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HIGHFIVE Runs the Analyst’s Gauntlet

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HIGHFIVE RUNS THE ANALYST’S GAUNTLET

Frost & Sullivan’s Analyst Gauntlet is a structured program wherein

participating vendors and service providers give industry analysts deep

dives and demonstrations of their collaboration solution. The analyst then

uses the collaboration solution over a period of time and provides candid

feedback based on his/her user experience with the specified tool.

This week the Connected Work research team at Frost & Sullivan is

evaluating Highfive video conferencing products and services.

The Highfive portfolio is anchored by the company’s cloud-based video

conferencing service and all-in-one, purpose-built audio-video device for

meeting room environments. The subscription service supports unlimited

meetings for up to 50 participants with screen sharing, wireless projection,

dial-in and dial-out, call recording, usage analytics and other features.

Subscription pricing is based per room with tiered functionality in four

plans: Essential, Standard, Professional and Professional Plus. All plans

support premium audio powered by Dolby Voice, with the Professional

plans additionally supporting the Dolby Conference Phone.



THE HIGHFIVE SOLUTION SET WE EVALUATED IS COMPRISED OF:

The Highfive video conferencing device sports a wide-angle camera with 120-degree field of view, integrated CPU capable of multi-stream video decoding and a low-light sensor that auto-adjusts exposure. It supports HD video and wireless in-room projection. The device is outfitted with a noise-cancelling mic array, full duplex audio and 360-degree capture, noise suppression and echo cancellation. It is supported by three cables: power, Ethernet and HDMI. It can be mounted atop any flat-screen TV or wall mounted via provided hardware.

Highfive cloud video conferencing services provide the features listed above and more, including seamless content and video transfer from mobile devices and computers to televisions, one-click wireless sharing, and single sign-on through popular identity engines. Users can access services from the Highfive desktop, web interface, iOS and Android devices, or the company’s room device, while administrators utilize a web-based dashboard. Highfive integrates with Slack, Outlook, Google Chrome and Google Calendar, with a number of additional integrations pending. Highfive is designed for ease of use, with no PIN codes, passwords, remote controls or downloads required to join meetings.

Dolby Conference Phone supports super-wideband audio and is seamlessly integrated with Highfive conferencing services, delivering high-quality stereo spatial audio with noise suppression and echo cancellation to meeting spaces for up to 20x30 feet. Among other advanced features, it offers SRTP media encryption, full-room 360-deegree audio capture, multicolor activity indicator lights and touch interface with swipe support.

HIGHFIVE VIDEO CONFERENCING DEVICE

DOLBY CONFERENCE PHONE



ADMINISTRATOR EXPERIENCE

Highfive solutions are marketed as “insanely simple.” The solution we used certainly lived up to the billing. It literally took less than 20 minutes to set up from end to end. The equipment itself requires minimal cabling, and connecting the components and interfaces is made clear by the illustrated instructions included in the beautiful Apple-like packaging. Account settings are simple to complete and adjust using the admin dashboard, which we found to be uncluttered and straightforward. The system utilizes contemporary pairing capabilities to quickly and accurately select a connected TV to project wireless content and video from a PC or mobile device, as well as to pair the Dolby Conference Phone with the Highfive device. In addition, we appreciate that Highfive offers a number of mechanisms to customers to keep their costs down, including room-based, rather than user-based, subscriptions; the ability to mix subscription plans within the same account; unlimited dial-in with the Standard, Professional, and Professional Plus plans; and unlimited audio dial-out from the Dolby Conference Phone with the Professional Plus plan.

We did find some functionality shortcomings compared with alternative solutions. The Highfive device incorporates a camera with only two settings—narrow (at 80-degree field of view) and wide (at 120-degree field of view). It also does not support pan, tilt or zoom (PTZ). As such, the camera may not be well-suited to certain meeting room configurations. On the development roadmap are Highfive support for third-party H.323 and SIP video endpoints, and the ability to leverage existing investments in third-party devices. Similarly, limited integrations with third-party software (i.e., Skype for Business, cloud file storage apps), and web client support only for Chrome round out our top concerns in comparison with competing solutions.



PRO Highfive subscription services are priced per room with unlimited meetings and hosts. Because there are no per-user fees, buyers do not need to be concerned with overages and associated penalties, and they can simply add more capacity at the room/user ratio to meet their specific requirements.

PRO Account customization is easy using the Highfive admin portal. Admins can upload their company logo for display in apps and on TVs; upload up to three background images that rotate every 24 hours; and choose accent colors for links and buttons that appear in apps and on TVs. Available with all plans above Essential, these free theme personalization and customization options are more extensive and arguably easier to perform when compared with many competing cloud video conferencing services.

CON Admin functionality is only accessible via the admin dashboard. As such, administrators must use two different interfaces to manage their accounts and host/join meetings. Popular competing solutions have consolidated these interfaces for ease of use and efficiency.

PRO Recording functionality is intuitively accessible as an icon in the meeting client to provide single-click functionality. Upon call completion, the meeting host immediately receives an automated email with the file recording attached. This workflow makes it simple to share recordings via email and for users to readily organize them into their preferred storage location (cloud based, company network or local computers).

