BUYER’ S GU IDE TO

Online Meeting
Solutions
Four key criteria for evaluating video, audio
and web conferencing platforms
Purchasing an Online
Meetings Platform
If you’re interested in bringing online meetings and high value collaboration to your
workforce, this guide is for you. To assist you in the buying process, we’ve outlined
critical features, use cases and benefits to consider across four key evaluation criteria.

Interoperability and
Drive greater Consolidate existing
integrations across Reduce operational
productivity across communication
devices and workplace and travel costs
your organization tools and services
applications

Businesses of all kinds are adopting a new class of meeting platforms that foster easier communication
unified meetings platform, which incorporate the and widespread collaboration. This transformation
latest video, audio, and web conferencing capabilities, has shifted the idea of work from a place people
and include click-to-join connectivity from any device go to something they can do when they want, how
with nothing to download. These platforms also offer they want, and from where they want. But, how are
reliable collaboration tools and live service intelligence companies accommodating this highly mobile,
to bring more effective communication between “always on” workforce?
employees, while helping businesses be agile, increase
efficiency, and achieve higher productivity—all at a With somewhere between 36 and 56 million
faster pace. meetings* happening every day in the US alone,
online meetings are the most efficient path to
effective, widespread work collaboration. The next
The Modern Workforce Landscape
wave of digital transformation is about supporting
There’s a digital transformation happening across
easy, intelligent connectivity while maximizing existing
today’s mobile workforce. The closed technology
resources, time, and empowering people, no matter
ecosystem of phones, emails, chat, and shared sites
where they are located, or how they prefer to work.
is being replaced by a growing number of open

*Lucid Meetings Blog

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 2

 CRITERIA
Drive Smarter Productivity Across
Your Organization
Click-to-join, cloud-based meeting platforms are changing the way people communicate and work.
They are the new standard in enterprise communication, collaboration, and content sharing. In fact,
when working remotely, 87% of desktop video conferencing users feel more connected to their
teams and colleagues. Further, connected employees work efficiently and drive increased productivity
thanks to smarter, time-saving advancements in the live- and post-meeting experience.

Online meetings mean instant connectivity for every participant with no passcodes or dial-in
numbers to remember, so joining is simple and quick. Cloud-based meeting platforms are readily
available, always up to date, and able to integrate with other types of software platforms, hardware,
and workflow tools. Whether your organization is a multi-national enterprise or a small, regionally-
based business, today’s online meetings offer the security, manageability, and scalability required for
professional, highly efficient productivity.

Meeting Types and Use Cases SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS

Seamless support for live, interactive meetings of any Simple, one-touch experience
size or type across multiple devices, room systems, Users demand simplicity and speed from their
and endpoints is one of the biggest advantages of a communication tools. Meeting solutions should deliver
modern meeting platform. From one-to-one to larger, a click-to-join experience with no complicated dial-in
interactive meetings—like global all-hands, training sequences or downloads required. This parallels the
sessions, and webinars—today’s platforms provide experience people are accustomed to with consumer
highly adaptable, dependable collaboration for any products like FaceTime.
type of meeting.
High quality video and audio
The influx of online meetings technology encourages Online meetings are most productive when the
collaboration and communication both within and technology fades into the background. HD video and
between businesses, across any device, and through screen sharing with high framerate and no lag ensures
existing conference or huddle rooms. Imagine how people and content are the focus of the meeting. HD
productive your sales team could be by using a audio with background noise suppression technology
video call to demonstrate your product to a client, ensures everyone is heard, with no distractions, when
or how much faster HR could hire top candidates by joining from airports, coffee shops, or other noisy
incorporating video interviews. environments.

