Q&A with Jive Communications: on Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) and the Connect PRO Bundle

Unified communications (UC) creates a new paradigm for business communications and collaboration as it enables globally dispersed teams to connect seamlessly and efficiently, from anywhere and at any time. As more companies recognize the mobility, efficiency, and cost-saving benefits that Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) bring to dispersed teams, UCaaS has seen a significant increase in adoption around the world, and leading the charge is Jive Communications.
As a trusted provider of cloud-based phone systems and unified communications solutions, Jive Communications empowers today’s businesses by providing them with cutting-edge and easy-to-use products that are secure, scalable, and reliable.
In keeping with the company’s mission to simplify how people and businesses connect and communicate, Jive recently rolled out its newest product offering, the Connect PRO Bundle. Made possible by LogMeIn’s recent acquisition of Jive Communications, the Connect PRO Bundle offers more value and savings for businesses.
VoipReview recently spoke with Jim Somers, the Vice President of Marketing / Unified Communications & Collaboration (UCC) at Jive Communications, to discuss their latest partnership with LogMeIn. Somers also offers insights on the future of voice and UCaaS industries and shares how their latest product offering supports cost-savings and efficient communications for organizations.
Q: Catch us up since we last spoke. What has Jive Communications been up to? Any new product developments, features, or offerings you're particularly excited about at present?
A: We’ve been moving at lightning speed over the last 12 months, especially since joining the LogMeIn team. We recently gave our visual Dial Plan Editor a facelift, overhauled our fax solution, rolled out Jive Mobile 3.0 with visual voicemail, released hot desking to save companies money through shared workspaces and devices, and introduced Jive SD-WAN, Jive Safety Suite, and JBC 2.0 with Alert Center – to protect our customers in the case of an internet outage.
What we’re most excited about right now is our work with GoToMeeting. We’re integrating our systems and making it easy for customers to access the best of both cloud-based conferencing and cloud-based telephony solutions.
Q: 2018 has been an eventful year for Jive Communications with the acquisition of the company by LogMeIn. How is the company adjusting to these significant changes?
A: The acquisition of Jive by LogMeIn was a natural fit as both companies share a common vision for the future of Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) – one that’s predicated on delighting our customers and driving long-term business value. Because of this, Jive has meshed quickly into LogMeIn’s Communications and Collaboration portfolio, most notably with our roll out of the Connect PRO Bundle, which gives immediate value to our customers who want both Jive and GoToMeeting. By adding our expertise in UCaaS to LogMeIn’s market-leading conferencing and web events products, we believe we’ll create the solutions that SMEs and mid-market enterprises will want to have in their arsenal now and in the future.
Q: As part of the LogMeIn family, Jive has been helping the company accelerate their Unified Communications and Collaboration strategy and bolster their collaboration portfolio by combining GoToMeeting with Jive Voice through the Connect PRO Bundle. Can you please tell us more about this product bundle?
A: We’re very excited about this new offering. The Connect Bundle is designed to simplify and extend customers' UCaaS solutions by combining GoToMeeting’s cloud-based conferencing solutions with Jive’s cloud-based telephony solutions to offer more value, savings, and – most importantly – more valuable connections.
It allows businesses of any size to enjoy seamless collaboration with a plan built to fit their needs. The Connect Bundle is offered in three different tiers (Starter, Pro, and Plus), and offers the flexibility to mix and match seats depending on your UCaaS needs.
The Connect Bundle supports your calls, meetings, and interactions anywhere, on any device – whether it’s at your desk, in the conference room, your mobile phone, or anywhere else work takes you.
We’re especially excited to offer the Connect PRO Bundle promotion which gives even greater savings. From now until the end of the year, every Jive license includes a GoToMeeting PRO license at no additional cost.
Q: How does the Connect PRO Bundle support cost-savings and efficient communication as well as promote more valuable connections to organizations?
A: This bundle maximizes the value customers receive by offering two industry-leading products at a combined, reduced price through three different tiers. And not only are customers enjoying cost savings, they’re also enjoying Jive’s suite of more than 80 voice features—including mobile, desktop, and web applications — as well as encrypted, secure calling, and on-the-go management and communications (customize your call flows, update messages, and communicate via voice, video, or chat using your web browser). They are also equipped with GoToMeeting’s professional online meeting software, including video conferencing, business messaging, easy scheduling, and more.
