The BlueJeans Meetings video conferencing service (which begins at $12.49 per host per month for its Me plan) includes up to 50 participants.
The next tier up is its My Team plan at $16.65 per host per month, which increases that number to 75 participants and includes cloud meeting recording for up to 10 hours per host.
It also adds the command center dashboard that lets you track all meetings and helpful statistics such as feedback, number of attendees, and average usage over time.
Those needing an optimized solution for their business can contact BlueJeans for a quote of its My Company plan.
Also offered are its BlueJeans Rooms service, which powers video conferencing rooms in your office, and BlueJeans Events, which is geared toward webinars.
Because of this, webinar features that are present in a solution such as ClickMeeting ($40.00 Per Month Per Host at ClickMeeting) , one of our Editors' Choices, would be outside the scope of BlueJeans Meetings.
A 30-day trial of all three BlueJeans products is available on the company's website.
Setup and Experience
Creating a trial account is a stress-free event.
I entered my email address, company size, and a few other basic tidbits of information and was sent a confirmation email to verify that it was me who signed up; it also served as a touchpoint to set my password.
After logging in, you are greeted with the Scheduling page.
From here, you can schedule a meeting for the future, join an existing meeting by entering an ID and passcode, or start a new meeting immediately.
Scheduled meetings can also be set to repeat on schedule, which is a nice touch for weekly or monthly touch points with the team.
If you happen to be using a calendar application such as Microsoft Outlook, then there is a plug-in available for that as well as an integration with Microsoft Office 365 ($20 Per User Per Month at Microsoft365 for Business) .
The only odd thing I noticed when clicking through the portal was the use of Adobe Flash on some pages.
This is being deprecated in 2020 and it's generally blocked by default by most browsers.
Fortunately, this is limited to instructional videos, but it's an annoyance nonetheless.
To join a meeting, you need to download the BlueJeans Meetings app.
Perhaps one of the most unique aspects of this is that it's available for Linux in addition to Mac OS and Windows.
Downloading and installing the app is a snap, but folks who work in an environment in which IT has severely restricted their ability to install apps may find this a bit of a hurdle.
Fortunately, it has a browser-only client that replicates the core experience.
If you want all of the features, though, then you'll need to install the desktop app.
Toll numbers for dial-in are included and available in a variety of countries, and toll-free numbers are also available in the US and Canada.
If you are joining from a mobile platform, then Android and iOS are both fully supported.
Once in, the user interface (UI) is a pleasure to use.
Anything actionable is right across the top of the screen.
To start recording, just click the button, and you'll get a friendly voice announcement that the recording has started.
Once the meeting is completed, this will be available for sharing in the Recordings section of the BlueJeans Meetings website.
There are two basic options.
The first option keeps the recording private, and the second option gives members of your enterprise group access via a URL.
It's a bit of a letdown that these can't be shared publicly, but you could always download the video and share it on Vimeo or YouTube.
If you elect to share your screen, then the video window collapses down and puts a small notification at the top of your screen that indicates you're sharing whatever app or window you select.
This works basically like you'd expect.
Sharing remote desktop controls is not intuitive at first glance, however.
After a bit of poking around on the Support page, I determined that you need to click a participant under the People icon and then select Request Desktop Control.
The utility of this is somewhat limited in terms of a support situation, however, since Administrator apps such as the Microsoft Registry Editor are not supported during a Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) session.
Those needing this behavior should check out GoToMeeting, which excels at this.
Moderator controls are straightforward.
You can get there by clicking the People menu.
Each participant has a video and microphone icon that lets you mute or unmute each individually.
There is also a handy pair of buttons at the bottom that let you mute or unmute everyone.
One icon over you'll find the chat window.
This supports both broadcasting messages to everyone in the meeting or simple direct messaging.
Unfortunately, there is no way to raise your hand or signal that you need assistance beyond this.
Also included is a whiteboard and annotation app, which are both intuitive and useful.
One of the more surprising pieces is the integration with Facebook Live.
Those wanting to broadcast their meeting to Facebook users will be right at home here.
It's worth noting that this supports both business and personal Facebook accounts.
The Settings panel is straightforward, but there was an odd aspect to the desktop app that was harmless but annoying.
If you click in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, then you'll find a Settings menu.
This is not the same as the Settings menu that you click in the app's main screen.
If you accidentally find your way to the first menu, then you'll wonder why you can't select which audio source and camera you want to use.
All of that aside, there are some useful nuggets here.
The first is the ability to lock the current meeting to keep others from joining; this is primarily to prevent disruptions.
Paired with this is the ability to disable entry and exit notifications, which is a nice feature that cuts down on noise.
