Which version of Skype for Business is recommended.

We recommend matching the architecture of the OS on which you are running.

If you are on a 32 bit OS, you must run 32 bit Skype for Business.  If you are on a 64 bit OS, the choice gets a little more complex.

While it is technically possible to run 32 bit Skype for Business on a 64 bit OS, there are some complicating factors.  Our recommendations are based on the need for scalability and performance.

The primary purpose for running our application is to handle larger volumes of calls than would be handled by the average user.  In addition, the operator is also a very customer facing of representation of the company.  Therefore, the performance of Skype is paramount.  We recommend running 64 bit Skype for the following reasons.

• 4gb memory limit imposed by 32 bit architecture.  32 bit applications must reside under the 4gb memory limit regardless of the amount of memory in the machine.
• 32 bit applications are handled by an emulation subsystem called WoW64.  All inter-program communication and access to hardware must cross this emulator.

For simple day to day applications, these differences are insignificant.  Often times, 32 bit applications are deployed for greater compatibility with 3rd party applications which do not offer a 64 bit options.  However, for a primary application, they can affect stability and performance.

And for these reasons, we recommend 64 bit Skype for Business for operators running our application.