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HCL Sametime vs Zoom Workplace Business comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 31, 2025

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

HCL Sametime
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
20th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zoom Workplace Business
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
225
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of HCL Sametime is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoom Workplace Business is 11.4%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Bogdan Chechlowski - PeerSpot reviewer
Stable product, communicate very fast and allows to see who's online in the office or work environment
It was used for communication through text messages, primarily Being able to see who was online and communicate very fast was a good feature.  The security was quite good. However, when we tried to implement it for email at a high level, we had to use another solution, FortiMail Gateway. I view…
Luiz Kazan - PeerSpot reviewer
Utilizing versatile features for efficient personal and work meetings
Zoom offers a number of interesting and valuable features. One of the most interesting is the ability to share only audio and provide ambient music without sharing a screen. The breakout room feature is much more developed than other solutions, allowing users to stay in the same meeting and move to different rooms and back to the main room. The sharing features are great for projecting people who should be in focus. Another valuable feature is the virtual entrance, which uses a username and password recognized by the Zoom system, showing the person's full name and ID. Additionally, the use of video and a good fixed background improves visibility compared to other applications. These features differentiate Zoom from others.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The security was quite good."
"I can view the status and availability of colleagues or team members, which makes it easy to approach them when they are available."
"I'm using it only for meetings, and it is good for me. It provides options for remote control and screen sharing."
"Zoom is a product that offers users convenience, so you won't be left out of any meetings, especially when others need or prefer to hold meetings on Zoom."
"I like Zoom's ease of use and how easy it is for non-tech people to interface with it. Other video conferencing solutions can be somewhat challenging for non-tech people, so you often end up waiting for people to connect."
"The solution is easy to set up."
"The most valuable features are the video conferencing and the whole invite to set up a meeting is really easy to figure out and use. The chat functions are pretty simple as well."
"The most valuable features of Zoom are simplicity and reliability."
"There are many valuable features. Security is one – you can lock Zoom meetings when you find that all the participants have joined so that there are no intruders."
"I don't have any issues with the scalability of Zoom."
 

Cons

"The webinar should be integrated into Sametime for a larger number of participants."
"It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or other files."
"Zoom will be cheaper if you want to have a general meeting, but if you want a real enterprise version, Cisco will be cheaper."
"I thought Zoom doesn't have the feature to save chats after meetings, while Teams allows for document sharing, which I know because in my latest company we were sharing documents through Teams; I didn't use that in Zoom."
"The updating feature of Zoom needs to be improved."
"The solution needs to have a feature that allows you to take over another person's screen. right now, that's not possible. This is important for our purposes due to the act that we are often using the solution to troubleshoot issues for our clients. If we could just take over their screen and go in and fix issues, it would make troubleshooting infinitely easier."
"They may need to scale it some more in terms of global users."
"We have had some quality and lagging issues with video regardless of connection quality."
"I would like to be able to have multiple users open and collaborate on a document at the same time."
"Zoom's drawing tools could be better integrated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We are on an annual license for the solution. The price of the solution could be less expensive."
"I use Zoom's free version."
"There is a yearly license for this solution. I would like it if they offered better prices."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten. It is not affordable for small businesses."
"I use the free version of Zoom that is available for download."
"The personal version is free. However, there are fees required to use the solution for business."
"As an organization, we are paying a license fee for Zoom. Personally, I use the free version."
"For personal use, I use the free version of Zoom, so I haven't paid anything."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
University
14%
Performing Arts
12%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL Sametime?
I view it as part of HCL Notes and Domino, and my opinion is similar to those products. It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or oth...
What is your primary use case for HCL Sametime?
It was used for communication through text messages, primarily.
What advice do you have for others considering HCL Sametime?
Overall, it was quite good. I would rate it an eight out of ten. It's a better product than some others from HCL, but overall, I wouldn't recommend it, given the availability of superior alternatives.
LucidChart vs LucidSpark for brainstorming sessions over Zoom
Hi @Krista Thompson ​ - Yes, LucidSpark is a much more nimble and, in some ways, user-friendly tool than LucidChart. LucidSpark is designed to do a better job managing multiple users participating ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoom?
Zoom offers a free version for up to forty minutes.
 

Also Known As

Lotus Sametime, IBM Lotus Sametime
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Connect2Cloud, Superior Group, Daifuku Co. Ltd., Seaward, The City of Fort Worth, Christian Brothers Services, Berlitz, Deutsche Notes User Group, Danske Fysioterapeuter, Slumberland, La Vacanza, Rheinmetall AG
Fortinet, Veeva, Proofpoint, Box, Ticketmaster, Trend Micro, Caesars Entertainment, Santa Clara University, Pandora, Stanford Continuing Studies
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Sametime vs. Zoom Workplace Business and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,484 professionals have used our research since 2012.