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Skype vs. Skype for Business: Who can stick with the free app, who needs to upgrade

Now there are two Skypes for online videoconferencing: the free, consumer version most of us know, and  Skype for Business . This rebranded, redesigned Microsoft Lync takes the look and feel of the consumer Skype we all know and applies it to the enterprise. 

Contact management in Skype for Business, as with the standard Skype client, puts status and availability information right at your fingertips.

Even though the two applications often appear virtually identical now, they are different—and not just because Skype for Business, like Lync before it, costs money. Skype for Business offers capacity and productivity advantages geared for businesses that are big—or that want to look big. For a business with any of the following needs, graduating from free Skype to Skype for Business provides a worthwhile return on investment.

1. You want to have very large meetings

The standard Skype client is currently limited to 25 people on a conference call at once. Skype for Business raises this limit to 250, making it much more suitable for large-scale presentations like all-hands meetings or live webinars. Participants in either Skype or Skype for Business meetings need not be using a Skype client to join the meeting–both services support calls from landlines and standard mobile phones–but extra fees still apply for dial-in users.

2. You want to integrate easily with Office apps

One big draw of Skype for Business is how it’s being integrated into Office 365. Essentially this means you’ll be able to use Outlook directly with Skype for Business’s IM, voice, and video features, clicking directly on a contact to initiate a conversation with them or schedule a meeting for later. Outlook will also archive your Skype for Business meeting history with each contact. Other Office 365 apps get in on the action, too. Want to collaborate on a PowerPoint presentation or Excel spreadsheet on the fly? You’ll be able to initiate a conference and share your screen without having to leave the program.

3. Security and permissions are a concern

Though it doesn’t mean your VoIP calls are bulletproof against eavesdroppers, all Skype traffic (both standard and Skype for Business) is encrypted with AES. Skype for Business raises the stakes with stronger authentication methods that give you, as the administrator, stronger control over accounts and access to the who can do what with the tool. Subscriptions can be added and removed at the user level, with different program features assignable to each user on the service.

Skype for Business conferences include everything at a glance—screen sharing, text chat, and individual control over participants’ microphones.

4. You want a sophisticated conference room setup

To set up a snazzy dedicated videoconferencing room so, say, two satellite offices can communicate over video with each other, Skype for Business is a much better bet. Lync was built with these types of setups in mind, and the new Skype Room Systems will let you use Skype with standalone cameras and monitors, audio gear from Polycom, and the Microsoft Surface Hub for online whiteboarding via ink or touch. Existing Lync Room Systems can be upgraded to Skype Room Systems. Skype for Business will also be able to integrate with a number of enterprise-class PBX systems, letting you route calls more easily over VOIP using your existing phones.

5. ‘Online Plan 2’ offers great features for the price

Skype is free, but Skype for Business will cost you. There are two basic plans available for smaller companies. “Online Plan 1” costs $2 per user per month (with a yearly contract) and covers only the basics. Fundamentally you get very little over standard Skype with Online Plan 1, though.

You get significantly more with “Online Plan 2,” a $5.50/month service. It adds high-definition video to group conferences, the ability to join meetings from a web browser (including anonymous connections), desktop sharing and remote control, Outlook schedule integration, the ability to record meetings, and more.

For more sophisticated setups–including conference room integration, E911 support, and dial-in audio features–you’ll need a Skype for Business Server and likely a third-party integrator to do the job. Prices at that level will vary.

Skype for Business Licensing – On Premise vs Cloud, OpEx vs CapEx, Common Area Phones, and Piecemeal Approaches

Microsoft Teams has now completely replaced Skype for Business as the communication and collaboration app for Office 365. Please see our guide on Teams licensing for the most up-to-date information about Microsoft Phone System solutions and licensing.

Last year I wrote this compilation of all the different ways Skype for Business could be licensed from the great deal of research I needed to perform constantly based on different client scenarios. This blog had a great deal of interest, and in classic Microsoft fashion, there have been a great deal of changes since it was posted, so I decided it’s time to update the content.

There are a number of ways to license Skype for Business/Teams for  on-premises, hybrid , and cloud-based deployments . I’ve spent a great deal of time working with Microsoft to come up with the different options available for Skype for Business Licensing, so I’ll explain my findings and the best ways to leverage them.

