Lifesize launches Rooms-as-a-Service effort to court video conferencing, meeting room customers

Video collaboration company Lifesize is looking to expand its footprint via a Rooms-as-a-Service plan that aims to offer enterprises predictable pricing and lower upfront costs.

The Rooms-as-a-Service plan starts for $99 per room per month and is available in the US and Europe. More international markets are expected in 2020. Lifesize has been taking aim at Zoom in cloud video.

Lifesize, which has retooled as a cloud-centric video collaboration vendor, is looking to tap into the expansion of enterprise collaboration tools. As noted before, enterprises have invested in open floor plans and other amenities, but the collaboration technology has lagged. Vendors such as HP, Lenovo, Google, Logitech, Microsoft, and a host of others are hoping to tap into the upgrade boom.

Michael Helmbrecht, operating chief of Lifesize, said that many companies have taken a piecemeal approach to upgrading conferencing room due to upfront costs. With Lifesize's Rooms-as-a-Service plan, enterprises would standardize on its all-in-one meeting room platform and get the software, maintenance, hardware, and support in one bundle.

Lifesize estimates that enterprises could cut 20% to 30% of its total cost of ownership in the first two years of service.

In November, Lifesize launched a free licensing model for its Lifesize Dash meeting room software. The plan was aimed at Zoom Rooms. Lifesize also released a tablet-based Lifesize Room Controller app for Dash and Dash compatibility with PC-based systems. Lifesize Dash will work on Chromebox or Windows devices with support for Mac in 2020.

source zdnet

Industry: Unified Communications