In terms of the video conferencing capabilities, there are several views from which you can work.
The first view is the People view that puts the main speaker up front but still shows everyone's window.
The second view is a view that only shows the main speaker.
The third view is a Gallery view which shows everyone equal in size.
I liked that I had these options since I tend to gravitate toward the Gallery view that is available in other video conferencing apps.
Up to 25 concurrent video feeds are possible at one time, which is quite generous and keeping in line with products such as Cisco WebEx Meetings and GoToMeeting.
The most striking aspect, however, is the Dolby-powered directional audio capabilities.
For those using Dolby-enabled hardware in their conference rooms, you can tell who is speaking based on where the voice is coming from in your headphones.
This is a truly remarkable value-add for multiple conference rooms that need to talk with each other since it's often difficult to tell who is addressing whom.
Troubleshooting
For technical folks who end up having to track down network issues with video conferencing, BlueJeans Meetings leads the pack in this regard.
The Command Center not only gives you important statistics about meeting participation, but it also gives you some clues as to why someone might have rated it as a bad experience.
Users can be sorted and searched based on their experience, and important numbers such as frame rate, bit rate, jitter, and loss can all be determined at a glance.
Anything that went wrong appears in red, so a network analyst would know where to look for problems.
BlueJeans Meetings is simple, stylish, and functional.
It has the right number of features without overdoing it.
However, it does require that an app be downloaded and installed if you want to use all of the features.
That being said, it puts user experience (UX) first, and there are some truly groundbreaking bits of technology here to support that aim.
If you can do without some of the collaboration features or if you already have a product such as Microsoft Teams, then BlueJeans Meetings is a great choice.
If you need a more webinar-focused product, then it's worth checking out ClickMeeting, one of our Editors' Choices.
A more balanced alternative would be Cisco WebEx Meetings, our other Editors' Choice.
Pros
Directional audio for Dolby Sound-enabled rooms and hardware.
Quality and feedback statistics.
Supports browser, desktop, and mobile platforms.
Cons
No file sharing capabilities.
No recording for the Me plan.
Lacks common webinar features.
The Bottom Line
BlueJeans Meetings is an excellent service for folks who just need to meet, whiteboard, and screen share.
Its Dolby-powered directional audio experience is unique and gives you a greater feeling of presence.
The BlueJeans Meetings video conferencing service (which begins at $12.49 per host per month for its Me plan) includes up to 50 participants.
The next tier up is its My Team plan at $16.65 per host per month, which increases that number to 75 participants and includes cloud meeting recording for up to 10 hours per host.
It also adds the command center dashboard that lets you track all meetings and helpful statistics such as feedback, number of attendees, and average usage over time.
Those needing an optimized solution for their business can contact BlueJeans for a quote of its My Company plan.
Also offered are its BlueJeans Rooms service, which powers video conferencing rooms in your office, and BlueJeans Events, which is geared toward webinars.
Because of this, webinar features that are present in a solution such as ClickMeeting ($40.00 Per Month Per Host at ClickMeeting) , one of our Editors' Choices, would be outside the scope of BlueJeans Meetings.
A 30-day trial of all three BlueJeans products is available on the company's website.
Setup and Experience
Creating a trial account is a stress-free event.
I entered my email address, company size, and a few other basic tidbits of information and was sent a confirmation email to verify that it was me who signed up; it also served as a touchpoint to set my password.
After logging in, you are greeted with the Scheduling page.
From here, you can schedule a meeting for the future, join an existing meeting by entering an ID and passcode, or start a new meeting immediately.
Scheduled meetings can also be set to repeat on schedule, which is a nice touch for weekly or monthly touch points with the team.
If you happen to be using a calendar application such as Microsoft Outlook, then there is a plug-in available for that as well as an integration with Microsoft Office 365 ($20 Per User Per Month at Microsoft365 for Business) .
The only odd thing I noticed when clicking through the portal was the use of Adobe Flash on some pages.
This is being deprecated in 2020 and it's generally blocked by default by most browsers.
Fortunately, this is limited to instructional videos, but it's an annoyance nonetheless.
To join a meeting, you need to download the BlueJeans Meetings app.
Perhaps one of the most unique aspects of this is that it's available for Linux in addition to Mac OS and Windows.
Downloading and installing the app is a snap, but folks who work in an environment in which IT has severely restricted their ability to install apps may find this a bit of a hurdle.
Fortunately, it has a browser-only client that replicates the core experience.
If you want all of the features, though, then you'll need to install the desktop app.
Toll numbers for dial-in are included and available in a variety of countries, and toll-free numbers are also available in the US and Canada.
