VoIP services free of charge. The primary advantage Skype has over Skype for Business is obviously the fact that it’s free. After purchasing Skype in 2011, Microsoft rebranded its business telephony package Lync as ‘Skype for Business’, promising enterprise-grade communications solutions as part of the Office 365 package.īut is Skype for Business really good enough to de-throne its more popular older brother? We put the two services head to head to find out. Skype has by now gained ubiquity as perhaps the best-known VoIP and video calling service.

Skype vs skype for business features