With this bundle, customers can easily transition from an audio call, to a video conference, to IMS and messaging wherever they are, on any device. You'll never miss another important call or meeting again. And even better, you can access your GoToMeeting experience directly from within Jive’s softphone.
Q: The Connect PRO Bundle includes 80+ of Jive’s UCaaS features. Can you tell us some of the most popular Jive Voice tools? Can you please share some sample use cases?
A: I wish I could discuss them all, but among Jive’s most popular UCaaS features is Jive’s Dial Plan Editor. It lets you map out your call flows visually using a drag-and-drop canvas. You can plan out exactly where incoming calls will go with elements like wait times, auto-attendants, voicemail boxes, sound clips, http notify nodes, ring groups, modify caller ID nodes, and more. And all changes can be made in real-time for as many lines as you’d like, with endless configuration possibilities. Different call patterns can even be set to accommodate variable work hours, after hours, or holiday hours.
Jive also offers unlimited auto attendants, unlimited extensions, hot desking, call monitoring and recording, call analytics, and much more. These features, paired with GoToMeeting’s professional meeting software, benefits employees across various departments and in countless industries. It gives education professionals the power to hold meetings across the district, create online courses and host virtual field trips and hybrid classes. It allows healthcare professionals to better record and archive committee and counseling meetings and create training programs. Legal professionals can record depositions and counsel with clients from anywhere; retail owners and managers can easily create onboarding for new employees and quickly communicate new promotions and products, and the list goes on.
Q: UCaaS has seen an incredible boost in adoption this year as more companies begin to recognize the need for a Unified Communication strategy to bring their globally dispersed teams together. What is your take on this? And how is Jive Communications addressing the ever-increasing competition in the UCaaS space?
A: More than ever before, we’re seeing the expansion of global teams and the remote workforce. The future of work isn’t going to be defined by where we are working but how we are working. There will be a proliferation of technologies designed to increase remote collaboration, productivity, community and innovation. This means that collaborative and meeting communication solutions such as Jive’s (and the Connect PRO Bundle) will be essential.
Businesses need a platform with a range of tools and integration capabilities so you can share team messages, and easily transition to a voice call, a text message, or a video conference, which is where Jive and LogMeIn come in. Communication and collaboration are becoming a necessary and needed piece of the business puzzle. We are constantly innovating and expanding our capabilities so our customers can succeed now and in the future.
Q: Looking ahead, where do you see the voice and UCaaS industry headed in the coming years?
A: Looking into the future, we’ll see voice and UCaaS adopt the newest technologies on the market. Technology such as voice assistants will become smarter and will be powered by natural language processing and continuous machine learning. We’ll also see instant transcription, and more contextual information through artificial intelligence. The globalization of business will escalate as well, meaning voice and UCaaS will be growing in equal proportion, creating opportunities for businesses to go global.
Q: What market trends or technologies do you think will change and/or impact the future of voice and cloud communication? And how is Jive Communications meeting these?
A: As mentioned before, AI and machine learning are going to have a huge impact on the future of voice and cloud communications. Seamless integration between business applications will also continue to be a huge priority in the market, as businesses work to keep up with the ever-moving tech landscape and streamline all their coordination and collaborative needs. This can include transitioning cloud-based business phone system functionality to computers, or installing apps that will enable talk, chat, text, and conferencing on mobile devices.
In the last couple years, the shift to mobility has grown tremendously. We believe this will continue to grow as the remote workforce gains in numbers. As employees demand flexible working schedules, the need for tools that will ensure productivity inside and outside the office rises.
Jive becoming a part of the LogMeIn family has added a proven, modern Unified Communications and Collaboration platform to LogMeIn’s communications and collaboration strategy. We believe in the ability of technology to unlock the potential of the modern workforce. With this pairing, we’ll continue to both disrupt and lead the markets in which we play.
About Jive Communications
Jive Communications is a premier provider of enterprise-level unified communications (UC) services and cloud-based phone systems. Now a part of the LogMeIn family, Jive Communications continues to provide innovative communications solutions that drive meaningful interactions, promote stronger relationships, and create better outcomes for small and mid-size businesses. The company specializes in hosted VoIP, contact center, mobile applications, video conferencing solution, unified communications, and more.