In the past year, we’ve witnessed important changes in the collaboration market. We’ve seen it in the numerous mergers and acquisitions in both the web conferencing and the unified communications and collaboration (UCC) space, including our own LogMeIn & GoTo merger in 2017, and the recent acquisition of Jive Communications, one of the most modern and delightful UCaaS platforms on the market. Additionally, beyond traditional UCC companies, we’ve also seen investments by Google and Microsoft and proliferation of solutions by newcomers like Slack and Amazon adding collaboration features that are shaping the market.
So, what’s driving these dynamics? Given our own research and industry experts, we believe this shift is due to a change in the demographics and mindset of the modern workforce. This is a workforce that significantly relies on Instant Messaging/Chat applications for collaborating at work and often prefers text over talk. It’s also a group that is comfortable being on video, thanks to Facetime or Skype. Moreover, it’s a workforce that is increasingly remote. What that means is that it’s no longer just about giving your employees the tools to do their job adequately from 9 to 5 in the office, but about providing your employees with the technology and experiences that enable them to work how, where and when they want. That means enabling frictionless work across an increasing number of devices, spaces and contexts.
Even with all these changes to the workforce, we firmly believe that meetings are at the center of business. It’s where work gets done, decisions are made, relationships are built, and business results are delivered. Meetings are integral to businesses, and we’ve been squarely focused on offering our customers the best possible meeting experience for over 15 years. However, we are thinking more broadly and expanding the interactions before, during, and after meetings.
As a leader in this dynamic space, we are committed to driving innovation in this changing landscape. Beginning today, you will see that change in the way we think about enabling you to seamlessly connect with those both inside and outside of your organization. It’s an evolution that we will continue to lead in the future, removing friction to make the collaboration experience flawless.
So, What’s Next for GoToMeeting?
Our teams from around the globe have worked to understand what today’s workers need to be effective and drive outcomes in their organizations. We didn’t just want to add new features but create experiences that will drive business momentum for our users. These new features come as a direct result from both the trends we are seeing in the market as well as feedback from thousands of customers and hundreds of group and one-on-one interviews. The announcement of these capabilities will set the stage for the next phase of GoToMeeting and allow us to continuously unlock the potential of the modern workforce.
We’ve recently launched a series of advancements in our product to improve collaboration before, during and after the meetings:
- Business Messaging – GoToMeeting now enables all employees across a company to quickly chat with internal and external contacts – either in 1:1 or in groups — from within the new GoToMeeting desktop application or our standalone mobile messaging app. Users can seamlessly transition from a message thread into an immersive meeting experience with high-quality video, audio and content sharing in just a single click
- Smart Meeting Assistant – Stop taking notes and let GoToMeeting do the work for you. Meeting transcriptions are stored in the cloud and are easily shared and searched, so all meeting participants can quickly recall key information and attack critical action items from meetings
- Unlimited and Enhanced Cloud Recording – Users have the ability to store recordings in the cloud and efficiently share their recordings. Additionally, we have added the ability to record both screens and webcams
- Audio improvements – Audio has never been better with GoToMeeting – the enhanced audio experience makes every call sound like an in-person interaction
- Improvements to Screen Sharing Performance for Dynamic Content – Users will now notice faster screen sharing performance and fluid content display. These improvements include quicker switches between presentation slides and a higher frame rate for rapidly changing content and an overall smoother experience
- Amazon Alexa Integration – Alexa can assist you in scheduling or viewing upcoming meetings, making GoToMeeting connections as simple as a single voice command
- Support for larger meetings – GoToMeeting Pro customers can now support up to 150 attendees, and GoToMeeting Plus supports up to 250 attendees
- Easy to roll out – Admins are empowered to quickly turn on these new collaboration features to their entire organization, plus easily onboard new users with GoToMeeting for free
For more information, including an in-depth review from our team on all these features, watch this webinar!
LogMeIn’s Communications and Collaboration Portfolio
A recognized market leader in Communications and Collaboration, LogMeIn has a broad portfolio of products that unlock the power and productivity of businesses small and large. We create simpler, more intelligent ways for people to meet, connect, market, sell and train, to deepen relationships and drive better business impact. These include award-winning products such as join.me, GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GoToTraining, Grasshopper, OpenVoice, and Jive Communications. LogMeIn’s combined communication and collaboration products support over 25 million users, with over 1.5 billion conferencing minutes a month contributing to over 8 million meetings per month, and 17 billion voice minutes per year.