Dialpad Connect vs. HCL Sametime

I like that it allows for a seamless transition of calls between our 2 offices. I don't have to forward or un-forward phones at the beginning and end of my day. Our offices are on a specific schedule which opens the phone lines at a certain time, transfers them to another office at another time, and then sends them to an after hours number when we close. I also like how easy it is to change settings within our different departments and contact centers. It's a very well-rounded program that is easy to use on your computer or phone.

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.

Incentivized

• Ease of signing on and calling in
• Clear audio/sound, no static or poor connections
• Can choose to be on video or not
• The organizer and participants can see all who are on the call
• Meetings can be auto-recorded and sent to organizer at end of call
• Hold music can be played for initial caller
• Meeting is auto-transcribed
• Action items are automatically listed for the organizer
• Summary list shows all who were in attendance
• Summary shows duration of callers on the meeting
• Can load images of attendees when setting of the meeting

• 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.

Incentivized

• The only example I can list for improvement is that occasionally the message has some mistranslation(s). But I can usually figure out the missing words. The 'southern USA' dialect may be partly to blame....
• The functionality is really great. It is the best app I have used for messages in all of my customer service jobs.

Incentivized

• Not convenient for a large group meeting.
• Very basic tool for internal communication only not available for third party communication
• Very basic and limited mobile app features.
• High speed connection is needed to connect to Sametime

Incentivized

Dialpad Talk is easy to use and no one has had a problem using it. Even when we have had questions/problems we have been able to fix it ourselves without having to go to Dialpad to ask for help, which saves everyone time. We don't have any reason to cancel our use of this product and we are very happy with how it performs for our team.

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

Overall, it is quite user-friendly and quick to set up, even for beginner levels. It is also easy to onboard new hires and get them to take calls quickly. The main complaint is that the analytics are difficult to find, gather, and interpret.

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

There have not been any outages that I am aware of and we have had consistently good coverage since the start. There can be a slight lag from the office to the mobile app, but it is not terribly noticeable and it has not resulted in any calls being prematurely hung up

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

The emails of voice transcription come very quickly after a call has been completed and except for a few fairly difficult names are pretty accurate. The ability to quickly listen to the voicemail from email without having to open the app is also a bonus. I have not noticed or heard of any slowdowns

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

The original date for roll-out, was unable to happen because there was an issue finding our existing phone lines to port them... The only reason I gave a 9 is [that] the original person we have been working with, Rolled out phones. Pro without telling anyone and then went on vacation, I only say this to explain that there is a gentleman that took over to help us named Brett and he was FANTASTIC! He allowed a ton of calls and answered all of them, walked us [through] settings, profile set up, and even emailed screen shares so we could help other members of our team! Thanks so much, Brett you ROCK~

Incentivized

I have not needed to use the Sametime support team. Our local support team was able to configure it for me.

Incentivized

Welcoming and easy to follow the instruction

Simple and easy to follow, we had our branches around the country to be trained and the feedback was great. Only take if there was a desk phone training that would be great. The team provided us with video for the desk phone training

I didn't participate in the implementation. But obviously it went flawlessly, as all users are set up in-house, and on the app.

Incentivized

Panterra is dependable and has good support. Dialpad Connect has more features and an easier interface. AT&T has a lot of features, but Dialpad Connect's interface is easier. AT&T does not do call transcription that I know of. Comcast BVE and 8x8 services are lower quality and service is not great.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

Overall program is of average cost. SInce I use it simply for its phone/text capabilities. I would hazard that company that needed more options, might see it differently

Incentivized

So far, Dialpad has been a great improvement for our organization. It allows everyone to be on the same service and the integration with the mobile app means everyone is still using the "office" numbers even when on the go which makes it easier not having to balance multiple phone numbers from people

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

• Saves me time with a downloadable transcript for call documentation.
• All calls are automatically recorded, which provides proof of what was said.
• Translation availability using IVR and AI language allows us to communicate with all families without needing to find a translator.

Incentivized

• Sametime keeps many of our team members in contact throughout the day which leads to increased productivity which makes everyone happy.
• We use the team chat room feature every day. This allows a team to stay focused on the task without any extra messages that are not on topic.
• The split between IBM Sametime, Slack and Google Hangouts has caused some issues when team members are not checking for messages on a certain app.

Incentivized