3CX vs. Lifesize Video Conferencing

In many scenarios decision is driven by budget and compared to other solutions at the time of purchase [3CX] was simply the cheapest solution for what it has to offer. If you are looking for integrations, extensibility, and advanced functionalities, this might not be a solution for you. At the time of use (and this may have changed by now), there was a lack of APIs, CLI commands, and similar so nothing could be automated with the system. There are ways of importing data through CSV but automation would solve us so much time and support calls if we were able to connect with other systems.

Incentivized

Lifesize Video Conferencing is a real-time meeting and video conferencing solution that works simply and immediately with features that fit our needs. I recommend it because it is professional, easy to configure, with maximum security, and where collaboration and teamwork are essential. possible, increasing workflow and productivity, to increase communication and efficiency in projects, it offers positive results and a pleasant experience for all.

• Simplicity: Using a single 3CX interface we can manage every phone and extension used throughout our company.
• Flexibility: There are a wide variety of options to configure each extension and phone. Changing anything after the hardware is deployed is very easy.
• Portability: Phones with 3CX can be easily moved or repurposed within an office or at remote locations, including users' homes. The mobile app allows users to use their office extension anywhere without exposing their cell number.

Incentivized

• The touchpad makes it extremely easy to join or start conference calls with a single pushbutton.
• The Lifesize solution is affordable and has been extremely reliable for our video conference calls.
• Camera quality is great and provides clear video for our organization.
• The pan/tilt/zoom features are very helpful to focus in on specific people or items during a training or demonstration.

Incentivized

• I would like to be able to see direct-dial numbers on the handsets. Currently that is not possible but that would be a nice feature.
• You need an SBC per location, which can be a point of failure.
• You also need a server that might get disconnected, which is another point of failure.

Incentivized

• Lack of features or options to integrate with other solutions
• Audio was just ok. If it was a meeting with more than 3-4 people, it seemed it was too much
• I had a hard time with support. They were not very responsive and felt like an up-hill battle at times.

Incentivized

Other than the HIPAA compliance, we have no compelling reason to retain LifeSize when we can already pay for similar services included with our UCaaS service. Our UCaaS vendor, Fuze, includes video conferencing with the VoIP services via single, integrated client software package. Additional limitations include minimal implementation assistance, training service, training materials and assistance driving internal adoption. Issues with slow speed for desktop sharing and audio quality make the technical aspects of Lifesize inferior to competitors.

Incentivized

Overall experience with Lifesize Video Conferencing has been great. While it serves it's basic purpose of allowing smooth video/audio meetings of people located at different places with option of screen sharing/chatting/ recording, what add to it's pros are it's accessibility from various platforms, flexibility to switch to a listen only mode in case of network issues and ease of operation.

Incentivized

Since we are an educational institution we not only have scheduled classes which must be available, but we have staff members in a variety of areas ranging from recruiting and admissions to advancement and the President's office who need to connect with students, alumni and other interest groups, often at odd hours. I have not, since using Lifesize had anyone complain of not being able to connect

Incentivized

Lifesize is an amazing platform for VC. However, it is a costly solution for any scaling startup. However, implementation and user acceptability was fairly easy and worth the additional spend. Quality has always been on point and support has always taken care of us. Our account manager also ensured a seamless transition process for Google Hangouts. Will go with this solution again at any other organization.

Incentivized

The 3CX Phone System is only a five because while they provide set-up/how-to/Q and A documents to help your district or company get started, they do not offer support for free. The documents provided, though, are good enough for you to get you up and running. We also found a good source of help through a sip trunk provider, which was a 3CX reseller provider.

Incentivized

Support has been decent throughout our use of Lifesize Video Conferencing. There were times we needed to make changes, customizations and additions to the application which took a little longer than expected. Overall the support team for Lifesize was very responsive to our requests. When we experienced issues with the application they were resolved to our expectations.

Incentivized

Sensus was really helpful in the initial setup and training of our technical Support Team. Sensus gave us training on site so that it would be our own equipment that was set up. Then the in house tech team took over to train other users who would be using the system. When needed the Sensus and Lifesize tech support were really helpful in trouble shooting or guiding us through any difficulty.

Incentivized

I gave this rating because Lifesize's website offers multiple quality videos that shows you exactly how the software works. The videos are divided into different categories which makes searching for a video fairly simple! If for some reason you have a question not answered in one of the how-tos you can always contact support. Excellent product, excellent service!

Incentivized

Great for companies that need to accomplish multiple things at once while at different places. From our experience, broadcasting news is most favorable considering the level of excellence you get with the product plus the affordability. It can be used both privately amongst employees, or shared publicly through covering events

Incentivized

The main differences between 8x8, Inc. and 3CX is pricing and ease of use in my opinion. The 3CX system uses annual based pricing plans based on of simultaneous calls your company needs, not the number of extensions/users and offers a free plan. 8x8, Inc. charges per extension with different plans. We currently have 19 extensions so the 3CX system makes more sense for us, however, if your company only has a few extensions you may want to throughly consider both options. In my experience, it was difficult to add new extensions and phones with 8x8 because at least at that time we had 8x8 I could not add anything on the web admin. I had to call a sales rep which took a lot more time. Also, if you didn't purchase a phone and/or headset directly from 8x8 at a usually higher price than Amazon for example then you would have to spend anywhere from 30 minutes to hours on the phone with 8x8 tech support to program the phone to work with the 8x8 system so adding a new extension could turn into a long ordeal. I can easily add new extensions on 3CX directly in the web cpanel. Granted, if you are actually adding a new phone number you would need to purchase that number from a company like ATT first before adding it to 3CX. The difference between a phone number and an extension would be a phone number allows a customer to call in directly using that number. The extension would require the customer to call the main business number then be transferred to the extension. 3CX provides a list of supported phone models on their website

Incentivized

When compared to Zoom, one of the massive benefits that Lifesize brings is total peace of mind with security. Call encryption is part of the core in Lifesize and not an optional feature as in Zoom. I don't know about you, but every conversation can contain private and confidential information, so protecting me, my team, and my customers is totally covered with Lifesize! When compared with other providers, the quality of the video and lip sync on Lifesize is simply flawless. With the ability to deliver a call at 4k ultra high definition at 60 frames per second, the platform is simply awesome! Zoom is only 720p and the data share is only 5 frames per second. Zoom is simply substandard when compared to Lifesize. We often speak with clients who are using Teams or Skype for Business, but when you compare the video and audio quality with that achieved by Lifesize, they simply do not match up. If you want excellent quality video and ultra-sharp audio, then Lifesize is the only way to go!

With LifeSize Cloud, it's very easy to simply add another Icon to your system and join it to your cloud. You can easily and instantly create meetings and add users both in your organization and out without any difficulty. The cooperation between the Icons and cloud users running on their laptops makes it easy to scale this out to your entire company, including joint venture without difficulty.

Incentivized

• 3CX has a lot to offer for a very low cost as its business model is based on simultaneous calls and not per device. It's very cost effective and very affordable.
• As the 3CX server does not require a high-performance server to run, with the Public Cloud option, it might allow even further savings.

Incentivized

• Training users on how to use the software is quick and easy.
• Calling abroad saves a good chunk of money for both the end user and company.
• Does save on travel as remote users are able to have a similar experience as the people attending the meetings and no need to travel to the other locations for meetings.

Incentivized