HCL Sametime vs. NICE CXone

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
HCL Sametime
Score 7.5 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.N/A
NICE CXone
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
NICE CXone is a cloud-based contact center platform that manages customer interactions across multiple communication channels. It includes features such as omnichannel routing, workforce optimization, automatic call distribution (ACD), interactive voice response (IVR) system, feedback management, and interaction analytics.
$71
per month per user
Pricing
HCL SametimeNICE CXone
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Digital Agent
$71
per month per user
Voice Agent
$94
per month per user
Omnichannel Agent
$110
per month per user
Essential Suite
$135
per month per user
Core Suite
$169
per month per user
Complete Suite
$209
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
HCL SametimeNICE CXone
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
HCL SametimeNICE CXone
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
HCL SametimeNICE CXone
Cloud PBX
Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
HCL Sametime
8.4
7 Ratings
2% above category average
NICE CXone
-
Ratings
Hosted PBX9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
User templates8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Call reports8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Directory of employee names8.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Call Management
Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
HCL Sametime
8.0
8 Ratings
5% below category average
NICE CXone
-
Ratings
Answering rules8.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Call recording8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Call park8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Call screening8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Message alerts8.06 Ratings00 Ratings
VoIP system collaboration
Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
HCL Sametime
8.0
6 Ratings
3% below category average
NICE CXone
-
Ratings
Video conferencing8.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Audio conferencing8.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Video screen sharing8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Instant messaging8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile apps
Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
HCL Sametime
8.0
8 Ratings
4% below category average
NICE CXone
-
Ratings
Mobile app for iOS8.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile app for Android8.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Contact Center Software
Comparison of Contact Center Software features of Product A and Product B
HCL Sametime
-
Ratings
NICE CXone
8.1
547 Ratings
3% below category average
Agent dashboard00 Ratings8.7527 Ratings
Validate callers00 Ratings8.3444 Ratings
Outbound response00 Ratings9.0464 Ratings
Call forwarding00 Ratings7.9420 Ratings
Click-to-call (CTC)00 Ratings8.2382 Ratings
Warm transfer00 Ratings8.5500 Ratings
Predictive dialing00 Ratings8.2302 Ratings
Interactive voice response00 Ratings8.9352 Ratings
REST APIs00 Ratings6.1285 Ratings
Call scripts00 Ratings6.2303 Ratings
Call tracking00 Ratings8.4481 Ratings
Multichannel integration00 Ratings8.3343 Ratings
CRM software integration00 Ratings9.2342 Ratings
Workforce Optimization (WFO)
Comparison of Workforce Optimization (WFO) features of Product A and Product B
HCL Sametime
-
Ratings
NICE CXone
7.9
525 Ratings
5% below category average
Inbound call routing00 Ratings8.0485 Ratings
Omnichannel inbound routing00 Ratings7.8354 Ratings
Recording00 Ratings8.4467 Ratings
Quality management00 Ratings7.5452 Ratings
Call analytics00 Ratings8.3460 Ratings
Historical reporting00 Ratings8.6451 Ratings
Live reporting00 Ratings8.3437 Ratings
Customer surveys00 Ratings5.9281 Ratings
Customer interaction analytics00 Ratings8.2299 Ratings
Best Alternatives
HCL SametimeNICE CXone
Small Businesses
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
Bright Pattern Contact Center
Bright Pattern Contact Center
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Google Cloud Contact Center AI
Google Cloud Contact Center AI
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
HCL SametimeNICE CXone
Likelihood to Recommend
7.0
(10 ratings)
8.4
(578 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.2
(24 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(2 ratings)
8.4
(552 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
3.7
(7 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.2
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(4 ratings)
8.0
(5 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
3.1
(4 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(5 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(8 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(4 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(1 ratings)
7.0
(4 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
6.7
(7 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
4.4
(5 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
4.4
(5 ratings)
User Testimonials
HCL SametimeNICE CXone
Likelihood to Recommend
HCL Technologies
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.
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NICE Systems
NICE CXone offers a comprehensive range of tools that cover every aspect of customer interaction, from omnichannel communication to analytics and workforce optimization. It makes it very simple for us administrators to provide everything the customer needs. At the moment, I cannot think of a scenario where CXone is less appropriate, at least when comparing it to its competitors.
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Pros
HCL Technologies
  • 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.
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NICE Systems
  • We can restrict the access for agents in this so that easily restrict them to avoid from the mistakes
  • The managers can easily setup a schedule via HOO for Holidays and during emergency which is more helpful.
  • The studio is more friendly with action items instead of coding, also the help option is very handy and easy to understand.
  • The call trace is more helpful and exact view of how the call process and it's very helpful for troubleshooting
  • Reporting is very easy and helpful.
  • Dashboard is awesome, no word to describe it
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Cons
HCL Technologies
  • 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
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NICE Systems
  • There can be changes in interface of the app, however it's still very good
  • I would appreciete detailed web page with all necessary information, but when I need anything, the customer support is very quick and provide all the information
