Item: BlueJeans Meetings (discontinued)
Rating: 8
Author: Amy Miller

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Every week, I host a meeting with retirees for Senior Social Hour. We have had people join us from across the United States and Canada. In the past year, I learned that many Seniors may not know much about videoconferencing. BlueJeans offers an easy to use tool for them to connect, become engaged, learn new skills, and meet other Seniors while keeping them physically safe. Some weeks we have Seniors share a presentation about a favorite vacation or their personal interest. BlueJeans is easy to join and provides a quality presentation. I am able to record the sessions and share with others who were unable to attend the meeting.

Pros and Cons

Simple login process.
Easy to schedule meetings.
Has a seamless mobile and PC experience.

Better troubleshooting; especially issues with audio.
Compress videos from recordings.
Allow better editing functions for videos.

Return on Investment

In 2021, I have had 43 Senior join the Seniors Social Hour from across the US and Canada.
Having in person meetings has been of out of the question for the past year and a half. My business helps Seniors create their end of life plan. It's been a learning curve for Seniors know how to use video conferencing. They use it to stay in touch with their families and trusted advisors. Combating social isolation continues to be a major issue for many Seniors.

Key Insights

Do you think BlueJeans Meetings (discontinued) delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with BlueJeans Meetings (discontinued)'s feature set?

Yes

Did BlueJeans Meetings (discontinued) live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of BlueJeans Meetings (discontinued) go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy BlueJeans Meetings (discontinued) again?

Yes

Alternatives Considered

Zoom

Simply put, this is the market leader. Most people I know only want to use one tool and this is the one they learned first. Business owners like Zoom better for overall quality of the call. Because so many people have the tool, they don't have issues with everyone joining. For my clients, Seniors were provided for free or rent tablets from Android/Google. Having a product which was handed to them preloaded with another technology on it means Seniors had to "buy" BlueJeans and download it. For Seniors, simplicity is everything - especially where technology is concerned. Sorry, BlueJeans/Verizon - you want to be market leader in this consumer space - you missed the boat. You did not consider that Seniors needed the hardware, training, and the broadband access to be the preferred choice for this segment of the US population (only 56 million people).

Likelihood to Recommend

Aside from the Senior Social Hour, I also use video conferencing to host networking meetings with other business owners. Most businesses use Zoom and they want to use Zoom. While I like to promote using BlueJeans, many business owners struggle to use it. I have to admit, the consistency of performance on Zoom is much better. One of my seniors has to change his audio settings every time he joins BlueJeans. He gets a bit annoyed, but knows this is the tool I prefer. I created a video SHOWING Seniors how to log into BlueJeans (including written directions) as BlueJeans just provides a basic tutorial. Seniors must be shown how to do something in real time for them to learn a new skill. They get frustrated and mentally shutdown if they don't understand how something works.

Savvy Seniors in BlueJeans: staying connected and safe

Overall Satisfaction with BlueJeans Meetings