Skype for Business Licensing for On-Premises Deployments

I’ll start out with a simple breakdown of all of the Client Access Licenses (CAL) for On-Premises deployments of Skype for Business (using list prices as of 2/15/2018):

• Standard CAL: enables users for Presence, IM, peer-to-peer VoIP, and HD Video
• Enterprise CAL: gives users the ability to schedule meetings for audio/video conferences with desktop and application sharing and dial-in conferencing
• Plus CAL: enables PSTN in/out, emergency calling, and other enterprise-grade phone features
• Skype for Business Client: allows users to download the local client onto PCs for leveraging the toolset. This comes with Office Pro Plus and other versions provided through Office 365 plans

Office 365 Skype for Business Licensing

Now we’ll look at the various plans available on a monthly subscription version through Office 365 . Keep in mind, not all of these plans apply to both the On-premises and Online only solutions, which we’ll get into later:

• Skype for Business Online (Plan 1): Basic standalone plan for Skype for Business Online. This plan does not include the local client download, and users would need to use the web application version to access the features. In addition, it does not allow users to create and schedule Online meetings. This provides rights to the Standard CAL for on-premises deployments, and is included within the Office 365 Business Essentials, Business Premium, and Enterprise E1 plans.
• Skype for Business Online (Plan 2): All the functionality of the Skype for Business Online Plan 1, but also gives users the ability to create and initiate Skype for Business Online and on-premises meetings. Keep in mind, this doesn’t provide PSTN conferencing online, as that would require the PSTN conferencing add-on. It does however provide the licensing needed to schedule the PSTN conferencing if the organization has a 3 rd party Dial-in Audio Conferencing solution (example: IntelePeer providing a SIP conferencing service). This subscription also does provide the local client so the users can use the full Skype for Business client.
• Microsoft Phone System (Previously Cloud PBX):  provides the ability for a user to receive and transfer calls. They would be able to call any colleagues or peers also using Skype for Business, but would need an additional add-on to be able to make outbound calls using Microsoft as the PSTN calling provider. Phone System is available as an add-on SKU, or is included within the Office 365 E5 plan. In order to use the Phone System plan, the user needs an Enterprise Office 365 subscription (E1, E3, E5)
• Microsoft Calling Plan (Previously PSTN Calling):  provides users the ability to make outbound calls using Microsoft as the voice provider. Calling Plan is available for purchase as unlimited domestic per user, unlimited domestic AND international per user, or consumption based if certain groups of users will be making fewer outbound callers
• Microsoft Audio Conferencing (Previously PSTN Conferencing):  Provides the ability to create a Skype for Business Online meeting that contains a PSTN dial-in number for users to call into. This can be added to nearly all Office 365 subscriptions (including Business Premium or Skype for Business Online Plan 2 Standalone), but is also included with the Enterprise E5 plan
• Skype for Business Plus Add-on : This provides the same functionality as the Skype for Business Plus CAL for on-premises deployments of Lync/Skype for Business, but is provided in an OpEx approach similar to Office 365. This would be added to users with an E3 subscription in order to get the exact functionality that was provided by the Office 365 E4 plan.

There are a few other applicable add-ons, but this list is a relatively simple compilation of the most relevant features and plans available for Skype for Business Licensing. One thing that helps is to come up with different use cases that would help determine the best route to license users.

Example #1: Company has Skype for Business On Premises with Enterprise Voice and is using Exchange Online for Email.

In this case, the organization would need to have some sort of Office 365 subscription for the email functionality, but they have options for how to license Skype for Business. For a company with a preference for pure Operational Expenditures, this way would be the best route for their Skype for Business Licensing:

Office 365 E3 @ $23/user/month (which covers the Skype for Business Standard and Enterprise CALs) + the Skype for Business Plus CAL @$2/user/month. The Skype for Business Front End servers would still need to be licensed, but I’m just going to focus on end users.

If this organization preferred the Capital Expenditure model, then they would need to purchase Exchange Online Plan 2 (or another plan that leverages this subscription as the Exchange Online portion), as well as the Skype for Business Standard, Enterprise, and Plus CALs. This would be a mixture of the OpEx and CapEx models, but would still be more heavily CapEx, at least the Skype for Business side.