*GigaOm Research

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 3

Scalable consistency across devices, locations, video, audio, and web conferencing collaboration
and IT environments including screen sharing, meeting recording, artificial
Users need to access meetings consistently via intelligence (AI) assistance, and whiteboarding.
different devices, from anywhere. Integrating with Companies can host, manage, and livestream
mobile devices and existing hardware endpoints, interactive web, audio, and video events for
including Cisco, Dolby, Polycom, and LifeSize is critical. large audiences around the world.
As demand increases for additional users, meetings
platforms must scale seamlessly across any IT Reduce user frustration and IT helpdesk requests
architecture, providing easy deployment, onboarding, Users can click-to-join a meeting from any browser—
and integration. with no need to download apps, plugins or register
with a meeting ID. Helpdesk personnel can remotely
Intelligent meeting summaries moderate video calls on a centralized dashboard—
Allow users to time stamp and auto-transcribe only without actually going anywhere—while also reducing
the most important parts of the conversation to the number of trouble tickets generated by legacy
capture and prioritize next steps. Throughout the video conferencing systems.
meeting, users can assign action items for tagged
participants while documenting all notifications in an Scalable solution for growing businesses
interactive meeting repository. If participants missed Cloud-based meetings easily scale to accommodate
a meeting or would like to revisit the content, consider additional users while keeping proprietary data safe
a technology that automatically summarizes all on a trusted platform. This type of architecture drives
highlighted discussion points in a condensed timeline naturally collaborative cultures and supports a more
for accelerated recap. mobile, flexible workforce—now and into the future.

BOTTOM LINE IMPACT

Improve organizational productivity

Users can join meetings directly from email invitations,
calendar appointments, URL links, and collaboration
tools from Microsoft, Google, Slack, and Atlassian.
Any device or room system can support high value

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 4

 CRITERIA
Interoperability and Integrations Across
Devices and Workplace Applications
Interoperability—making the barriers between different video conferencing software systems,
platforms, and hardware non-existent—is a must for any meetings solution. Interoperability breathes
new life into existing technology investments, and lets users communicate with their clients,
colleagues, and partners regardless of which endpoint they use. This makes connecting via multi-
vendor software and hardware much easier.

Whether it’s via a mobile device or conference room system, an interoperable meetings platform
allows users to join meetings the way they prefer. Conference room users in particular, have long
been plagued by the video tax: the additional time associated with navigating complicated remotes
and dial-in procedures to simply start a meeting. A consistent, click-to-join experience makes
incorporating existing technology investments, like on premise hardware, simple and seamless.
Interoperable meetings must also be accessible through major web browsers like Safari, Firefox, and
Google Chrome via WebRTC—so both internal and external connections can be made quickly and
conveniently, without installing plugins or opening a new application.

Integrating video, audio, and web conferencing within a broader collaboration ecosystem lets users
initiate video connections from everyday workflows. This high value collaboration opens the door for
users to join meetings directly from popular calendar applications like Google Calendar and Microsoft
Outlook, or leading collaboration toolsets like Slack or Workplace by Facebook. Supporting workflow
consistency enhances user productivity and delivers instant, seamless collaboration. As artificial
intelligence (AI) technologies, like Voicera, provide speech recognition and a virtual meeting assistant,
leading platforms are integrating this unique feature to help accomplish even more in every meeting.

SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS Measurable performance

Adapt to heterogeneous IT environments IT teams need to measure and monitor meetings, track
Today’s complex IT environments require a solution usage trends, and see distribution numbers among
that works with a wide range of SIP/H.323 endpoints users and endpoints. This “must have” data reveals
and collaboration services so it’s easily accessible and utilization numbers, helps IT teams plan for the
convenient for users. This flexibility also protects as future, and determine ROI.
well as optimizes existing systems and infrastructure
investments from vendors like Cisco or Polycom.

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 5

Dependable service and customer support Maximize existing IT investments
High quality service levels and the speed of support When it comes to optimizing legacy software,
is critical for sustaining operations and contributing hardware, room systems, and services, having a
to bottom line results. highly flexible, cloud-based meetings platform
transforms any multi-vendor environment into a highly
functioning, unified communications asset.
BOTTOM LINE IMPACT

Easy to deploy and adopt

Reduce burden on IT personnel
Today’s meetings are built on a cloud-based
A cloud-based solution, featuring a centralized
architecture, which makes for reliable, secure, one-
management dashboard, lets IT personnel more easily
touch connectivity via mobile devices and multi-vendor
troubleshoot, monitor in progress meetings, measure
room systems. Users can join right from popular
company-wide usage, and receive proactive alerts. This
collaboration tools like Slack, Workplace by Facebook,
type of management tool is critical for calculating ROI
and Microsoft Teams.
and other savings associated with unified meeting
efficiencies.

