5 Reasons Why Skype is NOT a Suitable VoIP Phone System Solution

When Skype was released back in 2003, it was globally hailed as a modern technological miracle. While email and chat had been around for decades, for the first time ever tens of millions of people could connect with friends, family and indeed, customers using their internet connection. 

Well, fast forward 13 years, and thanks to Microsoft, Skype is still around and continues to have hundreds of millions of users around the world. Unfortunately however, some of these users are businesses that have been advised that Skype is a legitimate and suitable VoIP phone system solution. This is categorically wrong – and we certainly are not the only company that thinks so. As a rather fiery article at CIO.com points out: “Skype generates plenty of revenue for Microsoft, and it’s a shame that one of the largest software companies in the world can create such a pathetically useless piece of client software.”

Specifically, here are 5 reasons why Skype may be fine for some personal communications with friends and family, but is NOT a suitable VoIP phone system solution for businesses: 

1. Poor Call Quality

Skype call quality is essentially “hit or miss”. Some days it is acceptable. Other days, it is dreadful. And while this may not be a major problem for personal calls, in a business context it can lead to all kinds of issues – including frustrated customers, misunderstood instructions, and so on. 

2. Syncing Problems

Businesses need to get accurate, up-to-date notifications on all of their devices, including smartphones and tablets. Skype struggles mightily in this area. As Thurott.com notes: “Skype has yet to figure out how to properly sync read notifications across the many different platforms it supports”.

3. Slow File Transfer

Legitimate business-ready VoIP phone systems should handle file transfers quickly and efficiently. Skype, however, does not meet this standard. Techcrunch.com goes as far to describe Skype’s file transfer limitations as “ungodly slow.”

4. Status Confusion

A very important feature of legitimate VoIP phone systems is that employees can see who among their colleagues is available, busy, temporarily away from their desk, and so on. What’s more, this information is available organization wide and not limited to a specific office – which is ideal for businesses with multiple locations, remote workers, etc. However, many Skype users have complained that status notifications do not always work. For example, many users show up as online and available, when they are in fact busy, away or offline.

5. Endless Ringing

Perhaps the most glaring symptom of Skype’s “not ready for business” condition is the problem of endless wringing. As Thurott.com notes: “By far the worst bug is when receiving a call, occasionally, answering the inbound call on your PC will not stop other devices from ringing. This issue happens frequently if you have the win32 app open and a tab with Outlook.com open with Skype logged in, the web client never registers that the call was picked up.”

Learn More

If your business is looking for a cost-effective, scaleable, flexible, and feature-rich VoIP phone system that is designed exclusively for the robust needs of today’s businesses, then contact the Votacall team today. We will work with you to create a customized solution that fits your unique needs – and helps you safely avoid all of the above problems and pitfalls.

For more information on hosted VoIP phone systems and the truth behind the myths that exist, download our FREE eBook: