Amazon Chime vs. Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)

Great tool which can be used for collaborating and sharing screens. It helps in integrating with calendar effortlessly and send invitations for the meeting. Sometimes it takes time to load the application on your device and is not compatible with all browsers. It has different options of muting and sharing screen during presenting.

Incentivized

Skype is useful for collaborations across distances, including work from home, as well as a more convenient way to communicate with a large group of people. Skype is also useful to communicate with specific parties quickly, rather than relying on cellular service in areas where not as available. Skype is less useful if the team does not use computers , tablets, smartphones, etc in daily workflow as it would rarely be used.

Incentivized

• Chat tools, video calls, on spot meeting invite[s] easy to create and use.
• Ability to record any meeting and automatically downloads the meeting recording after ending the meeting.
• UI is clean and easy to navigate around Amazon Chime.
• Ability to invite outside guests easily using Amazon Chime without any issues.

Incentivized

• Group Chat option allows multiple people to have a conversation away from the main presentation
• Integration with Microsoft Office allows easy usage of excel, PowerPoint and other MS programs
• Easy calendar integration for Microsoft Outlook
• Mobile interface is very easy and intuitive

Incentivized

• I'd like to see more sentiment analysis around the conversation between the salesperson and the prospect. This would make great for coaching opportunities after the call to make our sales reps better.
• In a few instances, members of our sales team had issues with sharing call recording links with their prospects. Our product team came to the conclusion it was coming from the Amazon Chime end.

Incentivized

• Probably the biggest area is the video element as it has historically struggled in this area.
• The need to be forced to federate with another organisation by providing yours and enabling the other organisation settings is a bit tedious but once done, allows for simple collaboration between third-parties.
• Functionality wise, as it's an older product and being superseded by MS Teams, it feels as if it's run its course but was very good for what it does/did at the time.

Incentivized

I honestly feel that with most people using iPhone nowadays, it's easy to just call or use FaceTime if you need to be in touch with a client. Unless you need to have a conference call, there are plenty of ways to get in touch with a client otherwise besides using a somewhat inefficient program.

Incentivized

Very easy to use. Even though Microsoft Teams has a lot of features and integrations, as a user I feel completely comfortable on finding what I need, getting information about the app extensions and using them. It's a very comprehensive tool, intuitive design and does not make me feel tired to be using it. I am glad with the current experience.

They were very supportive in answering all of our questions when we had problems. Their in-person calls but their support site also had a full set of information that can answer a good portion of your questions before you have to pick up the phone. But when you, you will get good service.

Incentivized

I have only had to reach out to the Support team at Skype for Business once with an issue, and I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the quickness and thoroughness of their response. The wait time was short and my question was dealt with politely and clearly, so I would say the support team has it together.

Incentivized

Skpe for business is utilized company wide in regards to my company. Everyone not only uses it, but uses it often. It is an effective way of communicating. It also integrates very nicely with outlook and all conversation history is pushed to a folder within the outlook system. We also have it so that if someone misses a message, they are sent an email reminder saying that there is a message that went unread.

Incentivized

Our reason for the selection of Amazon Chime was a client recommendation. In a comparison of other competitor's products, Amazon Chime provides similar functionality and features. From a pricing perspective, you may opt for pay-per-use pricing which could be confusing for some users. There are also basic and Pro subscription plans depending upon what you need. We did a free trial for 30 days and then procured a few accounts for internal and external use.

Incentivized

Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams is just better for us since we were already a Microsoft productivity suite (Office) user. No additional cost when we went from traditional product license model to SaaS. Continuous integration and upgrades with MS 365 make it even easier to use and therefore stickier.

Incentivized

• Amazon Chime has been an incredibly cost effective way to add video and conference line services (with screen sharing) to our day to day operations because we have an account for free for being Vonage customers.
• A pro account only costs $15 a month, and you only need one pro account for a small office. If others in your organization need to join, all you need is a basic account to join. You need a pro account in order to launch and administer meetings.

Incentivized

• In the move to WFH for the over 90000 employees of the firm in 13 different timezones, Skype for [Business], as the primary communication tool has been the most critical factor in ensuring there's not a communication breakdown.
• An average of 7 calls a day and around 50-60 text messages are sent via Skype for [Business]. These communications are critical for [the] continued delivery of our services.
• Video/voice calling and screen sharing features of Skype have played a great role in simulating a shared workspace scenario in the virtual mode as best as possible.