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 6

 CRITERIA
Consolidate Existing Communications
Tools and Services
Many companies have separate contracts with major vendors for their video, audio, and web
conferencing services. To bridge the gap between these vendors, online meetings software must be
designed for flexibility, thereby working within diverse, multi-layered IT infrastructures and adapting
to various meeting types. Whether your environment includes Microsoft, Cisco, LifeSize, Dolby, or
Polycom, allowing attendees to connect, regardless of platform, encourages flexible collaboration and
repeat usage. By leveraging a cloud infrastructure, devices in multi-party, video conference rooms can
easily connect with no additional MCU hardware required.

A consolidated meetings platform must not only support high quality video, audio, and web
conferencing, but screen sharing, meeting recording, whiteboarding and annotation, and instant
messaging. Whether the meeting is a customary one-on-one, a presentation or brainstorming session,
combining all-in-one online meetings with popular collaboration tools delivers a comprehensive, user
experience that’s unparalleled.

Maximizing meeting performance only happens when there’s a live service intelligence, management,
and analytics dashboard included. This way, IT can identify which departments are communicating
most effectively, how often, and which are failing to gain traction. A thorough analytics component
also provides real-time, historical meeting activity and performance metrics, so IT personnel can
accurately measure usage, provide real-time support, and calculate ROI.

SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS Accessible from existing workflows

Flexibility and scale across meeting types From Slack, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Workplace
Meetings must work across multiple software and more, employees have their favorite collaboration
platforms, conference room systems, and services. tools. In most circumstances, they prefer to keep
From ad hoc meetings to conference room sessions to these established workflow practices while having
global all-hands and town hall events, everyone should one-touch access to immersive, video, audio, and
have easy access to consistent video, audio, and web web conferencing.
conferencing that supports a variety of use cases.

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 7

Secure, trusted platform while simplifying deployment across complex, multi-
Meetings should run on reliable, scalable, and highly vendor IT environments.
secure cloud architecture with Firewall/NAT traversal
and SOC 2 verification, encryption, SSO and IP VPN Fast-track workforce productivity
deployment options. It should meet detailed security A unified platform eliminates “toolset” overload in
compliance standards, including transmission security which employees are confused by which tool to use for
and fully authenticated hosts. which type of meeting. Click-to-join meetings across a
consolidated platform unite employees, partners, and
Performance monitoring and management clients, supporting a faster, more dynamic workforce,
Live service intelligence combined with centralized and driving business growth.
management helps maximize your meetings platform
investment. Such detailed and comprehensive analysis Centralized “always on” meetings platform
lets management and IT teams successfully visualize, Every employee, partner, and client has one-touch
measure, and manage usage. access—from any laptop, device or room system—
to a single, cloud-based platform where they can
BOTTOM LINE IMPACT participate in a high quality, collaborative experience
that features the latest video, audio, and web
Reduce costs and complexity
conferencing capabilities.
Cloud-based meetings greatly reduce ongoing
operational costs, including equipment maintenance,

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 8

 CRITERIA Reduce operational and travel costs

A fully integrated cloud platform, supporting video, audio, and web conferencing, simplifies legacy
tech stacks while eliminating redundant software and services. Room system interoperability puts
existing A/V equipment to use and provides simpler options for more accessible room hardware. This
approach supports business growth by moving away from buying and/or maintaining hardware to
a software as a service (SaaS) model that incorporates existing toolsets and workflows. An ongoing
subscription service ends up being much cheaper than buying, maintaining, and updating an on
premise infrastructure.

Another important element of the meetings service is vendor support. Before, during, and after
deployment, vendors should pull out all the stops to ensure that their solution is on track for long-
term success. Partnering with your business on the change management process, vendors should
help ensure high adoption rates, while also providing sufficient support coverage, and options for
customizable implementations.

