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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AGenesys PureConnect was an omnichannel contact center platform that offered cloud-based or on-premise deployments. It featured a SIP-based architecture with VoIP capabilities, allowing companies to connect legacy voice systems and use existing phones. A legacy product, new users are encouraged to investigate Genesys Cloud.N/A

    HCL Sametime

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AHCL 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.N/A
    Pricing
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)HCL Sametime
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)HCL Sametime
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)HCL Sametime
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    60%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    88%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    80%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    57%
    Implementation went as expected
    4 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)HCL Sametime
    Contact Center Software
    Comparison of Contact Center Software features of Genesys PureConnect (discontinued) and HCL Sametime
    Feature
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)
    7.9
    64 Ratings
    7% below category average
    HCL Sametime
    -
    Ratings
    Agent dashboard6.755 Ratings00 Ratings
    Validate callers7.548 Ratings00 Ratings
    Outbound response8.541 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call forwarding7.756 Ratings00 Ratings
    Click-to-call (CTC)8.043 Ratings00 Ratings
    Warm transfer8.357 Ratings00 Ratings
    Predictive dialing8.036 Ratings00 Ratings
    Interactive voice response8.045 Ratings00 Ratings
    REST APIs7.037 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call scripts8.539 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call tracking7.755 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multichannel integration9.044 Ratings00 Ratings
    CRM software integration8.038 Ratings00 Ratings
    Workforce Optimization (WFO)
    Comparison of Workforce Optimization (WFO) features of Genesys PureConnect (discontinued) and HCL Sametime
    Feature
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)
    5.5
    54 Ratings
    41% below category average
    HCL Sametime
    -
    Ratings
    Inbound call routing6.551 Ratings00 Ratings
    Omnichannel inbound routing6.539 Ratings00 Ratings
    Recording4.552 Ratings00 Ratings
    Quality management4.546 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call analytics3.043 Ratings00 Ratings
    Historical reporting5.052 Ratings00 Ratings
    Live reporting6.548 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customer surveys8.035 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customer interaction analytics5.030 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cloud PBX
    Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Genesys PureConnect (discontinued) and HCL Sametime
    Feature
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    HCL Sametime
    8.4
    7 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Hosted PBX00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    User templates00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Call reports00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Directory of employee names00 Ratings8.07 Ratings
    Call Management
    Comparison of Call Management features of Genesys PureConnect (discontinued) and HCL Sametime
    Feature
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    HCL Sametime
    8.0
    8 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Answering rules00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    Call recording00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Call park00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Call screening00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Message alerts00 Ratings8.06 Ratings
    VoIP system collaboration
    Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Genesys PureConnect (discontinued) and HCL Sametime
    Feature
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    HCL Sametime
    8.0
    6 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Video conferencing00 Ratings8.06 Ratings
    Audio conferencing00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    Video screen sharing00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Instant messaging00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Mobile apps
    Comparison of Mobile apps features of Genesys PureConnect (discontinued) and HCL Sametime
    Feature
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    HCL Sametime
    8.0
    8 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Mobile app for iOS00 Ratings8.08 Ratings
    Mobile app for Android00 Ratings8.07 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)HCL Sametime
    Small Businesses
    Zendesk Talk
    Score8.2 out of 10
    CallFire
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Genesys Multicloud CX (discontinued)
    Score8 out of 10
    Fuze
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Bright Pattern Contact Center
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
    Score8.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)HCL Sametime
    Likelihood to Recommend
    5.3
    (116 ratings)
    7.0
    (10 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.6
    (12 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    7.3
    (12 ratings)
    8.6
    (2 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    8.8
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    4.0
    (12 ratings)
    8.3
    (4 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.2
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.3
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    6.1
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.1
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.8
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.8
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued)HCL Sametime
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    CIC is best suited for business models that rely on heavily leverage Data Integration especially one like ours that require real-time and high-speed data access for billing and customer integration. CIC is not well suited for small organizations < 50 where they are only answering phones in the course of doing business VS. the business is the phone.
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    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
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • Purely Software Based System: On Microsoft OS. It is an all software-based system making it easy to manage, integrate and interface with other systems
    • One Vendor: All modules, IVR, ACD, Dialer, WFM are from one vendor. So, no compatibility and latency issues at all.