Example #2: Company has Skype for Business Online for Enterprise Voice and using Exchange Online for Email

In this case, the organization is relying entirely on Microsoft’s subscription-based services, which would be entirely OpEx. I will preface this with the caveat that I do NOT recommend this first approach, but if I’m breaking it down as granularly as possible, this is how it can be accomplished. With this in mind, here’s the piecemeal method of the various components needed to yield a pleasant user experience:

• Office 365 E1 – Base license that’s needed for other add-ons.
• Exchange Online (Plan 2) – Allows for email online and Plan 2 provides voicemail capabilities in Exchange Online
• Skype for Business Online Plan 2 – Provides the Skype for Business client
• Phone System Add On
• Calling Plan (Domestic, International, or Consumption)
• Audio Conferencing (if user will be scheduling conferences)

Starting from the itemized list can help determine the best way to package users. Let’s start from the high technology user approach, and license in the simplest model:

• Skype for Business Online (Plan 2)
• Exchange Online (Plan 2)
• Phone System
• Audio Conferencing
• Domestic Unlimited @ $12/user/month
• Domestic & International Unlimited @ $24/user/month
• Consumption – Calculated based on country of origin, country of termination, etc.

If the organization only wants to call domestically, this puts the OpEx cost at $50/user/month. Keep in mind, that the Office 365 E5 subscription comes with a great deal of additional value on top of Exchange Online and Skype for Business Online. There’s a plethora of security and collaboration benefits that should be looked at before dismissing this as a viable option (Power BI, Advanced Threat Analytics, etc.).

For the same situation, c ertain organizations simply want their users to have the ability to send/receive emails, send/receive calls, and have local downloads of Office. These organizations may not need their users creating conference calls, and may not see value in the additional security components that come with E5. For these organizations, the below may be a better approach:

• Phone System Add-on @ $8/user/month

Keeping consistent with going Domestic only for calling, this puts the organization at $43/user/month. This saves a bit on the E5 route, but for organizations that keep their email security and business intelligence needs outside of Microsoft, this may be the best route.

Non-Recommended (Though Possible) Methods of Skype for Business Licensing

I will preface that these remaining options are “technically” supported ways to license users, but I will say that we have never gone with any of these routes, as this adds massive amounts of complexity trying to understand how users are licensed and managed by the administrative team. I simply want to provide these options as they are possible, but they may not yield a desirable end user experience.

Calling and Email Functionality Plus Office Online Apps

If an organization has a user base that is very limited in its technology needs, there are a couple of options that would be a bit cheaper than the previous two routes. Again, I wouldn’t advise going this route, but in theory they are doable.

• Office 365 Enterprise E1 Plan @ $10/user/month
• Exchange Online Plan 2 @ $8/user/month (allows voicemail to be stored in Exchange Online)

This is not an ideal approach to Skype for Business licensing, as you would be paying for both Exchange Online Plan 1 and 2, and your users would still be unable to have local downloads of office (unless those have been previously purchased in something like Open Business or OEM). This option comes out to $38/user/month, and I would advise against going with this route. These users would still be able to use the online versions of the Office suite in case the organization needs them for editing/viewing documents and spreadsheets.

Cheapest Possible Licensing Combination to get Voice Solution

Getting someone at Microsoft to put this in writing was nearly impossible, but I have confirmed that it is possible to get the add-on SKU’s put onto just the Skype for Business Online Plan 2 standalone plan without the need of an Enterprise Plan. Here’s the breakdown of what that licensing looks like, should the client ONLY want Skype for Business for voice (without Audio Conferencing):

• Skype for Business Online – Plan 2 @ $5.50/user/month
• Phone System Add-on – $8/user/month
• Consumption plan option, using Communications Credits in a non-unlimited fashion

Keeping with Domestic calling, this puts the price at $25.50/user/month to have the ability to use Skype for Business Online to make and receive calls. This will provide users with the full local client of Skype for Business, as well as the ability to use a supported desk phone. One key piece that this DOES NOT include is the ability to use Voicemail, as that comes with Unified Messaging and requires Exchange Online Plan 2 in some form. If that is required (which it is in most cases), users will need that plan @$8/user/month, bringing the total to $33.50/user/month. When I look at the additional value that the E3 approach above provides for the additional $9.50/user/month, it becomes a no brainer to go with the E3 route.

Common Area Phones

For a common area phone that’s not a true Skype Room System, there are ways to provide functionality that does not require assigning a license. AudioCodes has provided information in their support forums stating “Common Area Phone (CAP) online support phones can now be defined as CAPs when using a cloud PBX. Defined per physical phone rather than per user, a CAP requires a special sign-in method called ‘CAP Provisioning’ exclusive to Cloud PBX. Before signing in, users must enable the phone as a CAP and then sign in using this special ‘CAP Provisioning’ method. CAPs in server mode are unchanged. The change applies only to Cloud PBX.”