With online meetings, the cost of employee airfare, lodging, and meals will decline. Travel costs
become even more expensive when factoring in unexpected elements such as missed connections,
cancelled flights, or lost luggage. Each year, business travel mishaps amount to out-of-pocket
expenses of $1,475 per employee, plus an average of 2.3 work days lost†. In 2013, flights produced
705 million tons of CO2, accounting for 12% of CO2 emissions from all transport sources‡. Rather
than sending employees to meet with clients, a virtual meeting link allows them to collaborate just
as efficiently from anywhere. With less travel, employees also have additional time to dedicate to
projects and increase productivity.
†
Global Business Travel Magazine Air Transport Action Group
‡

SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS Simple for anyone to use and highly reliable

Maximize workforce efficiencies The meetings platform must be easy to access and
Every employee should have easy, one-touch access to feature an intuitive interface—with click-to-join
efficient, high quality video, audio, and web collaboration simplicity and nothing to download—while providing
that consistently results in successful business outcomes. a consistently reliable, and immersive communication
experience for all parties.

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 9

Align with budget requirements Increase employee efficiencies
Reduce budget spent on redundant collaboration Enhance business conversations and make use
software, legacy web conferencing services, and of tools already within reach of most business
other budget draining technologies, by consolidating professionals—like laptops or smart devices—
your existing IT stack and integrating existing successfully transforming traditionally siloed
communication toolsets on one meetings platform. structures, while fostering employee unity and
supporting greater efficiencies, regardless of location.
Sufficient support services available
For any globally deployed, software platform, IT teams Reduce IT burden and measure ROI
require high levels of easily accessible, 24/7 support A centrally managed, online meetings platform lets IT
and reliable, expert assistance. leaders access and share measurable usage statistics.
While monitoring meetings from afar, they can track
historic usage trends, and see usage distribution
BOTTOM LINE IMPACT
among users and endpoints.
Reduce travel related expenses and IT costs
Meetings technology has evolved to such an extent
that it offers a viable, reliable, and high-quality Conclusion
travel alternative, saving thousands in annual travel, Every organization has different meeting requirements
and travel related costs. Meetings on a cloud-based and budgets. Simply selecting the “market leader”
architecture also lessen OpEx hardware costs. isn’t always the best option for you and your specific
needs. Include all stakeholders, manage expectations,
High value collaboration on one platform and understand what types of problems you need to
Today’s meeting platforms don’t just deliver high- solve. Ensure that the meetings platform you purchase
quality video and sound, but support an array of drives high value productivity, delivers leading, cross
collaboration features such as screen sharing, meeting platform interoperability, offers live- and post-meeting
recording, AI meeting assistants, and whiteboarding intelligence, integrates with popular collaboration
to provide a truly immersive meeting experience for tools, consolidates your existing technology stack, and
every participant. reduces both operational and travel costs. Be sure it’s
the right one—for you and your users.

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 10

10 Point Buying Checklist
1. Know what problem(s) you need your new 5. Identify existing processes that will be
meetings software to solve. affected by the new software.
Are employees collaborating efficiently? Will existing employee collaboration practices
Do your teams need an intelligent solution need to be revamped?
to increase productivity? How will IT personnel be affected?
Are employees having difficulty operating your How will this new platform affect sales team
existing solution? Is it too complex? collaboration?
Are your conference rooms underutilized? How will company all-hands meetings or
Are your existing meeting services or collaboration training sessions be affected?
tools too fragmented?
6. Consider how these processes can be improved.
Do you need to save on travel costs?
Does your meetings provider assist with change
Do you want to better connect remote offices?
management and offer ongoing platform support?
What types of meetings do you need to support?
How can you work with the provider to easily roll
out a new solution to your end users?
2. Ensure these needs are aligned with your
business goals and budget. 7. Compare meetings solutions with your
What collaboration issues are facing requirements and remove those that
your industry? do not match.
How do modern meetings fit within Does your proposed meetings provider have
your organization? experience meeting your unique requirements?
What meeting benefits will make the biggest
difference for your organization? 8. Research similar business use cases for
proof points.
3. Determine and prioritize IT infrastructure as How are similar companies in your industry
well as room system requirements. using meeting solutions?
Do you need to integrate other applications, such What types of meetings does your organization
as Google Calendar or Slack, to share with users? require?
Are all your room systems operating on the What’s their track record with companies in
same service? your industry?
Do you want to get more from your existing
software or A/V equipment? 9. View comprehensive product demonstrations
and participate in free trials.
4. Identify platform management capabilities,
Have you evaluated all aspects of the solution
usage analysis, and ROI reporting. thoroughly?
How important is it to track usage and provide Have your questions or concerns been addressed
remote support? to your satisfaction?
What metrics are important to you?
Which meeting metrics do you currently measure? 10. Make final purchase decision.
Are there metrics you want to measure, but can’t?

