Mitel MiCollab is a collaboration and conferencing tool for enterprises, from Canadian company Mitel.
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Polycom RealPresence Group Series
Score 6.7 out of 10
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The Polycom RealPresence Group Series is a video conferencing codec that connects to a standards-based video conferencing infrastructure to allow users to make video conference calls. There are three products in the series – RealPresence Group 300, RealPresence Group 500, and RealPresence Group 700. It is certified to use with Office 365 and Skype for Business.
MiCollab is great for a large office to get users working from home and being able to use their home phone or cell phone like the desk phone at the office. This allows our live operators the ability to see if the end-user is on an active call before sending a new call to them. If you have a very small company of fewer than 10 people this might not be worth the investment as cell phones would work just as well.
If you're always working in the Polycom ecosystem then the Group Series codecs are reliable and the quality of the camera and microphones are extremely good. However, the system relies heavily on either having onsite server technology and/or cloud based bridging capability. In addition, the peripherals like cameras and microphones are quite expensive. Maintenance and support costs also make the ongoing investment a costly one
Mitel MiCollab is great for working remotely. The twinning feature to allow calls directed to my office phone to ring on my cell phone is extremely convenient.
The feature that allows you to set which device you want to ring (desk phone, PC, cell phone) is great as even when I am in the office, I prefer to just use my cell phone.
The customer support for the product is first-rate. They are always present and helpful when needed.
The only issue that we have experienced with Polycom RealPresence Group Series is the speed dial functionality. When attempting to use the speed dial buttons, the system occasionally sends a call through the computer system, not the phone. While the computer call option is valuable, not everyone can answer calls that way and we have had to do a manual lookup of an extension and call back when that happens.
The directory is slightly dated and unless you have a Skype for Business integration license, dialing users into a call is difficult. The Group Series Remote whilst minimalistic is actually more difficult to use than the previous HDX remote. Having to recharge the battery on the group series remote is both annoying and difficult as if you do not keep on top of it, you will be faced with a situation where the remote is not working and then have to try and find another one. Not ideal if you need to start a video call (assuming auto join has not been enabled in the admin portal).
Support is typically handled by a reseller. Buyers should evaluate the reseller as much as they evaluate Mitel for the product suite. The few times when the reseller was not able to handle the issue directly, Mitel did step up and quickly answer/address the question/issue.
I can't say I've needed support more than a handful of times. One was for trying to connect a Polycom Conference phone and a Real Presence together. After a few months, we came to the conclusion it wasn't possible, that was the only frustrating occurance with support. Any other time if we needed to RMA a device, it was very smooth.
MiCollab was great as a VOIP solution and general team collaboration solution, but it lacked in some areas, such as the mobile app, complex configuration and set up as well as the lack of user customization. Overall, the system is serviceable, but seemed rather vanilla compared to its competitors
Polycom RealPresence Group Series stands head and shoulders above Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex Meetings both for dependability and robust delivery of function. One established the meetings were very hard to break apart but easy to end when so desired. The installation of the devices, the training of technicians, and end-users were both intuitive and easy to manage, where the same interactions with Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex In my opinion, and experience, were challenging to work through.
I'm not a person in a position to really speak to this question as I'm only a user and not involved in purchasing such services. Overall, though, I believe we switched to this to save money and since we seem to be sticking with it, I have to assume that objective has been achieved.
Once pexip integrates Polycom/skype this will be a big win for us due to the RPTouch integrating the "one - touch join". This will increase adoption of video greatly.
Before the Group series with peripherals was implemented the cost of a video room was twice what it is today. Massive win.
Due to provisioning and automated firmware the IT involvement has been greatly reduced. No longer is there a need for manual changes to individual endpoints.
