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Moving aggressively in the unified communications and collaboration (UCC) space, LogMeIn has rebranded its popular GoToMeeting online meeting service as GoTo and on March 13 introduced GoToConnect and a new conference room solution, GoToRoom.
“Traditionally, the talk has been about individual products, an audio tool, a video tool and so on. The question companies are asking is, ‘How can I get a single user experience for anyone wherever they are and a single IT experience?’” Mark Strassman, senior vice president and general manager of UCC at LogMeIn, told eWEEK.
That’s the goal of bringing these different UCC applications under the GoTo brand, to offer a consistent experience for users and an easier set of tools for IT departments to manage.
A year ago Boston-based LogMeIn, known for its remote access software, purchased Jive Communications and its cloud-based PBX offering for $342 million. That product is key to LogMeIn’s UCC push. GoToConnect pairs GoToMeeting with Jive to create an integrated product set for both mobile and desktop use.
Unified Experience
“We think it’s a unique bundle and something customers are actively shopping for; a unified experience with a modern, easy-to-use, big buttons interface,” said Strassman. “What other vendors are doing is bundling third party apps.”
A cloud-based PBX delivers and stores voice communications and multimedia via the Internet, replacing the traditional PBX hardware companies traditionally have had to maintain. Analyst Elka Popova is bullish on LogMeIn’s new offering.
“GoToConnect is an all-inclusive UCC offering for businesses looking for a great cloud PBX/phone system plus rich video conferencing and collaboration capabilities,” Popova, Vice President of Connected Work Research at Frost & Sullivan, said in a statement. “One of GoToConnect’s biggest benefits is its highly competitive price, which allows businesses to boost user productivity with a complete UCCsystem while keeping spending under control.”
GoToRoom for Huddle and Medium-Size Conference Rooms
LogMeIn also introduced GoToRoom, an “all-in-one” solution designed for so-called huddle rooms where informal meetings take place as well as medium sized conference rooms.
GoToRoom packages come with different options. The Huddle Room package, designed for meetings of 2-6 people, an all in one speaker/microphone/camera combination (Polycom Studio), computing device (Intel NUC), and touch panel (Mimo Vue).
The medium-size conference package for 6-10 people includes an all in one speaker/microphone/phone system (Polycom Trio 8500), a camera (Polycom Eagle Eye IV), a computing device (Intel NUC), and touch panel (Mimo Vue). Customers also have the option of buying an additional extension microphone for larger rooms seating 10-12 people.
Strassman said GoToRoom is designed as a better alternative to do-it-yourself (DIY) conference room setups where companies connect products from different vendors or hire a system integrator to purchase and install a solution. “For a smaller business, GoToRoom that doesn’t want to deal with updates and managing the products over time, GoToRoom is a lot easier, you just plug it in. And the cost is almost half of DIY, and the administration console is easy to manage with its touch screen”.
LogMeIn bought the Citrix Systems GoTo online collaboration portfolio in 2016 for $1.8 billion.