Blackboard Collaborate vs Polycom RealPresence Clariti comparison

Blackboard and Poly are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. Blackboard is ranked #20 with an average rating of 6.0, while Poly is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.5. Blackboard holds a 2.0% mindshare in VM, compared to Poly’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of Blackboard users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Poly users who would recommend it.

Blackboard Collaborate

Read 4 Blackboard Collaborate reviews

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369 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

Polycom RealPresence Clariti

Read 5 Polycom RealPresence Clariti reviews

371 Views
371 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Blackboard Collaborate

Polycom RealPresence Clariti

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Blackboard Collaborate and Polycom RealPresence Clariti are competitive products in the collaborative tools market. Blackboard Collaborate may have an advantage in educational settings due to its specialized features, while Polycom RealPresence Clariti could be preferable for businesses due to its extensive collaboration functionality.

Features: Blackboard Collaborate provides interactive tools like whiteboarding, breakout rooms, and LMS integration. Polycom RealPresence Clariti integrates with solutions like Zoom and Teams, offers high-definition video quality, and supports scalability.

Room for Improvement: Blackboard Collaborate could enhance its video quality, improve real-time collaboration tools, and expand its integration capabilities. Polycom RealPresence Clariti may benefit from simplifying its infrastructure requirements, enhancing user interface intuitiveness, and expanding educational features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Blackboard Collaborate is appreciated for its straightforward cloud-based deployment, making it accessible to users. Polycom RealPresence Clariti offers on-prem and hybrid deployment options, which provide flexibility, but may require extensive infrastructure. Customer service tends to be more readily available with Blackboard, while Polycom offers robust support, though it may involve a learning curve.

Pricing and ROI: Blackboard Collaborate has a pricing model aligned with educational budgets, offering cost-effective solutions for schools. Polycom RealPresence Clariti, with a higher upfront cost, delivers significant ROI to enterprises through its comprehensive conferencing capabilities, making it a justified investment for those prioritizing advanced collaboration.

To learn more, read our detailed Blackboard Collaborate vs. Polycom RealPresence Clariti Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Blackboard Collaborate vs. Polycom RealPresence Clariti

December 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Blackboard Collaborate

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

20th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Polycom RealPresence Clariti

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

11th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Blackboard Collaborate is 2.0%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Polycom RealPresence Clariti is 1.7%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Meetings Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Polycom RealPresence Clariti	1.7%
Blackboard Collaborate	2.0%
Other	96.3%

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

YN1

Teaching and Learning Systems Manager at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees

Useful in webinars, meetings and online classrooms

One of the features that people enjoy is the whiteboard, providing opportunities for academics to present content and for students to contribute. The platform also allows for the creating of different rooms, enabling large classes to break into smaller groups for discussions. Students can then return to the main classroom to share their opinions. It integrates with LMS.

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Norm Hubert

VTC Network manager at a government with 10,001+ employees

The ability to track call flow and history simplifies call management while bridging issues persist

I find the ability to follow the calls, the call flow, the ability to look at the history, and more on the fault-finding tools to be valuable. It improved from a support model perspective. It simplified the licensing, reduced administration since it's based on calls, not based on users. It's about managing the calls and verifying we have enough space as opposed to always adding licenses for endpoints or users.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Document loading and annotation."

"One of the features that people enjoy is the whiteboard, providing opportunities for academics to present content and for students to contribute. The platform also allows for the creating of different rooms, enabling large classes to break into smaller groups for discussions. Students can then return to the main classroom to share their opinions. It integrates with LMS."

"The solution allows me to connect and collaborate with my classes."

"I find the ability to follow the calls, the call flow, the ability to look at the history, and more on the fault-finding tools to be valuable."

"It does a good job of integrating with other software."

"Some proprietary Polycom features include speaker tracking, acoustic fencing, noise cancellation, active noise cancellation, and noise cancellation AI."

"The most valuable feature is its integration with solutions like Zoom and Teams for endpoints. The picture quality is high, and the conference sessions are stable."

"It's on-prem, which is great."

Cons

"If there were maybe more tutorials outside of what I'm aware the university is suggesting, I would take more tutorials on effective ways to deliver content. I come from the industry and content was always needed when people that were observing were smart and involved and decision-makers instead of so passively just trying to pass the course. In my imagination, the tutorials would be a tool where the learners themselves can have much more hands-on learning during a Collaborate session."

"We faced outages when the user limit went over a certain number."

"The system can overload when too many try logging in."

"Polycom RealPresence Clariti is very bad when moving towards the cloud."

"The customer needs this platform to be a little bit more customized."

"The only issue we have is with some of the bridging stuff, particularly with respect to DTMF and outgoing calls."

"The most valuable feature is its integration with solutions like Zoom and Teams for endpoints. The picture quality is high, and the conference sessions are stable."

"Could have a wider range of use cases."

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Polycom RealPresence Clariti is definitely more expensive than others in the market because of its high quality."

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Questions from the Community

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What needs improvement with Polycom RealPresence Clariti?

They are discontinuing the product and they are moving over to Pexip. The only issue we have is with some of the bridging stuff, particularly with respect to DTMF and outgoing calls. That's our big...

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What is your primary use case for Polycom RealPresence Clariti?

We use it both nationally and internationally with our partners, however, it's used in a closed environment.

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What advice do you have for others considering Polycom RealPresence Clariti?

I would recommend it, however, it depends on the environment. We have a lot of users but not a lot of usage, so the price model is really good for that environment. Overall, I would give it a nine ...

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Comparisons

Zoom Workplace Business vs Blackboard Collaborate

Compared 31% of the time

Microsoft Teams vs Blackboard Collaborate

Compared 17% of the time

Webex vs Blackboard Collaborate

Compared 16% of the time

ON24 Platform vs Blackboard Collaborate

Compared 14% of the time

Avaya IX Meetings vs Blackboard Collaborate

Compared 11% of the time

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Cisco TelePresence vs Polycom RealPresence Clariti

Compared 60% of the time

Cisco Meeting Server vs Polycom RealPresence Clariti

Compared 40% of the time

More Polycom RealPresence Clariti Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

January 2026

Download Blackboard Collaborate product report

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

January 2026

Download Polycom RealPresence Clariti product report

Also Known As

Blackboard Mobile

RealPresence Clariti, Clariti

Overview

Blackboard Mobile give your learners, educators, and community access to all aspects of the educational experience on their mobile devices and they'll be able to go anywhere. Giving you the power to engage everyone on their terms and devices. Offering instant access to the information they need. Encouraging the interaction they crave.

Blackboard

RealPresence Clariti is simple, powerful, cloud-ready collaboration infrastructure software for businesses of all sizes that connects people with HD voice, video, content and web collaboration.

Poly

Sample Customers

University of Derby Online, Universty of Warwick, University of Liverpool, City College Norwich, Northumberland College, Mid-Kent College, Watson Pharmaceutials, Capella University, Shore Tel Sky, Lincoln PD, City of Somerville MA, Somerset County Council

Baptist Health Corbin, North Carolina Central University

Buyer's Guide

Blackboard Collaborate vs. Polycom RealPresence Clariti

December 2025

Free Report: Blackboard Collaborate vs. Polycom RealPresence Clariti

Find out what your peers are saying about Blackboard Collaborate vs. Polycom RealPresence Clariti and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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