HCL Sametime vs. Webex Meetings

Overall, Sametime is a great feature for global teams to communicate, since you can chat quickly and efficiently with Sametime. Also, the file transfer is really fast and it downloads to any folder you choose. The chat history is easy to use and it is easy to find keywords. The feature of creating "emoticons" sometimes can jeopardize the team's efficiency.

Incentivized

The first reason is the ease of use and availability, which makes WebEx work for all. The quality of audio and video is adorable. As a business development associate, I must make an impression on the other side, and WebEx helps me make first impressions. A few features are complex for new users but can be resolved.

Incentivized

• The license cost is comparatively low so almost all staff have it installed in our company. We can use it to contact all internal staff.
• It’s light and fast with almost no downtime. It also provides easy to use APIs for the user to build automation process on it. We have an internally built robot running on Sametime to answer frequently asked questions and do some repetitive tasks.
• Chat history can be saved as per user’s preference and it is easy to be searched.

Incentivized

• We have a global and diverse team with different devices and operating systems. Webex works smoothly on all of them and everyone can collaborate in real-time saving a lot of time and effort, making meetings much more productive.
• We can easily capture discussion points and decisions for future reference, without the need for manual note-taking. It helps us in smaller group discussions and brainstorming sessions within the main meeting itself.
• I can even tailor the layout to suit the meeting's purpose and agenda. Webex is intuitive and easy to navigate, even for non-technical users, joining and scheduling meetings is a smooth process.

Incentivized

• The mobile app is not that great for anything outside of straight up messaging.
• We tried video chatting within Sametime without any real success. There were connection issues and the app would crash quite often. We switched to another product and had no problems.
• IBM Sametime just looks outdated. The menus and contact list are not up to date from a UX perspective compared to many other popular chat apps.

Incentivized

• At times, the meeting audio/video can get glitchy if there are a lot of attendees online and using bandwidth.
• Sometimes, it is hard for my prospects to join the meeting without downloading software or can't get the audio to work for some reason.
• Hard to navigate attendees while presenting yourself.

Incentivized

Sametime is now an embedded experience for our users. They know it, they like it, they use it, and they expect it to be wherever they are. Because it is pretty easy to use and NEVER goes down, users know they can rely on it and won't be frustrated by it. Sametime is right up with there with Microsoft Office in terms of user adoption and appreciation.

Incentivized

Webex is going in a direction which is going to make it incompatible with how we use it. They're more interested in developing the gimmicky AI features and leaving behind the core ability to share documents and allow participants to annotate and save annotated shared documents and other features that were what made it the best choice for classrooms.

Incentivized

Just about everything works the way you expect it would and it's relatively easy for users to figure out. Sametime was one of those things that we started with only a few people as a "test" and before the test period was done we discovered a few hundred people had figured out how to log in and most got it working all on their own. Many of our users want to use Sametime and do so regularly; we do not have to create policies enforcing its usage. Users find it practical to use Sametime to do things like chat, transfer files, share their screen, and so forth.

Incentivized

Webex Meetings does not provide enough audio feedback for users with visual disabilities to properly navigate the tool. Students, faculty, and staff who are blind or have low vision may not be able to use Webex Meetings. Users with motor disabilities that navigate via keyboard, may not be able to navigate the web conferencing session enough to participate fully.

Incentivized

Typically if Sametime is not available, it's because Windows Updates were done on the servers and they were not rebooted. However, that's not a problem with Sametime -- in fact, if you have Linux you could probably run Sametime for years without any hiccups whatsoever. We have no internal Linux expertise.

Incentivized

So personally I have never faced any kind of meeting unavailability issue while scandaling meeting with WebEx the bandwidth is really good and in terms of application performance the same is my opinion what I mentioned for availability it is good and the objective of communication is quite fruitfully achieved with a simple and effective product like WebEx which is often bundled with the purchase of course which is which we have at our company and great discount is being offered so it is easy on our pocket. I really don't have any specific errors which have faced I should mention over here the operation or application uses is quite smooth.

