In its effort to win increasing numbers of enterprise voice customers, Microsoft is selling its Skype for Business unified communications platform in a variety of standard and customized service plans.  While Skype for Business prices may seem compelling, before buying monthly subscriber licenses, Gartner UCC research director Michael Fasciani said enterprise IT needs to take a hard look at the benefits and risks of switching to Skype for Business voice.

Fasciani walked a roomful of enterprise IT attendees at Gartner's IT Operations Strategies & Solutions Summit on Wednesday through the Skype for Business service bundles that were introduced in December 2015. The bundles, which include voice, IM, Web conferencing, voicemail and email, come with monthly list prices that range from $8 per user at the low end to $35 per user at the high end. The December announcement added PSTN Calling, which enables making calls through the public switched telephone network (PSTN) in North America, and a cloud private branch exchange (PBX) option that offers more advanced call control features. Microsoft's Skype for Business Server is its on-premises UC platform.

Microsoft isn't a traditional force in enterprise telephony, yet its Skype for Business UC suite is part of Microsoft's Office 365, which became the fastest growing cloud business application in 2015, Fasciani said. Microsoft is positioning Office 365 as an enterprise telephony option that can eliminate the need for a traditional phone system. Microsoft's influence is part of what's driving changes in how enterprises buy UC, especially now that Skype for Business users can now make calls through the PSTN.