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Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued) vs. MaestroConference

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/ACisco Meeting Server was a conferencing solution for allowing the user to setup a conference any time using a wide range of Cisco and Jabber devices, and third-party solutions (e.g. Skype for Business). The product has reached its end-of-life, and is discontinued.N/A

    MaestroConference

    Score7 out of 10
    N/AMaestroConference is a web conferencing platform with the capability to run small break-out sessions within the main group. It incorporates voting and social capabilities.

    $49

    per month

    Pricing
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)MaestroConference
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)MaestroConference
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)MaestroConference
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    MaestroConference
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    78%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    67%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)MaestroConference
    Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
    Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued) and MaestroConference
    Feature
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)
    8.0
    9 Ratings
    1% above category average
    MaestroConference
    -
    Ratings
    High quality audio8.69 Ratings00 Ratings
    High quality video8.29 Ratings00 Ratings
    Low bandwidth requirements8.38 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile support7.18 Ratings00 Ratings
    Screen Sharing
    Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued) and MaestroConference
    Feature
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)
    7.4
    8 Ratings
    7% below category average
    MaestroConference
    -
    Ratings
    Desktop sharing8.38 Ratings00 Ratings
    Whiteboards6.57 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Meetings / Events
    Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued) and MaestroConference
    Feature
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)
    7.4
    9 Ratings
    11% below category average
    MaestroConference
    -
    Ratings
    Calendar integration7.98 Ratings00 Ratings
    Meeting initiation8.79 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with social media5.55 Ratings00 Ratings
    Record meetings / events6.79 Ratings00 Ratings
    Slideshows8.48 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Events Collaboration
    Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued) and MaestroConference
    Feature
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)
    7.5
    8 Ratings
    9% below category average
    MaestroConference
    -
    Ratings
    Live chat7.98 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audience polling7.37 Ratings00 Ratings
    Q&A7.47 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Events Security
    Comparison of Online Events Security features of Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued) and MaestroConference
    Feature
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)
    8.2
    9 Ratings
    1% above category average
    MaestroConference
    -
    Ratings
    User authentication8.79 Ratings00 Ratings
    Participant roles & permissions8.29 Ratings00 Ratings
    Confidential attendee list7.77 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)MaestroConference
    Small Businesses
    ClickMeeting
    Score7.7 out of 10
    ClickMeeting
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    JioMeet
    Score10 out of 10
    JioMeet
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Webex Meetings
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Webex Meetings
    Score8.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)MaestroConference
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.9
    (9 ratings)
    8.3
    (3 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    5.9
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Meeting Server (discontinued)MaestroConference
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    Cisco meeting Server can be used to host meeting for a small group 2 people and also can host meeting for hundreds of people. Even if the scalability increases no compromise in the call and consistent performance can be observed. The video quality is clear and there is no noticeable latency between audio and video. The recording feature is well placed and it helps a lot in rectifying and processing the important points that might have been left out during the meeting.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MaestroConference
    This is best suited for webinars where you want increase participant engagement. Maestroconference has helped us avoid the type of webinar where the presenter has no idea if people are listening and participants often lose interest and end up checking email. The interaction level can become extremely high leading to increased engagement, satisfaction and buy-in.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • Integrates well with other devices
    • More than 1 person can be on video call with minimal lag
    • Quiet cost effective for a company with many employees
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MaestroConference
    • The number one strength of Maestro Conference is the ability for the host to create "break out" groups where members of the call can interact with each other in smaller groups as if they were in an in-person conference.
    • Another quality of Maestro Conference that I love is the fact that the host can then "weave in and out" of the different break out groups, listening in, providing support and getting feedback. It's an incredibly tool that Maestro offers.
    • Lastly I think Maestro Conference has excellent customer service.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • Allowing more user interaction rather than just video and audio.
    • Split screen option to share content and view faces from those on the meeting.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MaestroConference
    • The call sound quality was often pretty poor, and we had a lot of trouble with calls being dropped. Over the years I would periodically throw in the towel and go back to Free Conferencing just to have reliable quality. But they only have 3 of 4 breakout rooms and I couldn't conduct the rooms easily. Then I try MC again to see if the engineering had improved. It was like a wave. Sometimes better, sometimes worse.
    • The conductor interface has an annoying glitch wherein we could not change a persons attribute fields on the fly. I would interview my callers and assign them to one class or another based on their answers, and the partner up people into breakout rooms based on their answers. This meant editing the two attribute fields , and it just plain didn't work 75% of the time.
    • Maestro Conference repositioned its business away from small educators like me, to large organizations like political action committees. The price became too high for me, and it just no longer made sense. I repositioned my product to work with less expensive and less complicated solutions.
    • The add on features, like recording each conference room, were insanely expensive.
    • VOIP and MC didn't mix. The MC dialer never worked. Neither did Skype. This meant that my international callers were out of luck. This was FRUSTRATING to say the least. Now I just use Skype. A picture is worth a thousand words.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    because we're satisfied of the product
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MaestroConference
    we have found no other company with the technology that allows us to conduct webinars with this level of interactivity. We've also been watching as the company has added on addtional functionality and are very please with how it is developing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    very easy to use and quick to learn
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MaestroConference
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    I never used Support
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MaestroConference
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    Apart from Cisco Meeting Server, only Poly offers full fledged on-premise meeting server. Their solution is called Polycom RealPresence
    Collaboration Server. But there solutions are mostly outdated. Even though they have recently changes to subscription via Poly Clarity but servers are still very old. Whereas Cisco Meeting Server was recently updated and integrates well with WebEx and Cisco's other products.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MaestroConference
    Maestro Conference is the only service I know that allows you to create break out groups and allow participants to actively engage with each other and with the host. It is the most like an "in-person" event of any service I have used. And the customer service has always been excellent
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • Good and robust collaboration tool which helped.
    • Easy integration with surrounding tools like MS office was great advantage.
    • Sharing recorded content wasn't easy, so had to use screen capture sometimes, which was not great.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MaestroConference
    • When the monthly call with breakout rooms was working well I had a lot of good conversion. When it was not, because of sound quality of dropped calls, I was giving people a poor experience. Since I was using MC as the centerpiece of my TRIAL calls, it was a two edged sword.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    MaestroConference Screenshots

    Screenshot of Social Webinar exampleScreenshot of A "breakout group" discussion - where you can see the faces of the other people you talk with by phone or using VOIP/your computerScreenshot of You can poll your participants with Poll View in Social WebinarScreenshot of Share links with other participants in a Social Webinar chat window, while you talkScreenshot of Crowdsource ideas with Idea Board View in Social Webinar