Incentivized

Generally very good. Occasionally AV or screen-sharing will stutter and every now and then I hear of it dropping out altogether, but in all cases it was easy to re-establish

Incentivized

We use browsers to join Webex Meetings and it is very good no issue also appears from Webex APP is very organized and does not consume more resources of PC so no issues appeared. We join audio and video in many ways, all of which are good. We integrated it with active Microsoft Exchange with easy deployment.

I have to use support for many customers. However, support is generally quite responsive and continues to see an issue through to resolution and I would recommend using their knowledgeable and well-trained staff.

Incentivized

The support cases can be opened instantly. The support engineers can support you via Telephone, E-Mail, WebEx Meetings, and My favorite WebEx application.24X7 Availability of the engineers. Step-by-step guidance is available by an engineer. https://help.webex.com/ - Great Site for instant FAQ's. https://status.webex.com/ - Is helpful to identify the updated schedule of WebEx or to know the server status of WebEx services.

Incentivized

In-person training offers the benefit of personalized instruction. Users have the chance to ask specific questions and work through any challenges directly with an instructor. This hands-on learning style can be incredibly valuable for those who learn better through interaction. With in-person training, participants can receive instant feedback and troubleshooting assistance for any technical issues they encounter during the session. This makes it easier to resolve issues on the spot rather than waiting for online support.

Incentivized

It was very interactive and well explained. The trainor is very much knowledgeable of the product. He was able to answer all of our inquiries in a timely and professional manner. There were lots of exercises done during the duration of the training to ensure that we have a better view on what to expect from the product.

Incentivized

That we needed complex implementation that we didn't get tells me 2 things: 1) the product was not designed in a way that "just worked" like some of its peers (Zoom / BlueJeans) and 2) had our company defined actual user needs and validated / verified that they had bought something that matched those, we would have pursued features / designs more closely aligned with what the product actually does: screen share, sometimes video, definitely VOIP audio (always an option regardless of license), and easy recording and retrieval of meetings.

Incentivized

Text chat is text chat. It's not a technically hard problem to solve. It's when you try and move out of text chat into more fully featured applications that allow for audio or video calling, transcripts, etc, it becomes apparent that the developers on Sametime gave up a long time ago. In my organization, Slack has nearly completely replaced Sametime for any and all purposes that Sametime used to fulfill.

Incentivized

The ability to transfer multimedia files directly into the platform and a very robust free plan helped me make the decision to try out Webex Meetings. Easy to set up in a company environment and accessible once the learning curve and sign up process are complete. In-platform web navigating is also a nice feature when onboarding new staff or doing market research.

Incentivized

Sametime is rock solid. It runs on WebSphere, DB2 and other related IBM technologies. This does mean the back-end is highly complex and very difficult to learn and get comfortable with, however.

Incentivized

I can speak to multiple departments at my organization using Webex Meetings. It has been, and continues to be, our longest online meeting software. It has been deployed across the organization and each department uses it. As I have mentioned, our monthly all-organization Town Halls are hosted on Webex. We have also used it to broadcast a panel-based speaker event.

Incentivized

• HCL Sametime is affordable thus it is cost-efficient for instant messaging compared to costs of phone calls, especially overseas calls.
• As Sametime is integrated with Lotus Notes it is convenient to use both of these together without separately using them.
• Still need to pay for other apps for effective video conferencing and webinar.

Incentivized

• Our clients and teams like the solution and have been using it for years.
• Tiered pricing could improve the cost for SMBs, but the ROI is still great for what we use Webex for.
• The install base using the product and its features saves us money in not using other solutions that are not as flexible, saving us money in annual license fees.
• From a global meeting and conference perspective, no significant issues cause scheduling and participation problems.
• We can grow usage of tool and not break the budget.
• Team leadership finds it cost effective, but can be improved.

Incentivized