When comparing Skype for Business (aka Lync) vs Ryver, the Slant community recommends Ryver for most people. In the question“What is the best team chat software?” Ryver is ranked 20th while Skype for Business (aka Lync) is ranked 50th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Collaboration tools
Pro Video conferencing
Lync allows real-time communication for up to 250 people at once. 5 of them will be able to use Full HD video.
Pro Deep Microsoft ecosystem integration
Lync integrates well into the Microsoft ecosystem (Exchange/SharePoint/Office).
Pro Free
Pro Threaded conversations
Ryver has Facebook like "Posts" that allow for threaded conversations to occur among teams.
Pro Unlimited users
There is no limit to the amount of users you can invite to join your instance/account of Ryver.
Pro Upvote and Downvote
"Do you like this?" questions can easily be answered with up or down votes.
Pro Drag and drop file sharing
Start a new post, drag your file (photo, doc, pdf, etc. 100MB limit), and starting discussing.
Pro Fast
The app loads fast on start-up. Any new chats, comments, and posts show up instantly. Overall, the app just feels rather speedy.
Pro @mentions for users and teams
Get someone's attention with @mentions.
Pro Desktop and mobile apps
Apps work great on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android.
Pro Free conference calling
Pro Can hide topics until new comment is received
You can remove a topic from your nav bar and have it reappear when new messages are sent in that topic.
Pro Hosted on Amazon
Hosted on Amazon cloud. Service is very reliable. Ryver has been unavailable maybe once or twice in the 6 month period.
Pro You can edit a chat message
With Ryver, you can edit chats that you've sent.
Cons
Con Bad Mac OS X experience
Con Aged UI
Con Microsoft Product (and the licensing costs associated)
Con Having Chat and Posts for Teams is confusing to some users
It takes some time to get accustomed to all the features of the program, like a separate chat and a feed for team posts.