Cisco Desk Series vs. MaestroConference

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Desk Series
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
A whiteboarding, videoconferencing and a second laptop display in one single device. The Cisco Desk Series delivers a collaboration experience to desks, in shared spaces, or small huddle spaces. Models include the Desk Pro, Desk, and Desk Mini. All Desk devices have advanced audio intelligence built in for distraction free meetings, a USB-C connection to pair devices wirelessly or dock a laptop.
$5,495
one-time fee **discounts available
MaestroConference
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
MaestroConference 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 Desk SeriesMaestroConference
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Desk SeriesMaestroConference
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Best Alternatives
Cisco Desk SeriesMaestroConference
Small Businesses
Zoom
Zoom
Score 8.2 out of 10
ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Cisco Webex DX80 (discontinued)
Cisco Webex DX80 (discontinued)
Score 9.2 out of 10
ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Webex DX80 (discontinued)
Cisco Webex DX80 (discontinued)
Score 9.2 out of 10
Google Meet
Google Meet
Score 8.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Desk SeriesMaestroConference
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(28 ratings)
8.3
(3 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
5.9
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Desk SeriesMaestroConference
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
The tool is great for having a day in and day out video calls with the client in today's COVID world, where physical interaction is limited and the best suited is for having meetings with clients and showcasing them the product demonstration, at a large scale as this has smooth video interaction and makes any large scale webinar a piece of cake while using it.
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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.
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Pros
Cisco
  • It charges my laptop while being an amazing secondary monitor.
  • Optimizes the video and audio with superior sound and microphones.
  • A very nice compact digital whiteboard.
  • Hooks in with Webex meetings and Teams in such a seamless way.
  • Handles calling like a desk phone and is natural to use.
  • Looks so beautiful and is such a great addition to your desk.
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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.
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Cons
Cisco
  • The WebRTC function that's used for certain meeting types should include a progress bar. A lot of users think the device is frozen.
  • At entry, the price was a bit high. I haven't bought one recently.
  • More backgrounds would be nice.
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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.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
Simple, Fantastic and always improving with software upgrades
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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.
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Support Rating
Cisco
I have not had to use support yet as our use of Webex Desk Pro is so new, but all the questions that I have had have been answered with such promptness and clarity that it is clear Cisco has a passion about this device and about providing high quality in all that they do. Their support is top notch and you will never need to fear when reaching out to them.
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MaestroConference
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
Organisation decided to went ahead with Cisco Webex Desk Pro becase of these following key differences: 1.- Microphone: Advanced noise-canceling microphone array vs Built-in microphone with Logitech MeetUp. 2.- Speakers: Superior Sound system vs Built-in speakerphone with Logitech MeetUp. 3.- Display: 27-inch 4K touchscreen vs. No touchscreen with Logitech MeetUp. Cisco TAC support is great.
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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
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Return on Investment
Cisco
  • For team work, projects are completed sooner and you can make a profit
  • Saving time and this means the possibility of more profit
  • If the number of projects is large, the investment will return quickly
  • The software license fee is too high
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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.
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ScreenShots

Cisco Desk Series Screenshots

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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