Jeff Schertz has written a fantastic blog about how to assign the licenses and get them setup in your environment, found here . 

As of March, 2018, Microsoft has finally released a dedicated SKU for Common Area Phones, coming in at $8/user/month, and is available within the Office 365 Admin portal under the “Other Plans” section. This should greatly simplify things, and allow the devices to show in the reporting and management toolsets.  This license however still requires a calling plan if it needs to dial out, so if it will be used outside of simply joining Skype for Business Conference bridges, it will require a calling plan ($12/phone/month), making each phone $20/phone/month with the two licenses.   

Skype for Business Voice and Microsoft 365

With the Microsoft 365 bundles available today, the complexity does not increase greatly. For the scenarios above, below are the impacts for organizations needing to leverage the full voice capabilities of Skype for Business Online:

• Microsoft 365 Business – Need to upgrade to the Enterprise options in order to provide the add-ons as of today
• Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 – Need to purchase the Phone System, Calling Plan, and Audio Conferencing Add-ons for additional functionality
• Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 – Need to purchase the Calling Plan for additional functionality
• Microsoft Teams

With the onset and future of Teams, a great deal of focus is around planning the transition to Teams from Skype for Business Online, which many organizations are concerned about. Currently, Teams is available for Office 365 subscriptions, with enterprise voice capabilities available as well. There is a great deal available from a feature standpoint, with a great deal more scheduled to roll out in Q2 CY2018. The licensing is planned to be consistent with Skype for Business, so the above scenarios should hold true, but I will update accordingly. To see the roadmap, as well as all resources I’ve used to build this blog, please follow the links below or feel free to comment!

If you would like to discuss the licensing options further, I would be happy to discuss what I know. Just shoot an email to [email protected] , and I’ll reach out to you directly.

Martin Feehan , Director of Client Relations, PEI

This blog was updated to reflect license price changes that Microsoft implemented on March 1, 2022.

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Download and install Skype for Business on Windows

Skype for Business makes it easy to connect and collaborate with coworkers and business partners around the world:

Start instant message conversations and voice or video calls.

See when your contacts are available online.

Schedule and join meetings.

Present your screen during meetings, or give control to others.

If you're using Skype for Business on a Mac, see the Skype for Business on Mac Quick Start .

Skype for Business is typically installed with Microsoft 365. If you have Microsoft 365 but don't already have Skype for Business and need to install it, see:

Install Skype for Business on Windows

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Sign in to Skype for Business

Enter your work or school account.

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Select the Save my password check box if you'd like Skype for Business to save your password, so you don't have to enter it each time you sign in.

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Microsoft Skype for Business Review

The Bottom Line

If you find yourself cobbling together web conferencing tools, chat clients, and Skype to handle all your communication needs, then consider Microsoft Skype for Business to simplify your setup. Just don't expect a full-fledged VoIP service.

• Allows contact of Skype users, phone numbers, and all employees within the organization.
• Video and audio recording in calls.
• Supports up to 250 attendees in a meeting.
• Not a full-fledged VoIP platform.
• No integrated dial-in audio conference features.
• Online plans don't work with hardware phones.

When it comes to online communications, Skype is the de facto method. The service makes it effortlessly easy to call other users and video chat. Despite its advantages, however, Skype is very much a consumer video conferencing and Voice-over-IP (VoIP) service, and not a business one. With Microsoft Skype for Business (which begins at $2 per user per month, with additional fees), Microsoft is closing the gap. The company combined Lync (formerly Microsoft Office Communicator), its enterprise communications platform, with Skype's familiar user interface (UI) to create software that's easy to use and has features businesses need. But it falls short of being a full-fledged business VoIP platform.

Even so, Microsoft Skype for Business hits that sweet spot for small businesses that need more than the consumer Skype , our Editors' Choice personal VoIP service, but may not be interested in an enterprise VoIP system such as Nextiva or Editors' Choice RingCentral . Microsoft Skype for Business also comes with solid video conferencing capabilities. It's worth a second look even if you are happy with your existing service.

Skype for consumers has grown up a bit over the past few years as it now lets you hold video chats with up to 10 participants for free via Skype Meetings, and offers some remote desktop features. And associated mobile apps make it easy to use Skype from devices other than your computer. There are also cool features such as Skype Translator and web-based Skype, and these features are present in Microsoft Skype for Business, too (except for Skype Translator; that's a solely consumer Skype feature). Skype does support conference calls and screen sharing, but doesn't provide for the level of operational control required by modern IT. Skype for Business, on the other hand, does.

