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Join.me (discontinued) vs. Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Join.me (discontinued)

    Score9.8 out of 10
    N/AJoin.me, once acquired by LogMeIn in 2019, was an audio, video, and web conferencing tool targeted at SMBs. Its software can be used across various devices and includes features such as one-click scheduling, personal links, interactive whiteboards, and presenter swapping. It has since been discontinued.

    $10

    per month

    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board

    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Social Squared is a SharePoint Discussion Board App that can be deployed across SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams. Social Squared improves productivity and efficiency by providing structured discussion forums for employee and student discussions. For Microsoft SharePoint Social Squared is a SharePoint discussion board application where users can post questions within relevant forums and receive answers to their questions from subject matter experts. The…

    $2,200

    per year per installation

    Pricing
    Join.me (discontinued)Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Editions & Modules
    Lite
    $10.00
    Month
    Pro
    $10.00
    Month
    Business
    $10.00
    Month
    Social Squared Discussion Board
    From $2200
    per year per installation
    Social Squared Discussion Board Enterprise Edition
    POA
    per year per installation
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Join.me (discontinued)Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Prices stated are minimum per installation for "stock" products. $2.20 per user/year on top of base price. Enterprise editions can be amended to suit business needs if deemed necessary, additional costs incurred and TBD. All packages include free technical support. Free upgrades available to latest versions of tool as they are released.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Join.me (discontinued)Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Lightning Tools
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    77%
    Would buy again
    30 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    91%
    Delivers good value for the price
    29 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    85%
    Happy with the feature set
    33 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    20 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    26 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Join.me (discontinued)Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
    Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Join.me (discontinued) and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Join.me (discontinued)
    7.8
    75 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    -
    Ratings
    High quality audio8.566 Ratings00 Ratings
    High quality video8.269 Ratings00 Ratings
    Low bandwidth requirements7.059 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile support7.336 Ratings00 Ratings
    Screen Sharing
    Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Join.me (discontinued) and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Join.me (discontinued)
    7.9
    73 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    -
    Ratings
    Desktop sharing8.573 Ratings00 Ratings
    Whiteboards7.433 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Meetings / Events
    Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Join.me (discontinued) and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Join.me (discontinued)
    8.0
    69 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    -
    Ratings
    Calendar integration8.551 Ratings00 Ratings
    Meeting initiation8.464 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with social media7.121 Ratings00 Ratings
    Record meetings / events8.052 Ratings00 Ratings
    Slideshows8.035 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Events Collaboration
    Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Join.me (discontinued) and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Join.me (discontinued)
    8.1
    59 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    -
    Ratings
    Live chat8.759 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audience polling7.720 Ratings00 Ratings
    Q&A7.826 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Events Security
    Comparison of Online Events Security features of Join.me (discontinued) and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Join.me (discontinued)
    8.3
    58 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    -
    Ratings
    User authentication8.244 Ratings00 Ratings
    Participant roles & permissions8.251 Ratings00 Ratings
    Confidential attendee list8.433 Ratings00 Ratings
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of Join.me (discontinued) and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Join.me (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Mobile Access00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Search00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of Join.me (discontinued) and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Join.me (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Chat00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Notifications00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Discussions00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Join.me (discontinued) and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Join.me (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Versioning00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Video files00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Audio files00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Document collaboration00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Access control00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Join.me (discontinued)Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Small Businesses
    ClickMeeting
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    JioMeet
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Webex Meetings
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Join.me (discontinued)Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.1
    (76 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.8
    (25 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Join.me (discontinued)Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    I would neither recommend nor dissuade anyone from using Join.Me. When it first came on the scene, it was a game-changer as far as providing remote access to other authorized individuals and helped save a great deal of time trying to walk someone less proficient through all the detailed steps of computer repair. However, with the proliferation of Zoom and other conferencing products that also provide built-in remote access through its service, the need for a separate application is now limited and not as essential as its own product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    Their customer service it top notch and always responsive. I struggled in the beginning a little bit because I'm not tech savvy and we had to add it to our SharePoint site but they helped me along the way and even had share screen meetings with me to assist!!
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • No need to download anything to get started. Once you sign up you can get started from within your browser. This is probably the single best feature, its a get up and go solution for video conferencing and you do not need any software for it to work.
    • The one click join a meeting URL is genius. Users who struggle with remembering passwords or invites can just click a link and immediately participate in a meeting which means one email and a couple of clicks and a meeting can start.
    • Good control features - As the main user, you have many control features including deciding who can speak, annotations, screen sharing easily.
    • Screen Recordings to the Cloud - This can save on time when you have had a long conference, you can save a recording to the cloud and download it later.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    • Organizing Data
    • Opens up discussion, whether publicly or anonymously
    • Easy to setup
    Read full review
    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • There should be a complete guide to understand its features before installation because if one feature will be missed then, we can’t get them working properly.
    • Furthermore, there should be high-quality internet for getting its function and it won’t work without good network coverage.
    • I think its interface is a little hard for beginners and is not that user friendly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    • I would love to be able to assign various people as administrators of different topics (this may be an option now but a couple years ago it wasn't)
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    This platform enables a very high ROI for the solution that it provides to our team to support our end-users.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    Join.me is one of the easiest programs I've ever used. It's so easy to get it set up and installed and even easier for someone to join a meeting. The controls are very intuitive and labeled appropriately. The UIX makes sense. It's been a reliable product in my app stack-I love it!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    Our employees really like the fact that they can find things easily with the search feature and add questions and comments as they see fit.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    I honestly haven't reached out to their Support team. I get notifications of what they are working on which is good to see, but I haven't directly spoken with any of them. I think my main reason for this is that join.me gives me just what I need (not much more and not much less).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Discontinued Products
    This is a fairly simple product which doesn't require much "implementation" work for our use cases.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    If you're looking for something basic that handles a little bit of everything when it comes to meetings, screen shares and remote desktop control join.me is a great options. If you're a super user and really wanting a lot of detailed features and rich user interfaces and money is not an issue you may want to consider use specific options.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • Customer support solution - join.me has made it so much easier to quickly get with a customer and see their trouble and show them a solution. This saves lots of back and forth time and gives the customer more power over owning their solution.
    • More efficient communication - without join.me we would waste time going back and forth on emails or slack trying to get our message across. Join.me lets us quickly show AND tell others what's going on. I honestly don't know how we ever functioned without it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    • We signed up for a 3 year contract and hope to do another 3yr contract when this one is up. :)
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board Screenshots

