Broadvoice is a provider of hosted voice, UCaaS, CCaaS, and CX solutions for small and mid-market enterprises and BPOs. Broadvoice solutions offer enterprise-class features to simplify communications and streamline operations.
$10
monthly, 12 or 36 months per seat
HCL Sametime
Score 7.6 out of 10
N/A
HCL Sametime (formerly IBM Lotus Sametime, acquired by HCL Technologies from IBM in 2018) is an enterprise-level unified communications and VoIP platform. It includes features such as instant messaging, web conferencing, voice and video integration, telephony capabilities, and presence information.
Broadvoice is extremely robust and well-suited for a variety of contexts, but I think it excels best in tighter-knit work environments where contacting each other is the main use as opposed to receiving many incoming calls from outside guests. There have been a few instances where I think the features would conflict with user intention -- namely, having a number linked to two different phones, but one phone was meant more for receiving outside calls and the other was an office phone in the same area. Because of this, if a guest called, it would disturb the office, but if a vendor called, the guest phone would also ring, leading to confusion. I think this is an instance of the peer ecosystem conflicting with a more customer-facing need, but if a peer line needed to contact that department, it is best to have both of them ring.
Sametime is well suited for very quick conversations, where you know the person is an active Sametime user. It also serves as an easy way to reach out to someone you may not know when looking for an answer to a quick question, as they are likely to be a Sametime user. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to use Sametime for Audio or Video chat. The quality and reliability are horrendous.
Broadvoice is excellent for customizing/tailoring to a business's specific needs.
Tech Support is easy to reach, and provides consistent help.
Onboarding new customers is very thorough and supportive. Changing phone systems is overwhelming and time-consuming. Broadvoice makes it as easy as possible with clear expectations and fantastic training.
Sametime's web-based interfaces are "zero load", requiring no plug-ins to be installed to join a meeting, launch a meeting, or use chat in a browser. A plugin is required only if you want to share your screen.
Integration with IBM Notes is very tight. Sametime's chat status can change according to your Notes calendar. You can easily see if someone who just emailed you is available to chat. Your chat History is right inside Notes as well.
IBM's mobile apps are top notch. We automated the apps for our users thanks to IBM's work with third party MDMs. This made it very simple for us to deploy the Sametime mobile apps -- Chat and Meetings -- and get new capabilities such as Audio & Video mobilized quickly.
No down time, ever. The rock solid WebSphere back-end of Sametime means the environment is always up. Period.
When changing users on the URL page there are some steps that can be a bit clunky based on the type of phone you're using.
Separating users devices into multiple locations inside the URL is nice but you're not able to move those users around if they do change spots in the company.
For some reason within the b-hive mobile app if I miss a call and then go into the app to check the call and exit the app I still show a notification icon constantly. It seems to be related to the the Chat portion of the app. If you go to that part of the app and refresh when you exit the app the notification icon is gone.
Broadvoice is an ideal value. It's not the best possible IP based phone system but it's easily one of the best options if cost is a factor. We got a capable and easy to use product while lowering our costs, a total win-win.
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.
Once the phones are operational it just works. Broadvoice will customize the phones the way you want not they way they want you to have. There are several different ringtones to choose from. Also, Broadvoice can make the volume of phone calls to stay at whatever level you set them at
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.
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.
Any issues are usually overcome fairly quickly. We don't utilize reports offered by the system - we are a small company and the monitoring that would provide is just not something we would utilize.
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
Laura H. our Service Coordinator was exceptionally helpful when the inevitable hiccups occurred along the way. She calmly sought out solutions that kept the project moving so that we could meet our move-out/move-in deadlines. Also, their 24/7 Business Support line is staffed with knowledgeable people that answer my questions quickly and accurately.
Overcame obstacles of everyone being in different places. Trainer was excellent (do not remember her name!). Open to all questions no matter how technical. The feedback from my colleagues were they were happy
It was straightforward to set up. The phone was delivered prior to installation. The script and routing of calls were established prior to installation as well. The on-site technician installed each phone and offered training to anyone who asked. The main setup for hours, calls, and extensions was already set up via online meeting, making the phone install on-site a seamless experience.
We used Comcast mobility lines for years, but compared to Broadvoice, they have a long way to go. I would sometimes have to call Comcast because their website wouldn't let me connect, while their side was showing no issues.
We use Jabber globally in our company and Symphony (no relevant app in able list) in some of the teams as well. All these are instant messenger tools, but Sametime is the easiest one to be used and its chat history is easy to be searched. Sametime can be used to contact almost all internal staff as it’s included in default computer package. Symphony is used to chat with front end business while Jabber is used for call.
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.