At one of my past jobs, there were no company-issued phones. We used Skype on our computers with decent headsets. We loaded up Skype credits to get a Skype-assigned phone number so that people could call us and we could make outbound calls to phone numbers. We used Citrix GoToMeeting ($12 Per Organizer Per Month at GoToMeeting) for meetings and Jive Chime for group instant messaging (IM). And when all of that got too pesky (as it inevitably did), we fell back to using our personal cell phones. During the course of this review, I kept thinking Microsoft Skype for Business would have been perfect for that scenario. That doesn't mean, however, that it would be perfect for every business (as I'll explain).

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• Microsoft Skype for Business Plans

Microsoft Skype for Business is easy to use once you figure out how to navigate the maze of pricing and plan features. You have a choice of purchasing a standalone Microsoft Skype for Business plan with an annual fee or signing up with one of the business-grade Microsoft Office 365 ($69.99 Per Year at Microsoft) plans that include Microsoft Office, Microsoft Exchange, and Microsoft SharePoint . The standalone entry-level plan, Microsoft Office Business Essentials plan ($5.00 per user per month), offers only group IM, audio, and HD video calling to other users, as well as access to Microsoft Office's online-only products and 1 TB of data. Microsoft Office 365 Business Premium (at $12.50 per user per month) is a little bit more useful, also supporting group HD video calls, desktop and application sharing, and audio/video recording. This plan also lets you schedule meetings via Microsoft Outlook, join meetings from the web browser, remotely control attendee desktops, and keep attendees in a lobby area prior to starting a meeting. And you'll get fully installed versions of all Microsoft Office apps.

You can also buy Microsoft Skype for Business as a standalone product for $2.00 per user per month, or $5 per user per month, depending on whether you need additional features such as s cheduling meetings via Microsoft Outlook, joining meetings from the web browser, remotely controlling attendee desktops, and keeping attendees in a lobby area prior to starting a meeting. Compared with other VoIP providers such as RingCentral and Nextiva , Microsoft Skype for Business is dirt cheap. But the low price means that you have to be sure the plan you are signing up for has the features you need.

Microsoft Skype for Business Server 2015 is the full-fledged VoIP platform, with dial-in audio conferencing and other enterprise VoIP features such as E911 and call forwarding. These heavier duty VoIP features are also available in Microsoft Skype for Business Online . You install the software on your own servers and get Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and gateway interoperability with PBX systems. You work with a Microsoft partner to get the pricing, software, and support. In this sense, Microsoft Skype for Business Server 2015 is similar to Kerio and CudaTel from Barracuda Networks since you are responsible for maintaining your own hardware.

If you want to integrate your phone system with Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint, optimize the network connection, and access Quality of Service (QoS) tools to make sure you have enough bandwidth, you should consider having a dedicated Microsoft Skype for Business Server.

As I mentioned earlier, Microsoft Skype for Business also comes as an integrated feature for Microsoft Office 365 Business Essentials and Microsoft Office 365 Business Premium. Microsoft Skype for Business comes with Microsoft Office 365 Enterprise but not Microsoft Office 365 Business or any of the Home versions. Other than the subscription cost associated with Office 365, there's no additional cost.

While Skype for Business itself does not provide persistent chat, the new Microsoft Teams service in Office 365 does. So if you purchase Skype for Business as part of Office 365, you'll have access to persistent chat in Microsoft Teams. There are also no archiving features in Skype for Business, but you can find them in Skype for Business Online or a different VoIP provider such as Jive Hosted VoIP or Broadvoice .

• Getting Started With Skype for Business

Since Office 365 offers a 30-day free trial, I signed up with Office 365 Business Premium to test Microsoft Skype for Business. Once the Office 365 signup was complete, I saw Microsoft Skype for Business listed under available applications and was able to install the client software.

After installation, Skype opens up a product tour with tips for using Microsoft Skype for Business or you log in to the service with your organization's sign-in address. In my case, Microsoft meant my Office 365 password since I was using the service as part of my Office 365 service. If you have a standalone plan, you would use the account you associated with Microsoft Skype for Business. And if you have Microsoft Skype for Business Server, you will use your standard corporate credentials after configuring the software to work with your organization's domain.

