My Fuze Review
Modules Used
- Voice
- Video
- Messaging
- Collaboration
- Contact Center
Overall Satisfaction with Fuze
Fuze is used at multiple locations throughout our company, as well as other divisions owned by our parent company. We had a directive from our corporate office to utilize a single communications platform while allowing the flexibility to meet the many individual needs of multiple divisions around the globe. Our user-base, in particular, has high expectations for phone systems due to having been exposed to more advanced systems in the past. As a result, we wanted something that offered a large variety of features and capabilities.
- Software clients available on a variety of platforms.
- Regular updates with useful new features.
- Support staff is well trained and responsive to customer issues.
- Android and iOS apps do not always handle disruptions from other phone activities well. Inbound phone calls and changes to Bluetooth connections (earpiece to car, for example) can foul up an ongoing meeting.
- We would love the ability to easily move calls between devices -- Software to desk phone, desk phone to mobile client, etc. Fuze has made some improvements in this area, but there are still a couple of missing pieces.
- The Fuze Meetings module is still a bit behind the major players like WebEx, Zoom, etc., in features and general usability.
In general, the Fuze Voice system was adopted quickly in our organization, despite some of them being jaded by a previous phone system transition that had its own set of flaws. Voice and Meetings services were actively used from day one with good success. While there is not much inter-division contact within our corporation, those users who do communicate with other divisions have appreciated the ease with which they can communicate.
The main struggle has been getting users to actively use the Fuze Desktop client. Many are simply comfortable with picking up a handset and dialing an extension and prefer to leave their Desktop client unused. Unfortunately, this prevents full use of the Fuze platform's "presence" data, as well as rendering the Direct Messaging function useless.
The main struggle has been getting users to actively use the Fuze Desktop client. Many are simply comfortable with picking up a handset and dialing an extension and prefer to leave their Desktop client unused. Unfortunately, this prevents full use of the Fuze platform's "presence" data, as well as rendering the Direct Messaging function useless.
Particularly in the current era of COVID-19 concerns, remote workplace capability has risen to the forefront of critical business needs! Because we were already on the Fuze platform, we already had every tool we needed to maintain 100% of our communication capabilities, even with the majority of employees not physically present in our offices.
There was zero effort required for me and the majority of our employees to be ready to communicate from home. Between the Fuze Desktop client, the Android and iOS clients, and various call-forwarding/follow-me options in the Fuze platform, we were ready to go from day 1 of the pandemic.
Video calling, while not widely used in our corporate culture, is functional, efficient, and effective when utilized.
There was zero effort required for me and the majority of our employees to be ready to communicate from home. Between the Fuze Desktop client, the Android and iOS clients, and various call-forwarding/follow-me options in the Fuze platform, we were ready to go from day 1 of the pandemic.
Video calling, while not widely used in our corporate culture, is functional, efficient, and effective when utilized.
- Skype for Business (formerly Lync) and MiCloud Connect (formerly ShoreTel)
Our company has used three different phone systems during my time. It began with an on-premises system from Interactive Intelligence, Inc. (I3), which is primarily a higher-end call-center product. Due to a business relationship, we were able to utilize what would have been prohibitively expensive software at no cost. Functionality was, especially at the time, quite advanced and full-featured! It had many capabilities we have not seen in any phone system since.
Our next stop was with ShoreTel (prior to its transition to MiCloud), which was also an on-premises, MGCP-based system. While we lost quite a few features moving from I3 to ShoreTel, it was flexible enough for us to find workarounds for critical functions.
Fuze was our first fully cloud-based platform. We had a lot of concern in our user base that this transition would lead to a further reduction in features and capabilities. There was a small learning curve, as expected, but the transition was smoother than our previous system change, and users soon began to appreciate Fuze.
We saw greatly reduced downtime and support requirements on the IT infrastructure side of things. There were some growing pains as Fuze and ThinkingPhones worked through corporate integration, but overall it was a success!
Our next stop was with ShoreTel (prior to its transition to MiCloud), which was also an on-premises, MGCP-based system. While we lost quite a few features moving from I3 to ShoreTel, it was flexible enough for us to find workarounds for critical functions.
Fuze was our first fully cloud-based platform. We had a lot of concern in our user base that this transition would lead to a further reduction in features and capabilities. There was a small learning curve, as expected, but the transition was smoother than our previous system change, and users soon began to appreciate Fuze.
We saw greatly reduced downtime and support requirements on the IT infrastructure side of things. There were some growing pains as Fuze and ThinkingPhones worked through corporate integration, but overall it was a success!