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 11

Key Questions to Consider
Is it easy to use? Can it consolidate your existing IT stack?
Make sure that your new meetings software is easy to A modern meetings cloud solution should sync with
join and intuitive for all users—both inside and outside your existing IT stack, helping to maximize related
your organization. This is where WebRTC makes a SaaS investments across a single, meetings platform.
substantial difference.

Does it provide enterprise grade

Is it within your budget? management tools?
This depends on how you meet and the size of your Today’s meeting platforms should provide centralized
organization, but cloud-based meetings are typically management capabilities for remote user support,
the most cost effective since they require only a laptop measuring usage, and calculating ROI.
or mobile device, and an Internet connection.

Is it compatible with your existing hardware?

Does it fit into your long-term plan? An interoperable, cloud-based platform makes
Think about your goals and vision. Do you know what this easy. The right meetings solution provides a
you want your workflow to look like in five years? Do consistent, click to join experience across multi-vendor
you expect changes? Will your solution provider offer hardware and room systems.
the flexibility for change? Choose a solution that you
see growing with your organization.
Can it integrate smoothly into your
work environment?
Does it meet your security requirements? Your new solution should match the way your
Your meetings solution should be robust enough to organization works. Your teams want to use the new
keep out threats and include meeting locks in order to service to collaborate, save time, and make their lives
make sure no one drops in who shouldn’t be there. easier. It should not complicate things and create
more problems.

How well is the platform supported?

Real-time communications require real-time support.
Today’s meeting platforms should offer 24/7 access to
support experts, so your meetings stay dependable
and productive.

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 12

APPENDIX

Purchasing Criteria Worksheet

As you look for new meeting solutions, complete the following worksheet to track the
performance of vendors against the most critical evaluation criteria. Rank the importance
of a given criteria in the WEIGHTING column. For example, if Room System Interoperability
is most important to you, put a ‘1’ next to it in the WEIGHTING column, then rank the
vendors you are evaluating against that criteria.

EVALUATION CRITERIA WEIGHTING VENDOR 1 VENDOR 2 VENDOR 3

Simple, intuitive user experience

One-click, fast to join meetings

Two-way, HD video

HD audio with background noise suppression

Intelligent live- and post-meeting tools

(highlights, social tagging, summarized recap)
Collaboration features
(screen sharing, white boarding, recording, etc.)

Supports a variety of meeting types

No download required with WebRTC

Room system interoperability

Supports mobile devices

Integrations (calendars, messaging, etc.)

Management, monitoring and analytics

Deployment model (SaaS vs. on premise)

Change management process

Customer success program

24/7 support and training resources

Scalability

Security

Make Online Meetings Work for You

Modernizing your meetings strategy with a cloud-based video, audio, and Learn how BlueJeans can make
web conferencing platform is something that should positively affect modern meetings a reality for
every employee, allowing them to connect and collaborate like never your business.
before, while contributing mightily to your bottom line.
Start your free 30-day trial

bluejeans.com | Buyer’s Guide to Online Meeting Solutions | p. 13

About BlueJeans
The first cloud service to connect desktops, mobile devices, and room systems in one video meeting,
BlueJeans makes meetings fast to join and simple to use, so people can work productively where and
how they want. It is the meeting solution teams trust to do their best work.

BlueJeans Meetings BlueJeans Rooms BlueJeans Events

Collaborate effectively Transform any room into an Host and livestream interactive
with video, audio, and web easy-to-use video conference events, town halls, and
conferencing from anywhere. space. Increase workforce webinars for large audiences
Instantly join, host, or manage collaboration with rooms that around the world. Engage
meetings from a conference require little to no end-user up to 15,000 attendees with
room, your desk, or a mobile training and provide effortless immersive video, Q&A, polling,
device. IT management. and moderator controls.

Discover how BlueJeans modernizes meetings and makes your teams more productive.

www.bluejeans.com/trial

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