CloudTalk is cloud-based call center software for sales and support teams of all sizes, looking to improve customer experiences through more personalized, data-driven customer interactions. The vendor aims to help teams communicate clearly and efficiently. With CloudTalk users can get local, mobile or toll-free numbers from more than 140+ countries across the world. The vendor says they offer integration with important tools (such a CRM, Helpdesk, or…
$20
per user/month (invoiced annually)
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.
Cloudtalk is by far the best value-for-price software out there for call center solutions. Packed with features, very accessible, kind and accessible customer support, and cheap, especially when compared with their competitors for the same range of features. Easy entry-level software, especially if you're a startup that doesn't want to make big initial commitments but needs a solution that scales with the business.
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.
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.
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.
CloudTalk is super easy to use and has a great quality. It helps to communicate with the clients easily and we can feel that the sound quality is high, while speaking to the client and while listening to the recordings. This is for our department essential in our day to day work.
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.
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
They are skilled, experienced, and anytime I need something and contact the support time, I get the right person who understands my needs and reacts to them accordingly. So far I was only pleasantly surprised by the level of support these guys provide and coming from a customer service oriented background myself, I can only say keep it up guys, you are doing a fantastic job!
It was a gamble if I'm being honest, plus this is a very nuanced and intricate topic. We didn't necessarily substitute one for the other, it was a much needed state of affairs where we needed the call monitoring and agent tracking pros of CloudTalk more so than ever before.
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.
