TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Zendesk Talk

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AZendesk Talk is call center software built on the Twilio cloud communication platform that integrates with the Zendesk Support ticketing system. This allows customer service teams to provide phone support from the same platform they use to manage all other channels.N/A
    Pricing
    HCL SametimeZendesk Talk
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    HCL SametimeZendesk Talk
    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
    HCL SametimeZendesk Talk
    Considered Both Products
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Zendesk
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    14 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    12 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    14 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    90%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    9 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    14 Answers
    Features
    HCL SametimeZendesk Talk
    Cloud PBX
    Comparison of Cloud PBX features of HCL Sametime and Zendesk Talk
    Feature
    HCL Sametime
    8.4
    7 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Zendesk Talk
    -
    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 HCL Sametime and Zendesk Talk
    Feature
    HCL Sametime
    8.0
    8 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Zendesk Talk
    -
    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 HCL Sametime and Zendesk Talk
    Feature
    HCL Sametime
    8.0
    6 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Zendesk Talk
    -
    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 HCL Sametime and Zendesk Talk
    Feature
    HCL Sametime
    8.0
    8 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Zendesk Talk
    -
    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 HCL Sametime and Zendesk Talk
    Feature
    HCL Sametime
    -
    Ratings
    Zendesk Talk
    7.8
    16 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Agent dashboard00 Ratings9.916 Ratings
    Validate callers00 Ratings6.012 Ratings
    Outbound response00 Ratings10.014 Ratings
    Call forwarding00 Ratings8.915 Ratings
    Click-to-call (CTC)00 Ratings10.013 Ratings
    Warm transfer00 Ratings9.912 Ratings
    Predictive dialing00 Ratings5.08 Ratings
    Interactive voice response00 Ratings10.010 Ratings
    REST APIs00 Ratings5.07 Ratings
    Call scripts00 Ratings7.06 Ratings
    Call tracking00 Ratings9.914 Ratings
    Multichannel integration00 Ratings5.110 Ratings
    CRM software integration00 Ratings5.09 Ratings
    Workforce Optimization (WFO)
    Comparison of Workforce Optimization (WFO) features of HCL Sametime and Zendesk Talk
    Feature
    HCL Sametime
    -
    Ratings
    Zendesk Talk
    7.8
    16 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Inbound call routing00 Ratings9.912 Ratings
    Omnichannel inbound routing00 Ratings5.110 Ratings
    Recording00 Ratings9.915 Ratings
    Quality management00 Ratings9.913 Ratings
    Call analytics00 Ratings8.913 Ratings
    Historical reporting00 Ratings8.913 Ratings
    Live reporting00 Ratings4.914 Ratings
    Customer surveys00 Ratings5.08 Ratings
    Customer interaction analytics00 Ratings8.19 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    HCL SametimeZendesk Talk
    Small Businesses
    CallFire
    Score9.7 out of 10
    CloudTalk
    Score7.6 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Fuze
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Genesys Multicloud CX (discontinued)
    Score8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Bright Pattern Contact Center
    Score8.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    HCL SametimeZendesk Talk
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (10 ratings)
    9.9
    (16 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.6
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.3
    (4 ratings)
    5.0
    (3 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    HCL SametimeZendesk Talk
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    Zendesk
    Zendesk Talk is a great partner that helps us in the customer care area by managing every type of contact with customers (both phone calls and emails). I know there is also the possibility to have integration with instant messaging apps (like messenger and WhatsApp but I have never used them in my experience). In my opinion, the best scenario for Zendesk Talk is represented by a context with a high amount of contacts/requests where a unique platform could be a help both on the external side (customers) and on the internal side (a lot of colleagues who are working in the same area and have to work in a coordinate way). For customers, they could benefit from tailor-made answers, also based on past contacts for the same topic, and avoid waiting times during phone calls, with an immediate follow-up. For internal work management, operators don't overlap in a single request, and even if the same operator is not available the one who manages the request later has complete visibility of the entire topic from the historical point of view. Last but not least, I think that Zendesk Talk helps a lot in the context in which the request's speed is a KPI to manage constantly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    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 & 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
    Zendesk
    • Call recording is a nice feature! It is great for training purposes and for quality assurance.
    • The metrics you get from Explore are a great insight into how the team is handling the call volumes.
    • Zendesk Talk has met most of our needs. It can be a bit unreliable at times.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Zendesk
    • The lag on the phone is by far the most annoying thing with Zendesk talk due to the voice over IP.
    • Using the Reporting feature in Zendesk has never been a walk in the park. We have to customize a lot of fields and when something doesn't seem to add up, it at times feels like pulling teeth to get to the final answer of what went wrong.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    Zendesk
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    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
    Zendesk
    Everything about it works, as I have previously detailed. Coming from different companies and using other tools like Twilio or Aircall, those are VOIP tools that are built to be plugged into other tools, Zendesk Talk is natively built into Zendesk and feels correct in the user experience of Zendesk
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    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
    Zendesk
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    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
    Zendesk
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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
    Zendesk
    In our experience, we have had to go through many support people then ultimately getting frustrated enough to go directly to our point of contact who then doesn't always seem to be able to assist. We tend to get the support we need when it is escalated up to me and I reach out to our point of a contact person to express our frustration.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    Zendesk
    Slack and Zoom phones cannot compare because they have no ticketing systems. Zendesk Talk was the only option we considered because we were already using Zendesk for our email ticketing with customer concerns. We then expanded to using Zendesk's chatbot and then the Zendesk Talk system to keep it all integrated and streamlined.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    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
    Zendesk
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    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
    Zendesk
    • We were able to reduce global headcount by 20% in our call centers.
    • Allowing customers to leave voicemails creates the personal touch needed and really increases our customer connectivity score. We saw increases in our CSAT scores after the implementation of this solution.
    • Call handling time and case reopen rates both decreased. Y/y it decreased 18% and 60%.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots