HCL Sametime vs Skype for Business comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between HCL Sametime and Skype for Business based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Zoom Video Communications, Cisco, TeamViewer and others in Virtual Meetings.
To learn more, read our detailed Virtual Meetings Report (Updated: March 2024).
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Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"I can view the status and availability of colleagues or team members, which makes it easy to approach them when they are available."

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"The solution’s video quality is fine.""The solution is scalable and is capable of working on every appliance on every operating system.""A good option for virtual meetings.""The most valuable features are the history tracking which allows us to see who participated and who didn't in the meetings as well as the integration with Outlook.""You can do meetings of up to two hundred people in a single conversation.""What is most valuable about Skype for Business is that almost everyone knows about it and almost everyone has it. You will be able to reach a large number of people.""One of the best features of Skype for Business is that you can set it up on mobile phones, and you can set it up on laptops. You can connect to the tool from anywhere.""The product's initial setup phase is very easy."

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Cons
"The webinar should be integrated into Sametime for a larger number of participants."

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"The solution isn't connected to Microsoft Teams, and I feel like there is better communication on that particular solution. The group capabilities are a bit less than Teams.""Skype for Business could improve the interface. It could be easier to use. Additionally, it's hard to find the people or add people you want to communicate with.""The integration with Outlook could be improved.""The tool needs to have a dynamic file updating feature, so people you share a file with could update the file dynamically, all at once, all at the same time.""Sometimes Skype is slow, and we cannot use other elements of our devices while using the Skype solution.""I feel that the whole look and feel of Skype should be improved, including its user-friendliness. It should also improve its scalability.""I feel bored with the look and feel of the tool, so it should be changed.""We are looking for a more collaborative tool, not only in terms of virtual meetings but also for teams to collaborate, share a document, work together, and all those types of things."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
Information Not Available
  • "We have been able to save money by moving our conferencing solution to Skype for Business Conferencing."
  • "We negotiated a fair price with Microsoft. It is definitely worthwhile to negotiate with them for the best price for your solution."
  • "The pricing is really good. It is quite affordable because it came with our Office 365. It is on a per-user license, which is nice. I quite like that they have made it very granular with all of their licensing."
  • "It may be considered costly for certain markets, such as in India."
  • "It may be slightly costly, but the features are awesome."
  • "To realize value from the purchase of Skype Business, you need to take advantage of all the important functions of the program."
  • "The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."
  • "We purchased an open license."
  • More Skype for Business Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
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    Top Answer:Desktop sharing is a valuable feature.
    Top Answer:When it comes to the pricing of the solution, I rate it as a five out of ten. It falls somewhere in the middle between being cheap and expensive.
    Top Answer:The video conferencing quality can be improved. The video conferencing quality can be temperamental with internet access and bandwidth availability for a geographically dispersed team environment.
    Ranking
    26th
    out of 62 in Virtual Meetings
    Views
    158
    Comparisons
    108
    Reviews
    0
    Average Words per Review
    0
    Rating
    N/A
    4th
    out of 62 in Virtual Meetings
    Views
    2,952
    Comparisons
    1,128
    Reviews
    22
    Average Words per Review
    340
    Rating
    7.6
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Lotus Sametime, IBM Lotus Sametime
    Skype for Business Plan 1, Skype for Business Plan 2, Lync Server
    Learn More
    Overview

    HCL Sametime. Secure Conversations Across Any Device ​

    Your company can’t afford to take any data risks, but your teams still need to be able to interact and react quickly, wherever they are working. Sametime offers modern instant messaging, file-sharing, and online meetings with the proven security your business can trust.

    Skype for Business offers features including presence, IM, voice and video calls, online meetings, conferencing, and telephony solutions that support enterprise-level collaboration requirements. Skype for Business Record meetings, share your screen, and annotate PowerPoint for real-time collaboration with up to 250 people and use whiteboard, polls, Q&A, and built-in IM during your business meetings to make them more productive. Skype for Business provides new client experience, Skype for Business Server provides several new features to improve manageability of on-premises servers and hybrid solutions. Skype for Business also supports the Lync client experience so that you can choose a phased upgrade approach to the new client experience for users. Skype for Business is also an integral part of Microsoft Office 365, providing PSTN Conferencing, Cloud PBX, PSTN Calling, and Skype Meeting Broadcast capabilities to Office 365 users.
    Sample Customers
    Connect2Cloud, Superior Group, Daifuku Co. Ltd., Seaward, The City of Fort Worth, Christian Brothers Services, Berlitz, Deutsche Notes User Group, Danske Fysioterapeuter, Slumberland, La Vacanza, Rheinmetall AG
    EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.
    Top Industries
    No Data Available
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company25%
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    University8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization87%
    Computer Software Company2%
    Government2%
    Financial Services Firm2%
    Company Size
    No Data Available
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise27%
    Large Enterprise46%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business4%
    Midsize Enterprise89%
    Large Enterprise8%
    Buyer's Guide
    Virtual Meetings
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Zoom Video Communications, Cisco, TeamViewer and others in Virtual Meetings. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    HCL Sametime is ranked 26th in Virtual Meetings while Skype for Business is ranked 4th in Virtual Meetings with 59 reviews. HCL Sametime is rated 8.0, while Skype for Business is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of HCL Sametime writes "Easily communicate and share files with colleagues". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Skype for Business writes "Reliable, useful for remote work, and great but isn't as robust as Microsoft Teams". HCL Sametime is most compared with Zoom, whereas Skype for Business is most compared with Webex, Zoom, TeamViewer, Cisco Meeting Server and GoToMeeting.

    See our list of best Virtual Meetings vendors.

    We monitor all Virtual Meetings reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.