  • Hardly to find any other :)
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Likelihood to Renew
HCL Technologies
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.
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NICE Systems
Nice made it possible for employees to work from anywhere with access to the internet, it made it possible to extract data from contacts in a very thorough way. In addition, the meticaes can be fully customized and the day-to-day monitoring of the operation is more visible.With nice, contacts with clients abroad became easier.
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Usability
HCL Technologies
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.
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NICE Systems
Things could be improved, such as call history and a user-friendly UI. Besides that, it was a great way to track and manage our team remotely, which changed the game for us post-covid. Everything else was pretty simple to use whether it was answering calls, dialing a customer, or leaving a voicemail. Overall, everything is very straightforward.
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Reliability and Availability
HCL Technologies
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.
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NICE Systems
NICE inContact CXone is available when you need it. I have been using it for about a year and I have never suffered any issues that caused my not to have access to the product. If there are updates, they must be downloaded and install in the background because I do not see them
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Performance
HCL Technologies
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
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NICE Systems
NICE inContact CXone performs very well even on old computers that are limited in resources. I use a older computer with limited memory and it seems to handle NICE inContact CXone very well in most cases. There will be times when it acts up for whatever reason bust over ninety percent of the time.
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Support Rating
HCL Technologies
I have not needed to use the Sametime support team. Our local support team was able to configure it for me.
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NICE Systems
inContact only allows specific users to contact them for support. Even though I use the product daily and it accounts for a large amount of my workload, I still have to contact an authorized user to create an incident. These users are managers and their schedules are very busy. This can result in delays in incidents being opened and resolved.
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In-Person Training
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
NICE Systems
We did not have face-to-face training and I believe that there was no mistake by nice, as the system was acquired amidst the pandemic and social restrictions.
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Online Training
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
NICE Systems
I would rate 10, since the explanations were far enough to catch all the usabilities.I would rate 10, since the explanations were far enough to catch all the usabilities.I would rate 10, since the explanations were far enough to catch all the usabilities.I would rate 10, since the explanations were far enough to catch all the usabilities.
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Implementation Rating
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
NICE Systems
In spite of not having a relevant participation in the implementation process, I understand that the main insights are, internal tests before presenting to the final customer, this avoids the highest delay in the acquisition process, such as more frequent errors, tests that may mitigate the errors at the time of implementation.
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Alternatives Considered
HCL Technologies
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.
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NICE Systems
When it comes to this specific situation (cell centers) NICE definitely has an ADP beat. The analytics, scheduling, and forecasts are extremely well-tailored for this situation. ADP has a more comprehensive solution in my opinion - I feel their UI and mobile app are also more user-friendly. But in terms of performance management functionality, NICE has a more robust system and is able to create additional metrics if we need them When I used ADP there were no custom options available.
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Scalability
HCL Technologies
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.
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NICE Systems
I rated 10, because Nice CX one is very much functional. You can simply acess it by website Nice, in any navigator, desktop, notebook or mobile, so you can in a fast way run on every departament of the company.
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Return on Investment
HCL Technologies
  • 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.
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NICE Systems
  • CXone's omnichannel capabilities and advanced analytics tools enable streamlined processes, increasing agent productivity and reducing handling times. This efficiency translates into cost savings by minimizing operational expenses and maximizing resource utilization.
  • With comprehensive insights into customer interactions and preferences, companies can deliver personalized experiences, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. With the Voice of the Customer tool, we are able to measure customer satisfaction and provide these statistics to potential future clients.
  • The cloud-based platform is very scalable, allowing us to quickly make adjustments to existing contact delivery as well as stand up new products in a more timely fashion.
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ScreenShots

NICE CXone Screenshots

Screenshot of CXone DashboardScreenshot of the Enlighten Copilot, which gives  agents smarter interactions, personalized coaching, and automation opportunities.Screenshot of CXone Workforce Management, the omnichannel forecasting and scheduling engine.Screenshot of CXone Studio, a visual tool that does not require programming skills, but instead empowers everyone—from business user to routing flow programmer—to build and manage routing flows for all channels.Screenshot of CXone Interaction Analytics, which is used to get actionable insights from every voice, digital, and self-service customer interaction.Screenshot of CXone Performance Management, used to align employee performance, contact center goals, and customer expectations with continuous improvement.