A high-quality video conferencing brand on equal footing with Polycom
June 26, 2018

A high-quality video conferencing brand on equal footing with Polycom

Derek Letellier | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Lifesize Video Conferencing

The system is very easy to set up in terms of hardware. For networking, you'll have to ensure that your system has a dedicated static IP address for maximum H323 compatibility. This will require your internet service provider to assist in securing IP addresses and configuring your system to work on its own static IP address.
Our company utilizes a Lifesize Express 220 as our main video conferencing system at our headquarters. We typically use the system to connect to video conference centers around the world, and our primary business model is to connect attorneys to witnesses near our area so they can see and hear participants remotely from anywhere in the world.
  • Great quality video both sending and receiving. This unit records in high definition at 60 frames per second, and the picture is fantastic if connecting to other Lifesize units with similar capabilities. The system also supports 1080p60 monitors, so the picture quality on our end is great as well
  • Audio quality is excellent with the system's utilization of a room microphone for our conference room table. Other mics with greater mic radius are available, but I appreciate that the default microphone works well for our 12 person conference room
  • The system has great compatibility with some of the newer web conferencing bridges such as Zoom. As many of our clients wish to connect via a personal computer, the system works great with the Zoom bridge as well as Lifesize's own cloud bridge (which I have little experience with but has worked well in the limited instances I've utilized it)
  • The system sometimes has compatibility issues with older hardware, but there are far fewer instances of problems lately
  • I have not been able to get URL dialing to work as the system wants to default to SIP calls when I do almost entirely H323, and H323 only seems to work with IP addresses despite not having a similar problem on my Polycom systems
  • The web panel is Flash-based, so it requires an older web browser or some tweaks to Chrome to work properly
  • Upgrades are difficult and expensive, but so far we have not needed to upgrade all that often
  • Our hourly rate ensures that we cover the cost of a brand new system within 3-5 months after purchase
  • The fact that we can provide professional video conferencing secures more sales from prospective clients, who will pay for other goods and services outside of video conferencing
  • We can easily provide high definition meetings to corporate clients and job recruiters in the area as an extra revenue source for our company
Lifesize provides a great high-quality professional video conferencing solutions that, with accompanying software like Lifesize Cloud or Zoom, can connect to a multitude of different devices anywhere in the world. While Polycom certainly has more brand recognition in the industry for its communication platforms, I think Lifesize is a comparable product that works just as well as Polycom.
Lifesize is a great option if you want professional-grade video conferencing systems. In this day and age where almost everything is going to web-based solutions like Skype, GoToMeeting, or Zoom, we can create a great perceived value by implementing this high-definition solution that our clients simply can't get from their computer. In our line of work, the system has a great value despite the high price tag, but this will be entirely dependent on the user's business model, if they wish to profit from the system, or if they can generate enough business to justify the cost. In the court reporting/deposition setting, we'd be able to make a profit from this type of system within about five months. And that's only counting direct sales from video conferencing; there's also the intangible benefit of being able to secure a case or client because of our video conferencing. An individual user's experience may vary, but it's worth it in our line of work.

Lifesize Video Conferencing Feature Ratings

High quality audio
10
High quality video
10
Low bandwidth requirements
9
Desktop sharing
9
Calendar integration
Not Rated
Meeting initiation
Not Rated
Record meetings / events
Not Rated