Traditional, Safe Choice, but Not Intuitive
December 19, 2018
Traditional, Safe Choice, but Not Intuitive
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with WebEx Meetings
My organization used WebEx Meetings for much of our video and audio conferencing needs, both within the organization and with external clients. As we are located on both sides of the country and our clients were dispersed across the US and overseas, this allowed us to communicate with each other relatively easily.
- The calendar on the platform provides a good visual as to when meetings are scheduled. It helps when we are scheduling new meetings to be able to easily see when meetings are already scheduled to start and end, so we can avoid double-booking.
- There are many features within the application, including the ability to share and upload files to present, a feature we used often. It's helpful when trying to explain projects and complex ideas to clients to have something visual to show them.
- There are many options in terms of package and prices, and in certain cases we can work with an account manager to customize the service(s) we need as an organization. What we had and were paying wasn't something that was shown on the website, which was both a pro and a con because it did get a bit confusing.
- Sometimes the video quality goes way down and we can barely see the faces of the people on the other end. This may have to do with the internet connectivity, as the other party is our team in a different location, and we know they use the same (high quality) camera all the time, so it's not due to the camera.
- We upload files to share during the meetings, and it won't take certain files. Last I checked, the main one was PDF files, which sometimes we'd prefer since it preserved formatting, but they cannot be uploaded. Also, at times the files get distorted, where certain figures and formatting doesn't show up, or the whole page gets shifted.
- The amount of cloud storage is very limited, and that was difficult for us, as we held most of the company meetings, calls, and training through here and were looking to record and save the important information. We ended up looking elsewhere and configuring a process to convert and save the recorded files elsewhere.
- The recorded files are in an uncommon form, one that can only be played through WebEx's own tool/software. That made it extremely difficult to download and share. We figured out a process to convert them into mp4 and mp3 files, but that wasn't an easy/efficient process.
- I don't have the details and numbers on this, but overall it has enabled the company to work together and stay connected as well as connect with clients, so the return on investment would be fairly high. We have since replaced this with a different service (lower cost), so while WebEx Meetings overall had a positive impact on productivity, there was space for improvement.
- Zoom, Google Hangouts and BlueJeans
WebEx Meetings is a platform packed with features, some that Google Hangouts and other smaller/simpler platforms do not have. Hangouts for example is used more for casual day-to-day quick meetings or discussions within the team, likely with 4 people or less (usually 1:1). WebEx Meetings, with its whiteboard function, file-sharing, and recording, etc. is used for more formal, structured meetings. Compared to Zoom though, WebEx is relatively more complicated and less user-friendly.