    Screenshot of MODERN, RESPONSIVE SHAREPOINT DISCUSSION BOARD
Discussion Forums can be created for a variety of different reasons. This example is a Forum Group for the Microsoft 365 technologies such as Teams, Planner, and SharePoint. Forums are then created within the Forum Groups for more specific discussions. Under the SharePoint Forum Group, there is a Forum for SharePoint On-Premises and SharePoint Online. Anyone looking to ask a question regarding SharePoint 2019 for example would be able to post their question under SharePoint On-Premises rather than SharePoint Online. This also allows subject matter experts to focus more on the questions that they can respond to and provide value.Screenshot of SHAREPOINT DISCUSS BOARD – TOPICS VIEW
When navigating into a forum, the topics and discussions that are taking place are shown. Any new topics that not yet read will be highlighted. It also displays whether topics have been answered, their average ratings, how many views and posts are within the topic, and also provides the ability to subscribe to the forum to be notified of new posts within it.Screenshot of READING DISCUSSIONS AND PROVIDING FEEDBACK
Social Squared offers a threaded discussion view with the ability to provide feedback to other users.

Posts can be rated, voted upon, or liked by users in order to give feedback to the user creating or responding to a post. Additionally, replies can be marked as answered or marked as featured, which gives readers of forums assurance that the response they are reading is validated to be the correct answer.

Users also receive feedback through the earning of badges. The more users post or mark posts as answered, the more points are rewarded. This makes it easy to spot subject matter experts.Screenshot of SUGGESTED TAGS
Social Squared provides a rich text editor for creating and replying to topics. The Rich Text toolbar provides functionality such as inserting images, YouTube videos, Stream Videos, Formatted Code Inserts, as well as font formatting.

While typing, suggestions on how to tag a post appear. Selecting an existing tag will provide consistency in the tags used making it easier for other users to discover the post.Screenshot of SOCIAL SQUARED TAG CLOUD VIEW
The Social Squared Tag Cloud view makes it easy to navigate to posts within a specific category even if they span multiple forums. The more a tag appears in different posts, the more prominent it will be in the tag cloud. Users can navigate to posts with the tag in one click.Screenshot of DISCUSSION BOARD WITHIN MICROSOFT TEAMS TAB
Social Squared is a Discussion Board App for Microsoft Teams Tab’s and Microsoft Teams Personal Apps. Social Squared provides information workers the ability to post questions within relevant forums, and receive answers from their team. The Discussion Board layout for posts makes it easier to find answers to questions that may have already been asked before. Through features such as “Mark as Answered”, “Forum Moderation”, “Post Rating”, “Post Likes”, “Post Voting”, users will be assured that the answers they are reading are validated.