If you are joining from a mobile platform, then Android and iOS are both fully supported.
Once in, the user interface (UI) is a pleasure to use.
Anything actionable is right across the top of the screen.
To start recording, just click the button, and you'll get a friendly voice announcement that the recording has started.
Once the meeting is completed, this will be available for sharing in the Recordings section of the BlueJeans Meetings website.
There are two basic options.
The first option keeps the recording private, and the second option gives members of your enterprise group access via a URL.
It's a bit of a letdown that these can't be shared publicly, but you could always download the video and share it on Vimeo or YouTube.
If you elect to share your screen, then the video window collapses down and puts a small notification at the top of your screen that indicates you're sharing whatever app or window you select.
This works basically like you'd expect.
Sharing remote desktop controls is not intuitive at first glance, however.
After a bit of poking around on the Support page, I determined that you need to click a participant under the People icon and then select Request Desktop Control.
The utility of this is somewhat limited in terms of a support situation, however, since Administrator apps such as the Microsoft Registry Editor are not supported during a Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) session.
Those needing this behavior should check out GoToMeeting, which excels at this.
Moderator controls are straightforward.
You can get there by clicking the People menu.
Each participant has a video and microphone icon that lets you mute or unmute each individually.
There is also a handy pair of buttons at the bottom that let you mute or unmute everyone.
One icon over you'll find the chat window.
This supports both broadcasting messages to everyone in the meeting or simple direct messaging.
Unfortunately, there is no way to raise your hand or signal that you need assistance beyond this.
Also included is a whiteboard and annotation app, which are both intuitive and useful.
One of the more surprising pieces is the integration with Facebook Live.
Those wanting to broadcast their meeting to Facebook users will be right at home here.
It's worth noting that this supports both business and personal Facebook accounts.
The Settings panel is straightforward, but there was an odd aspect to the desktop app that was harmless but annoying.
If you click in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, then you'll find a Settings menu.
This is not the same as the Settings menu that you click in the app's main screen.
If you accidentally find your way to the first menu, then you'll wonder why you can't select which audio source and camera you want to use.
All of that aside, there are some useful nuggets here.
The first is the ability to lock the current meeting to keep others from joining; this is primarily to prevent disruptions.
Paired with this is the ability to disable entry and exit notifications, which is a nice feature that cuts down on noise.
In terms of the video conferencing capabilities, there are several views from which you can work.
The first view is the People view that puts the main speaker up front but still shows everyone's window.
The second view is a view that only shows the main speaker.
The third view is a Gallery view which shows everyone equal in size.
I liked that I had these options since I tend to gravitate toward the Gallery view that is available in other video conferencing apps.
Up to 25 concurrent video feeds are possible at one time, which is quite generous and keeping in line with products such as Cisco WebEx Meetings and GoToMeeting.
The most striking aspect, however, is the Dolby-powered directional audio capabilities.
For those using Dolby-enabled hardware in their conference rooms, you can tell who is speaking based on where the voice is coming from in your headphones.
This is a truly remarkable value-add for multiple conference rooms that need to talk with each other since it's often difficult to tell who is addressing whom.
Troubleshooting
For technical folks who end up having to track down network issues with video conferencing, BlueJeans Meetings leads the pack in this regard.
The Command Center not only gives you important statistics about meeting participation, but it also gives you some clues as to why someone might have rated it as a bad experience.
Users can be sorted and searched based on their experience, and important numbers such as frame rate, bit rate, jitter, and loss can all be determined at a glance.
Anything that went wrong appears in red, so a network analyst would know where to look for problems.
BlueJeans Meetings is simple, stylish, and functional.
It has the right number of features without overdoing it.
However, it does require that an app be downloaded and installed if you want to use all of the features.
That being said, it puts user experience (UX) first, and there are some truly groundbreaking bits of technology here to support that aim.
If you can do without some of the collaboration features or if you already have a product such as Microsoft Teams, then BlueJeans Meetings is a great choice.
If you need a more webinar-focused product, then it's worth checking out ClickMeeting, one of our Editors' Choices.
A more balanced alternative would be Cisco WebEx Meetings, our other Editors' Choice.
Pros
Directional audio for Dolby Sound-enabled rooms and hardware.
Quality and feedback statistics.
Supports browser, desktop, and mobile platforms.
Cons
No file sharing capabilities.
No recording for the Me plan.
Lacks common webinar features.
The Bottom Line
BlueJeans Meetings is an excellent service for folks who just need to meet, whiteboard, and screen share.
Its Dolby-powered directional audio experience is unique and gives you a greater feeling of presence.