    • Superb Notifier Service: You don't have to restart any process or service for a change to take effect.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    • 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 &amp; Video mobilized quickly.
    • No down time, ever. The rock solid WebSphere back-end of Sametime means the environment is always up. Period.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • Licensing can be challenging and very expensive.
    • Client templates are hard to administer and are built very different than the rest of the functionality.
    • Web desktop has been slow to come along and include all the features.
    • Optimizer is very sub-par product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    • 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
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    We are so embedded on Pure Connect that we like to progress with it. For instance, we are looking into ways to provide different solutions to our customers, help our business to succeed, and work in a better CX.
    One of the biggest advantages is that all is in one platform.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    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
    Read full review
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    The interface is only semi user-friendly on almost every front. Agent experience is lacking and we have found many limitations within the system. Workforce forecasting is not as robust as expected. Quality continues to be a struggle. Interaction searches are not robust.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    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
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Discontinued Products
    The application itself uses a hub and spoke model that can help isolate errors in one section of the application from the rest, creating a much more stable overall program. Of all of the outages that we've had with our contact center platform, I can count on one hand how often it was truly a Genesys issue rather than a network issue, server issue or issue with a platform relied upon for an integration (web services, db calls).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    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
    Read full review
    Performance
    Discontinued Products
    Some of the client applications take a bit of time on initial load, but with the move towards web based applications that issue is alleviated. You can tell that effort really isn't putting into the desktop apps any longer and that the client development effort is being put into bringing Interaction Connect closer to feature parity with the desktop (and bringing wholly new features to Connect). As far as IVR operations, web service calls, database operations: they all operate reasonably.
    Incentivized
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    HCLSoftware
    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
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    Some cases are resolved quickly others are taking longer and the reseller sometimes has to chase support several times and explain the issue seen several times. While being a direct customer before, I recognise this and it seems that when a case moves to another engineer they don’t read the previous case notes or don’t understand what has been done. This, from a customers perspective, slows down resolution times.
    Incentivized
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    HCLSoftware
    I have not needed to use the Sametime support team. Our local support team was able to configure it for me.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Discontinued Products
    I liked the setup of the whole class. The instructor knew the topic well enough to answer questions from entry level to a more advanced one.
    Instructor encouraged participation of the whole class and was able to engage every one. Also provided "real live" examples so everyone can relate to it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Discontinued Products
    The online training itself is good. You are provided resources and can self study to a certain point, but the pacing always felt off. Either snails pace or like trying to drink from a fire hose. I think this easily could have had to do with course material and my personal preparations, though. I would say my main gripe is that since the acquisition the team responsible for actually booking training is very unresponsive and often not knowledgeable about the courses they offer. Booking my last training was a real chore.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Discontinued Products
    Don't try to go the perfect solution as a first target. Work on answer the more needs with a simple solution. Then analyse and try again to answer the most needs with adding a bit if complexity only if require. No needs to customise straight from the beginning or deployment takes too long.
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    Call Manager, you had to buy all the components that are out of the box for PureConnect. The licensing model is more expensive on the Cisco side vs the Genesys PureConnect side. Lastly was on the Cisco side since you have to connect/integrate all the components on the cisco side you have to have so many vendors to install those parts. This drives the cost up even more so it was not worth going that route for our organization.
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    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
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Discontinued Products
    Genesys PureConnect's core and adjunct model allows for fairly easy growth in satellite locations via off site session managers, remote located media servers, remote content servers, etc to allow you to spread the infrastructure out while not pushing as much network traffic to your core data centers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    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
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • We're improving our CX by optimizing our call centers, using additional attributes and keys to identify the best rep for the job.
    • We are also streamlining the journey of each individual customer by using PureConnect as the central interface for omnichannel interactions, allowing us to pick up the conversation where we left off.
    • Using additional attributes that start with the contact center interaction, we're able to track a student journey and proactively step in - increasing our individualized support to focus on the student outcome.
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    • 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
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Genesys PureConnect (discontinued) Screenshots

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