• Familiar User Interface

Microsoft inverted its Skype color palette for Microsoft Skype for Business; blue on white rather than the opposite. The user interface (UI) is clean and professional-looking but still familiar, with the username on top along with presence status and a place to set my status and location. The Person icon shows all the contacts, the Clock icon displays all conversations, the Dial Pad icon shows voicemail, and the Calendar icon lists scheduled meetings. The Gear icon shows the menu options for recording calls and configuring devices.

This is where Microsoft Skype for Business feels less like a phone system and more like a conferencing tool. Instead of thinking in terms of dialing a phone number, you are inviting a user to a meeting. The "Meet Now" option lets you set up a meeting that starts right away, without having to go through Microsoft Outlook or the Web Scheduler to create it. The software with either call your phone directly or launch a Microsoft Skype for Business session on your computer or mobile device. You click on the Invite Users icon to invite people to the meeting by name or phone number; up to 250 participants can be in the meeting at the same time. That total includes attendees who are using the client software, web apps, and phones as well as those taking part anonymously via the web.

This makes it easy to have a conference call—no fiddling with buttons on your phone to try to get multiple people on the same call. I can't count the number of times I've inadvertently hung up on people when trying to call someone else into an existing conversation. It's especially easy on the Microsoft Surface Hub . Tap the phone button and you're ready to get started. Participants have the option to see the meeting as Gallery View, which shows all of the participants' pictures or videos; Speaker View, which shows only the presenter's picture or video; Presentation View, which shows the meeting content (such as a presentation or demonstration); and Compact View, which shows only the titles of the participants. When you are on an audio call, you see the participants' pictures. Presenters are meeting attendees who have control of the screen and in-call tools. Microsoft Skype for Business allows all 250 participants to be elevated to presenter status, if needed.

As in the consumer version of Skype, chat is available during the call and you can invite multiple users to the chat. People can click the Skype icon in the top navigation bar to access contacts, search their organization, and start a chat alongside their Microsoft Outlook mail and calendar experience. They can also begin conversations by clicking the IM button in a person's contact card. You can also see all of the people in the call by clicking on the Participant icon. The Participant Actions button opens up even more options you wouldn't see in consumer Skype such as the ability to mute everyone's microphones and turn off video, disable chat during the meeting, hide the participant list from everyone else, make everyone an attendee (taking away presenter privileges), and send invitations to the meeting via email. The Phone Settings icon at the bottom opens up a dialer in case you need to enter any keys. Most people are used to this UI from Skype and Google Hangouts and Microsoft left this user experience (UX) intact.

If you navigate out of the call window (because you need to reference a different application, for example), Microsoft Skype for Business shows a smaller icon in the top corner, with the microphone and hang-up icons as the visual indicator that your meeting is still in progress.

If you don't really want to rely on your computer for making calls but are intimidated by the smorgasbord of options from RingCentral, consider Ooma Office . The initial upfront costs are high but it provides you with a quality VoIP system with basic features and the ability to use practically any phone.

Administrators who would like to integrate Skype into their own apps can use the new software developers kit (SDK) to integrate IM, audio, and video experiences into custom Android and iOS apps.

• Video Conferencing Capabilities

Microsoft offers high-definition (1,920-by-1,080) video for peer-to-peer calls among users running Microsoft Skype for Business. Toggling between voice and video calls is simple; just click on the Video icon during the call or meeting. Initiate a video call with a specific user by clicking on the user's icon in the contact list.

There don't appear to be limits on how many people can have video switched on, which is a little surprising as most video conference tools have specific limits. I was able to test with up to six different users; my local network struggled to support it but the application itself didn't choke. The video screens are displayed in gallery view, which makes it easy to see all of the participants at once. On video calls with more than five people, the application displays the icons for the five most active speakers on the top, with a row of smaller icons with the less vocal attendees on the bottom. You can always tell who is currently speaking.

• Video Conferencing Features

Calls and meetings can be recorded. Desktop sharing is very robust, letting presenters broadcast any visuals, applications, webpages, documents, software, or part of their desktops. You can share the entire desktop or only a specific window. Meeting participants can take control of the keyboard and mouse, or let them share their screens during the call (if you allow it). If you are using Microsoft PowerPoint, you get access to presentation features such as animations, transitions, and embedded video through Microsoft Skype for Business. Skype Meeting Broadcast allows up to 10,000 meeting attendees who can join from most browsers or devices.

