Microsoft Teams is all about communication—chatting, video conferencing, and more. We previously pitted Teams against both Slack and SharePoint, where users weighed in about how Teams performed compared to these close competitors.

Now we’ve asked users to give their input on a different comparison: Microsoft Teams vs. Skype for Business. Keep reading to see winning features, and which platform works better in different business situations.

Skype For Business Vs. Teams: Feature Comparison

Ethan Taub, CEO of Goalry, says both Skype and Teams help people connect and share ideas. Both tools enable users to have more than one group or channel, which helps separate and categorise conversations. “I do believe Teams does a better job of this though, as its interface is more user-friendly and the channels allow for both feedback and communication.”

Another feature is the ability to host meetings between multiple users. Anh Trinh, managing editor of GeekWithLaptop, says both platforms were created for this purpose. “This feature is especially useful for remote teams to meet and plan their work.”

But who comes out on top for hosting meetings? Trinh’s pick is Teams because it makes the meeting process more convenient for non-Teams users. “Teams lets people join over the phone and through a link, meaning guest users can join the meeting without needing to access the platform. Meanwhile, Skype requires all participants to be using the software.”

The ability to chat is another common feature between Teams and Skype, but they differ in how they store chat logs. (Tweet this!) Morgan Taylor, CMO of LetMeBank, notes that Microsoft Teams uses persistent chat, which lets users see chat history logs over time.

In contrast, Taylor says chats on Skype for Business are automatically deleted after a working day or once the chat is closed. “Although this Skype feature is useful for security purposes, it’s not conducive to collaboration on long-term projects—metrics, status updates, and the like need to be easily accessible to everyone. Using Skype for Business is counterintuitive if key information is lost at the end of the day.”

Taylor’s take on Microsoft Teams vs. Skype for Business is that “both applications offer organisations the ability to communicate efficiently. However, Teams is the better option for me—even though they have many overlapping features.”

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Microsoft Teams Vs. Skype For Business: Use Cases

When you need to communicate about different parts of a project, Taub says Teams is the better choice because it makes categorising discussions simple through channels. “I also like to use Teams as a way to develop new ideas for projects. I can separate the ideas easily across channels, and loop in relevant team members as part of the brainstorming process.”

Taub says Skype’s voice calls can be helpful to nail down the details of a project by talking them through with teammates. Conference calls and private calls help ensure the team is working smoothly. “I use Skype in this way, and it has been particularly useful for connecting with team members who work remotely.”

Taylor notes that Skype’s “disappearing” chat feature—while generally undesirable for effective collaboration—is quite useful for sharing private or confidential information. “After all, having access to all past logs can jeopardise security if the wrong employee (or a hacker) gains access to the chat.”

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