CON The Insights graphs and charts usage reporting application within the admin dashboard was unavailable at the time of our evaluation. As an alternative we had to download an Excel-based CSV to view data usage and call activity on our account.

PRO Per Frost & Sullivan research, 45% of technology decision-makers worldwide rank security as a top priority when selecting a cloud service provider. Accordingly, all Highfive calls are 128-bit AES encrypted and all plans support a domain-based security model. Most subscription plans additionally support single sign-on. A waiting room prompts hosts and other company participants to allow only external guests they wish to enter their meetings. Gated meeting entry mechanisms can also be set up upon customer request.

PRO The Professional and Professional Plus subscription plans include the Dolby Conference Phone, which powers meeting rooms with incredible audio quality. The device also provides meeting hosts with a combination touch screen and tactile control (volume, mute, leave meeting) to start audio-only calls and add phone callers to meetings in progress.

PRO Standard, Professional and Professional Plus plans all include unlimited domestic and international dial-ins. Pro Plus subscriptions include unlimited minutes to US and Canada as well as unlimited international dial-out minutes from the Dolby Conference Phone. Smart hosts and meeting participants can leverage these capabilities for significant savings compared to many alternative solutions with limited minutes.

ADMINISTRATOR EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS



PARTICIPANT EXPERIENCE

We found that the Highfive service lives up to its positioning as insanely simple. Hosts have options to start meetings on the fly or to schedule meetings via Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook integration from any Highfive client (Chrome WebRTC, desktop, iOS or Android), or to simply copy/paste meeting URLs into emails, calendar invitations, IM or chat sessions. For their part, meeting participants have virtually no friction joining calls via single-click access from within emails, calendars, Slack or instant messages without the need to perform disruptive, error-prone downloads or to enter lengthy pin codes. Calls can also be joined with single-touch access from the Dolby Conference Phone.

That said, Highfive lacks certain features that are part and parcel of a majority of competing services, such as cloud file storage (i.e., Box, Dropbox, Google Drive) and note app (i.e., Evernote, OneNote) integration, and third-party client/endpoint support (i.e., Skype for Business, and H.3.23 and SIP video hardware), as mentioned earlier. A number of enhancements are on the Highfive roadmap that will likewise expand WebRTC support to Safari, Firefox and Edge as well as enhance the capabilities supported by iOS and Mac devices.



PRO Highfive takes the friction out of joining meetings. The service enables internal meeting participants and external guests to join meetings directly from a Chrome browser by simply clicking the URL from a calendar, Slack thread or text message. No pin codes, conference IDs, passwords or downloads are needed—all of which allows participants to focus on their meeting rather than on the technology itself.

CON Currently, WebRTC support by the Highfive web client is limited to Chrome browsers. Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Safari support are roadmap items.

PRO Highfive delivers a nearly consistent experience across its desktop, WebRTC and mobile clients. We found the nuances of feature support across the various interfaces to be minor, which Highfive expects to address in short order.

PRO Audio and content sharing are the two most utilized and important capabilities for meetings that are meant to bring together distributed participants. Highfive’s performance for these must-haves is outstanding in terms of quality and usability.

CON The Highfive service may be considered immature compared with competing solutions. Highfive has an integration with Microsoft Skype for Business and an integration with Outlook for Mac on the development roadmap with plans for availability in the next few months.

PRO Dolby Conference Phone delivers a far superior audio experience compared to integrated TV speakers, PC audio, USB audio devices on the market, and even the Highfive device on its own.

CON As a full-form audio conferencing device, the Dolby Conference Phone is large. With a footprint of 11.8 x 12.6 in., it may simply require too much desktop real estate for some small meeting spaces and huddle rooms.

PRO Moving the meeting experience (video and content) between a computer or mobile device and a nearby television is a slick Highfive feature that should make any user feel like a power user. From the client on their computer or mobile device, users simply select “move to TV” from their web, desktop or mobile client, then select a nearby TV.

PARTICIPANT EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS



ANALYSIS SUMMARYWe recognize that the Highfive service is relatively new to the market and as a result

still evolving in terms of feature breadth and third-party integrations when compared

with more established solutions. However, this is due in large part because Highfive

has stuck to its core focus of making video conferencing in meeting rooms simple.

This commitment to user experience shows equipment and account set up as well

as the user experience are among the easiest of the many solutions our research

team has used. Highfive appears to also have done a commendable job in offering

ways for customers to keep their costs down with an affordable, all-in-one device;

per room subscription pricing; the ability to mix subscription plans in the same

account; as well as unlimited dial-ins with most plans and unlimited dial-out calling

with the Professional Plus plan. That said, organizations with less simplistic needs

(i.e., business and vertical software integrations, APIs, legacy H.323 device support,

PTZ cameras, etc.) will need to seek other options or wait for several Highfive

development cycles to make it to market.

Overall we believe Highfive is a good fit for many different types of organizations,

including those new to conferencing; those with limited in-house expertise; those

wanting to ensure high user adoption through simplicity; and those that want to

standardize rooms and locations with a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution. Such

organizations should ensure they evaluate Highfive.

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today’s market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the Global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies?

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