HipChat (discontinued) vs. Lifesize Video Conferencing vs. Skype for Business / Lync (discontinued)

Well suited for

Cross-teams communication.

Webhooks support. Easy integrations with Atlassian products and other systems as well. File sharing directly or in a group. Video/Audio calls.

Not suited for:

Lacks apps integration like Slack.

Lacks quality with video calls.

Slow file transfer for large files.

Frequent downtime due to app instability.

Incentivized

Lifesize Video Conferencing is a real-time meeting and video conferencing solution that works simply and immediately with features that fit our needs. I recommend it because it is professional, easy to configure, with maximum security, and where collaboration and teamwork are essential. possible, increasing workflow and productivity, to increase communication and efficiency in projects, it offers positive results and a pleasant experience for all.

Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams is a remote/virtual team collaboration tool must have...especially if you already use Microsoft tools. Of course, since it now part of an MS 365 subscription, it really doesn't make sense to use anything else. It is easy to use and just works. I'm not sure how anyone who works with digital files/documents and needs to work with other people doing similar work can be effective without such a tool. Of course, there are a number of alternatives like Zoom or Webex, but why pay or use another separate tool if you don't need to. :-)

Incentivized

• HipChat is very stable and reliable. I have never had issues with not being able to connect or being able to communicate with others on HipChat.
• HipChat integrates quite well with other applications, such as Jira and Stash. This is a main selling point for my team. It provides a convenient feed of actions on a JIRA story or Stash pull request.
• HipCat does a good job of allowing 1-1 and group chats. It is simple to start a new conversation and it is easy to hold a group conversation and keep track of who is in the room.
• I like how HipChat has away/here/on mobile statuses. This makes it easy to see if a person is available to be contacted.

Incentivized

• The touchpad makes it extremely easy to join or start conference calls with a single pushbutton.
• The Lifesize solution is affordable and has been extremely reliable for our video conference calls.
• Camera quality is great and provides clear video for our organization.
• The pan/tilt/zoom features are very helpful to focus in on specific people or items during a training or demonstration.

Incentivized

• Instant messaging to anyone who we know only by name/email. Even if they're offline, they get the message in missed convos and a notification automatically goes to them via Outlook mail. All conversations are saved and accessible via Outlook.
• Video and voice calls are a norm in the WFH scenario, and an average employee has around 4-5 calls a day. Skype gives notifications for upcoming meetings, allows easy scheduling via outlook calendar, and its audio/video quality [is] reasonably good compared to the amount of data it consumes.
• Status availabilities - in the WFH scenario, you could be off for lunch, out of office, busy, sharing screens - and might not want to be disturbed. Skype allows you to do that, and in case you're off, ensures that you know that you have missed messages.
• Screen sharing - we have to share screens at least once or twice a day with a coworker when working on some issues/features, and Skype easily lets us do that. One of the best things about Skype is that the screen can be shared without being on a video/voice call - which is of immense advantage because oftentimes, you could prefer sharing the screen, while it [is] too noisy to talk.

• Mobile app is not very responsive on iOS. Sometimes connection to Hipchat servers is taking too long even on good networks.
• Both mobile and desktop versions have no alphabetical or recent sorting for groups and chat rooms.
• Video and audio calls are pretty useless, they're slow and not always work.
• The whole user interface is simple but very outdated - apparently Atlassian didn't focus too much on Hipchat even though they tried in the last 2 years.

Incentivized

• Lack of features or options to integrate with other solutions
• Audio was just ok. If it was a meeting with more than 3-4 people, it seemed it was too much
• I had a hard time with support. They were not very responsive and felt like an up-hill battle at times.

Incentivized

• Connection issues can be hard to diagnose when they come up(as some knowledge of server information may be needed to reestablish as the connection troubleshooting options on the sky are not as user-friendly as the rest of the platform.
• Some issues setting up camera/sound could use more info on troubleshooting options with playback sound, video, etc.
• Statuses sometimes are unreliable and do not display correctly .

Incentivized

If they fix the bugs the last update gave that are causing hipchat to crash more often.

Incentivized

Other than the HIPAA compliance, we have no compelling reason to retain LifeSize when we can already pay for similar services included with our UCaaS service. Our UCaaS vendor, Fuze, includes video conferencing with the VoIP services via single, integrated client software package. Additional limitations include minimal implementation assistance, training service, training materials and assistance driving internal adoption. Issues with slow speed for desktop sharing and audio quality make the technical aspects of Lifesize inferior to competitors.

Incentivized

The software is simple to install and configure. It is rather simple to explain for correct use. It is possible to profile users for the different functions offered. It is integrated quite completely with Outlook and with Active Directory security. It performs all communication functions well with one or more interlocutors and the possibility of granting control of your computer is convenient.

Incentivized

The app itself had a pleasant if not generic interface. As a user experience expert and engineer I can say the interface is fairly intuitive if not bland. It does what you expect it to do and it's available on iOS and Android devices. If I recall it was generally pretty light weight in terms of installation size.

Incentivized

Overall experience with Lifesize Video Conferencing has been great. While it serves it's basic purpose of allowing smooth video/audio meetings of people located at different places with option of screen sharing/chatting/ recording, what add to it's pros are it's accessibility from various platforms, flexibility to switch to a listen only mode in case of network issues and ease of operation.