Like Cisco WebEx Meeting Center (Visit Site at WebEx by Cisco) and other web conferencing tools, Microsoft Skype for Business has a whiteboard that meeting participants can mark up during the course of the meeting. The Polling feature is a simple survey tool to collect anonymous feedback during the course of the meeting. The Lobby feature is where participants can wait in a separate virtual area before being allowed to attend the meeting. This is a good security feature if you have a large meeting planned since you can check who is coming in.

Microsoft made a good decision to not restrict use to Microsoft Skype for Business users only. You can invite standard Skype users to your meetings, but they will need to use the Skype for Business web app, not the Skype consumer client. You can then add them to the Contact list or send a Microsoft Skype for Business meeting invitation to someone outside your organization, having them attend by signing in with a Guest account over the web. You create meetings directly from Microsoft Outlook or you can use the Web Scheduler website. You provide the name and time of the meeting along with the list of attendees to create the meeting. You have to cut and paste the resulting meeting invitation and email it yourself, but that's not so different from Citrix GoToMeeting, Cisco WebEx Meeting Center, and any number of other video conferencing platforms.

The recording feature is easy to enable and includes meeting participants, all audio and video, chat conversations, screen sharing, whiteboards, and presentations. Even if you use Microsoft Office 365, all of the recordings are made and stored on the presenter's machine. To get server-side recording, you will need the Server 2015 version. Users will also need a third-party product, as server-side recording is not a feature available in the base server. You can choose 480p, 720p HD, or 1080p Full HD as the preferred resolution for the final recording. Even though this is a video conferencing feature, audio calls can be recorded, too. Remember that, for many VoIP providers, call recording is considered an advanced feature and not available to everyone. It's nice that it's built-in with Microsoft Skype for Business, much as it is for RingCentral.

• Phone Compatibility and Third-Party Integration

Microsoft Skype for Business is primarily designed to work with computers and mobile devices so it supports Android, Windows, iOS, Mac OS X, and Windows Phone. Microsoft Skype for Business for Mac is also now available. Recent updates include the ability to see if contacts are offline or online and whether or not they're busy, in a meeting, or available; it is also easy to start an IM conversation. You can also use Skype as a VoIP tool on a Mac, including calling up to four meeting participants simultaneously. No love for BlackBerry, though. If you are using Microsoft Skype for Business Server and the associated enterprise VoIP features, you can connect to a wide variety of SIP-compatible handsets and devices. Public Switched Telephone Network ( PSTN ) Conferencing lets you dial in to a Skype meeting from a traditional phone.

If you want to have a dial-in number assigned to your specific meeting, you will need an Office 365 plan with Skype for Business PSTN Conferencing . If you are already integrating with an existing PBX or have the enterprise features enabled via Server 2015, you will be able to create a phone number, but that isn't available through Microsoft Office 365. Microsoft also doesn't skimp on the help and troubleshooting tools. I was able to figure out most of my issues based on existing documentation.

• Not Enterprise-Level VoIP But Still Useful

Microsoft Skype for Business is not quite enterprise VoIP in that you don't get a lot of services such as call hunt, call groups, or an auto-attendant—unless you set up Microsoft Skype for Business Server 2015. If you are looking for an enterprise VoIP system, our Editors' Choice for VoIP, RingCentral, will give you all of the VoIP features, without having to run your own server.

However, most small businesses would still like Microsoft Skype for Business as a conferencing tool to set up video and audio meetings, share screens, and collaborate directly. The consumer version of Skype is still our preferred choice for personal VoIP and video conferencing needs, but the fact that you can call phone numbers, set up meetings, have one-on-one conversations, and record it all easily makes Microsoft Skype for Business a solid web conferencing and VoIP platform.

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About Rob Marvin

Associate features editor.

Rob Marvin is PCMag's Associate Features Editor. He writes features, news, and trend stories on all manner of emerging technologies. Beats include: startups, business and venture capital, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, AI, augmented and virtual reality, IoT and automation, legal cannabis tech, social media, streaming, security, mobile commerce, M&A, and entertainment. Rob was previously Assistant Editor and Associate Editor in PCMag's Business section. Prior to that, he served as an editor at SD Times. He graduated from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. You can also find his business and tech coverage on Entrepreneur and Fox Business. Rob is also an unabashed nerd who does occasional entertainment writing for Geek.com on movies, TV, and culture. Once a year you can find him on a couch with friends marathoning The Lord of the Rings trilogy--extended editions. Follow Rob on Twitter at @rjmarvin1.

