Blue Jeans 2.0 Offers Enhancements to Videoconferencing Service

Blue Jeans Network has launched Blue Jeans 2.0, which is an upgraded version of its cloud-based meeting room service that was first introduced in June 2011. 

The chief commercial officer at Blue Jeans, Stu Aaron, said: “It's really been a tremendous two years of growth for us. And mostly at the expense of the traditional videoconferencing incumbents like Cisco and Polycom. Not at their endpoint business, because we actually help that business, but their infrastructure business or their bridge or [multipoint control unit] MCU business.”

Aaron states that the value proposition behind Blue Jean’s service is that it’s “built from the cloud up,” which means that it is consumed as a hosted service and enables users to host, schedule and manage their own videoconferences through a Web interface. Interoperability means that the service can work over a number of different video and audio protocols, and merges the gap between systems like Cisco, Telepresence and Skype.

The sales figures are still unclear, but Aaron stated that the last two years were “blockbuster” for Blue Jeans. The company has eradicated the need for $100 million in MCU sales in the last year end, and this is the result of its attempts to upend traditional hardware-based infrastructures.

At present, the company commands a key piece of the videoconferencing services market. Aaron noted: “When we entered the videoconferencing services market, it was sized at 200 million minutes a year as an annual run rate, of which we had zero. I'm pleased to say that today we are at somewhere between a 60-million- and 70-million-minute-a-year run rate and growing daily, which puts us somewhere between a quarter and a third of the videoconferencing services market.”

The Blue Jeans business has developed along with the channel, and the company has between 60 and 70 partners worldwide. These are split into three categories: traditional A/V integration VARs that can wrap Blue Jeans' service around endpoint sales, managed services providers that work Blue Jeans into their broader services portfolios, and conferencing providers that present Blue Jeans as an audioconferencing alternative and which Blue Jeans describes as OEM-type relationships.

Aaron stated: “We take the channel very seriously. I know that some of our competitors have spread some FUD about us having a direct sales force and not being a channel company and that's really, I think, misrepresented.”

It is clear that Blue Jeans has a dedicated, internal channel sales team which is compensated depending on the business it generates through partners, said Aaron.

Brentwood, California-based Solutionz Conferencing is a 12-year-old solution provider and Blue Jeans partner. The COO of Solutionz Conferencing, Brad Johnston, stated that Blue Jeans is a trailblazer in the cloud-based video services space.

Johnston commented: “In two years, Blue Jeans Network has been a 'market-maker' for cloud video services. They have set the bar relative to innovation, ease of use and customer experience. From a partner perspective, they are easy to do business with, responsive and aligned with their channels.”

Feedback has been collected from customers in order to assist in the creation of Blue Jeans 2.0, and this is the next-generation version of its videoconferencing service. The changes are aimed at business users and administrators. Business users will be able to access an enhanced user interface in version 2.0 and can easily manage and navigate meetings.

One-click access to join meetings is another addition to the improved service, and new in-meeting controls mean that sound, layout and participant rosters can be managed by users. Blue Jeans meetings can be scheduled directly via Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook.

Group-level permission controls can also be adjusted in the 2.0 release, and can be used to define what endpoints are available to users. Aaron explained: "The IT administrator can set default configurations for their users. For instance, a particular company might say, 'I don't want our users to use Skype. I don't even want to give them the option, I just want to take it out of the menu so it's just not even an option when they connect to Blue Jeans.'"

Single sign-on is also part of the updated service, and this is made possible through Active Directory and SAML, simplifying the process by which administrators on-board new users. APIs for customized user provisioning and integration into a user’s internal scheduling systems is also made possible as a result of Blue Jeans 2.0.

Blue Jeans is still determined to make new moves in the coming future. Aaron said: “Obviously, we want to pause and pat ourselves on the back for a minute and bask in the success, but we also know that that only lasts about a minute before you need to focus on the future.”

In particular, the company is seeking to develop its service and bring in more global partners, specifically from Europe and Asia, according to Aaron. (CY) Link