Incentivized

Very easy to use. Even though Microsoft Teams has a lot of features and integrations, as a user I feel completely comfortable on finding what I need, getting information about the app extensions and using them. It's a very comprehensive tool, intuitive design and does not make me feel tired to be using it. I am glad with the current experience.

Since we are an educational institution we not only have scheduled classes which must be available, but we have staff members in a variety of areas ranging from recruiting and admissions to advancement and the President's office who need to connect with students, alumni and other interest groups, often at odd hours. I have not, since using Lifesize had anyone complain of not being able to connect

Incentivized

Lifesize is an amazing platform for VC. However, it is a costly solution for any scaling startup. However, implementation and user acceptability was fairly easy and worth the additional spend. Quality has always been on point and support has always taken care of us. Our account manager also ensured a seamless transition process for Google Hangouts. Will go with this solution again at any other organization.

Incentivized

HipChat support is good . Responds in timely manner when ever we have raised the request via email , phone and gives us continue update on the request .Though most of the questions are answered by HipChat FAQs , but they can still improve it and add more to the knowledge base .

Incentivized

Support has been decent throughout our use of Lifesize Video Conferencing. There were times we needed to make changes, customizations and additions to the application which took a little longer than expected. Overall the support team for Lifesize was very responsive to our requests. When we experienced issues with the application they were resolved to our expectations.

Incentivized

I have only had to reach out to the Support team at Skype for Business once with an issue, and I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the quickness and thoroughness of their response. The wait time was short and my question was dealt with politely and clearly, so I would say the support team has it together.

Incentivized

Sensus was really helpful in the initial setup and training of our technical Support Team. Sensus gave us training on site so that it would be our own equipment that was set up. Then the in house tech team took over to train other users who would be using the system. When needed the Sensus and Lifesize tech support were really helpful in trouble shooting or guiding us through any difficulty.

Incentivized

I gave this rating because Lifesize's website offers multiple quality videos that shows you exactly how the software works. The videos are divided into different categories which makes searching for a video fairly simple! If for some reason you have a question not answered in one of the how-tos you can always contact support. Excellent product, excellent service!

Incentivized

I don't have insights as I was not a part of the implementation. However, I love the end product

Incentivized

Great for companies that need to accomplish multiple things at once while at different places. From our experience, broadcasting news is most favorable considering the level of excellence you get with the product plus the affordability. It can be used both privately amongst employees, or shared publicly through covering events

Incentivized

Skpe for business is utilized company wide in regards to my company. Everyone not only uses it, but uses it often. It is an effective way of communicating. It also integrates very nicely with outlook and all conversation history is pushed to a folder within the outlook system. We also have it so that if someone misses a message, they are sent an email reminder saying that there is a message that went unread.

Incentivized

We tried a lot of chat clients before choosing HipChat. The Skype for Business UI on the Mac side was 5 years old and terrible. Mac users hated the app including our CTO. Cisco Jabber was expensive to license and maintain; Skype was open to the public which took time away due to users dealing with spam and could allow viruses and malware. HipChat being a closed product, centrally managed and available to try without an upfront investment was perfect for our environment. All our Agile teams have their own room, chat and can communicate with others quickly and easily.

Incentivized

When compared to Zoom, one of the massive benefits that Lifesize brings is total peace of mind with security. Call encryption is part of the core in Lifesize and not an optional feature as in Zoom. I don't know about you, but every conversation can contain private and confidential information, so protecting me, my team, and my customers is totally covered with Lifesize! When compared with other providers, the quality of the video and lip sync on Lifesize is simply flawless. With the ability to deliver a call at 4k ultra high definition at 60 frames per second, the platform is simply awesome! Zoom is only 720p and the data share is only 5 frames per second. Zoom is simply substandard when compared to Lifesize. We often speak with clients who are using Teams or Skype for Business, but when you compare the video and audio quality with that achieved by Lifesize, they simply do not match up. If you want excellent quality video and ultra-sharp audio, then Lifesize is the only way to go!

For the below reason I will always choose this app over its competitors: Better audio and video quality, Little to no disconnections or freezing when on a call/video conference Integrates well with mailbox/ calendar/ one drive, and SharePoint is easy to use

Actually I never shared of HipChat using with more than 25 persons in team simultaneously, but I believe it can be scaled for much largest collaboration teams. At least it works flawlessly for us, with transparent integration with Jira, and I am not see any reasons for some troubles for work at big scale.

Incentivized

With LifeSize Cloud, it's very easy to simply add another Icon to your system and join it to your cloud. You can easily and instantly create meetings and add users both in your organization and out without any difficulty. The cooperation between the Icons and cloud users running on their laptops makes it easy to scale this out to your entire company, including joint venture without difficulty.

Incentivized

• HipChat has increased the effiency with which I am able to communicate with my coworkers, particularly those who work out of other offices. Having a light, portable messaging solution has been beneficial for checking in on small things without the need to send emails or schedule phone calls.

Incentivized

• Training users on how to use the software is quick and easy.
• Calling abroad saves a good chunk of money for both the end user and company.
• Does save on travel as remote users are able to have a similar experience as the people attending the meetings and no need to travel to the other locations for meetings.

Incentivized

• Skype for Business has enabled a migration in part away from fixed line telephony and introduced the user to mobile working with a headset which cannot be overstated as being a game changer.
• Being able to schedule Skype for Business meetings through Outlook has meant meetings with colleagues without a meeting room has been a great enabler.

Incentivized