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Assign Skype for Business licenses

• 16 contributors
• Applies to: Skype for Business

Skype for Business Online operated by 21Vianet in China will be retired on October 1, 2023. If you haven't upgraded your Skype for Business Online users yet, they will be automatically scheduled for an assisted upgrade . If you want to upgrade your organization to Teams yourself, we strongly recommend that you begin planning your upgrade path today. Remember that a successful upgrade aligns technical and user readiness, so be sure to leverage our upgrade guidance as you navigate your journey to Teams.

Skype for Business Online, excluding the service operated by 21Vianet in China, was retired on July 31, 2021.

This article gives you tips about assigning licenses to your users for features like Audio Conferencing, Phone System, and Calling Plans. It also provides scripts for assigning licenses in bulk.

See Skype for Business add-on licensing for information about what licenses you need to buy and how to buy them - depending on your Microsoft 365 or Office 365 plan - so users get Audio Conferencing, toll-free numbers, and the ability to call phone numbers outside your business.

Phone System and Calling Plans: Tips and scripts for assigning licenses

What you need to know before assigning Audio Conferencing, Phone System and Calling Plan licenses

Using on-premises PSTN connectivity for hybrid users? If so, you only need to assign a Phone System license. You should NOT assign a Calling Plan.

Latency after assigning licenses : Because of the latency between Microsoft 365 or Office 365 and Skype for Business Online, it can possibly take up to 24 hours for a user to be assigned a Calling Plan after you assign a license. If after 24 hours the user isn't assigned a Calling Plan, please Contact support for business products - Admin Help .

Error messages : You will get an error message if you haven't purchased the correct number of licenses. If you need to buy more Calling Plan licenses, choose Buy more .

Next steps : After you assign Calling Plan licenses to your users, you will need to get your phone numbers for your organization, and then assign those numbers to the people in your organization. For step-by-step instructions, see Set up Calling Plans .

How to assign a Phone System and Calling Plan license to one user

The steps are the same as assigning a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 license. See Assign or remove licenses for Microsoft 365 for business .

How to assign Phone System and Calling Plan licenses in bulk

Install the Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant for IT Professionals RTW . Don't have the module installed? See Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant for IT Professionals RTW to download it.

Install the Windows Azure Active Directory module. Don't have the module installed? See Manage Microsoft Entra ID using Windows PowerShell for download instructions and cmdlet syntax.

Once you get the modules installed, use the Windows PowerShell command prompt and the following syntax to assign the licenses to your users:

This example assigns an Enterprise E3 license along with a Phone System and a Domestic Calling Plan license.

The name of the licenses or product names in the script are listed in italics text (see Phone System and Calling Plan product names or SKUs used for scripting , after the example).

Phone System and Calling Plans product names or SKUs used for scripting

Audio Conferencing: Tips and scripts for assigning licenses

What you need to know before assigning audio conferencing licenses.

Third-party audio conferencing provider : If someone is already set up to use a third-party audio conferencing provider, when you assign them an Audio Conferencing license, they will be changed to use Microsoft as the audio conferencing provider. You can change them back to the third-party provider.

Next steps: After you assign Audio Conferencing licenses, you need to assign an audio conferencing provider. See [Assign Microsoft as the audio conferencing provider].

How to assign an Audio Conferencing license to one user

How to assign audio conferencing licenses in bulk.

Download and install Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant for IT Professionals RTW .

Download and install the Windows Azure Active Directory module. See Manage Microsoft Entra ID using Windows PowerShell for download instructions and cmdlet syntax.

The name of the licenses or product names in the script are listed in italics text. See Audio Conferencing product names or SKUs used for scripting for all of the product names.

This example assigns an Enterprise E3 license along with an Audio Conferencing license.

Audio Conferencing product names or SKUs used for scripting

Communications Credits

What you need to know before assigning communications credits licenses.

Enterprise E5 customers : Even if your users are assigned Enterprise E5 licenses, we still recommend that you assign them Communications Credits licenses.

Next steps : After you assign these licenses, you will need to get your phone numbers for your organization, and then assign those numbers to the people in your organization. For step-by-step instructions, see Set up Calling Plans .

How to assign a Communications Credits license to one user

How to assign communications credits licenses in bulk.

Take a look at the sample script for assigning Audio Conferencing licenses. Update it with the info for assigning Communications Credits licenses.

Related topics

Set up Calling Plans

Add funds and manage Communications Credits

Additional resources