Evaluation of Highfive with Dolby Voice

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Cory Johnson
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1 December 2016 Evaluation of Highfive with Dolby Voice This evaluation sponsored by

Background Founded in 2012, California-based Highfive Technologies, Inc. is a privately-held company with a combined video conferencing product / service offering.

2 Background Founded in 2012, California-based Highfive Technologies, Inc. is a privately-held company with a combined video conferencing product / service offering. The company was co-founded by ex-google product manager Shan Sinha; is staffed by a team of designers and engineers from Apple, Cisco, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft; and is financed by a powerhouse team of Silicon Valley venture capitalists. In late 2014, Wainhouse Research (WR) evaluated the first version of Highfive s product / service offering. This effort revealed that Highfive s offering was both cost effective and included an innovative, next-generation workflow. However, our testing also revealed a number of challenges that impacted the overall user experience. In the last 18 months, Highfive has briefed WR on numerous product improvements that the company believes more than addressed WR s prior concerns. In addition, we were intrigued to learn about Highfive s partnership with Dolby and the integration of Dolby Voice throughout the platform. In Q4 2016, Highfive and Dolby commissioned WR to re-evaluate the Highfive offering with the Dolby Voice experience. This document contains the results of this recent round of testing. Understanding the Highfive Solution The Highfive solution is sold directly to end-user customers via the Highfive website and includes the following three elements: 1. The Highfive Device - A hardware-based, set-top video conferencing endpoint (see image below). The Highfive device sports a sleek physical design, includes four integrated mics and an HD camera, and is included within each of Highfive s three (3) pricing plans starting at $99 / room / month. Unlike competing video systems, the Highfive device is not controlled using a handheld remote. Instead, users manage Highfive devices using the Highfive app running on their PC or mobile device Wainhouse Research Page 2

The Dolby device also provides spatial audio, a feature which uses stereo sound and behind-the-scenes processing to virtually position each remote participant in a different place in relation to the

3 In addition, Highfive s Professional plan (available for $199 / room / month) includes a Dolby Conference Phone (see image at right). The Dolby Conference Phone acts as an external mic / speaker unit, offers 360-degree coverage of the room, and captures sounds up to 20 feet from the unit. The Dolby device also provides spatial audio, a feature which uses stereo sound and behind-the-scenes processing to virtually position each remote participant in a different place in relation to the user. The result is an experience that resembles the surround sound experience provided in a home theatre. 2. Video Conferencing Apps Available for PCs (Windows, Mac) and mobile devices (ios, Android). These software applications are free. 3. The Highfive Service A cloud-based subscription service that offers account management, user management, Highfive device management, and virtual meeting rooms (VMRs) supporting up to 25 participants (mixture of PC users, mobile users, or Highfive devices) per call. A notable differentiator is that all Highfive meetings include Dolby Voice. Highfive has deployed the Dolby Voice media server within its data center, and both the Highfive device (with or without the Dolby Conference Phone option) and all Highfive video conferencing apps support Dolby Voice. Note that in the Highfive world, subscriptions are sold on a per-highfive device (not per-user) basis. In fact, Highfive Devices cannot be used without an active subscription. Once a company has a subscription, every employee can host Highfive meetings at no additional cost. Highfive offers three subscription plans: - Essential Plan - $99 / device / month supports up to 8 participants per meeting - Standard Plan - $149 / device / month supports up to 25 participants per meeting, and includes unlimited phone dial-ins. - Professional Plan - $199 / device / month includes the Dolby Conference Phone. To facilitate this evaluation, Highfive provided our test team with two Highfive devices, two Dolby Conference Phones, and a Highfive Professional subscription. Hands-On Testing System Installation and Registration The physical installation of the Highfive devices took less than a minute and required connecting power, network, and an HDMI cable from the device to our display. In addition, thanks to Highfive s streamlined registration workflow (see screenshot at right), we were able to register each Highfive device to our account in less than five minutes Wainhouse Research Page 3

code. Hosting Highfive Meetings To host a Highfive meeting, a user simply: - Visits his company s Highfive URL (e.g. wainhouse.highfive.

4 Once installed, the Highfive device provides a welcome screen (see screenshot right) with instructions for hosting a call. Installing the Dolby Conference Phone was quick and easy, requiring the connection of a single Ethernet cable (thanks to Power over Ethernet capabilities on the device) and the entry of a pairing code. Hosting Highfive Meetings To host a Highfive meeting, a user simply: - Visits his company s Highfive URL (e.g. wainhouse.highfive.com) from his PC or mobile device (this prompts the user to install or open the Highfive app) - Authenticates himself on the system (if not already cookied) - Enters a unique meeting name (e.g. sales meeting) - Selects how he wants to join the meeting o o Option 1: From the device he s using to launch the call (PC, mobile device) Option 2: On an available Highfive device (the system provides a list of available devices) Once the user selects his connection method, the call immediately starts. We tested this workflow on several PCs and both Android and ios mobile devices, and it worked exactly as expected. Inviting Participants to Highfive Meetings Any participant in a meeting can invite others to join meeting by providing a meeting URL or dial-in number via or other method (e.g. instant message). By clicking on the meeting URL (if provided), the invitee can then choose how he wants to join the meeting (from his device or from a Highfive device). As invitees join the session, they are either admitted directly (if they are a registered member of the company account) or sent to a lobby awaiting approval from a meeting participant. Highfive also offers plug-ins that automate the process of including Highfive meeting information into Outlook or Google calendar appointments Wainhouse Research Page 4

5 As a part of our testing, we created numerous meetings and invited various participants who then joined our Highfive meetings from their PCs, mobile devices, and from our test Highfive devices. At first, some members of our test team found the Highfive create-and-join-a-meeting workflow and no-handheld-remote concept a bit disconcerting. However, within a short time we found ourselves appreciating Highfive s methodology. This was especially true of our millennial workers who are more comfortable with a mobile device than a handheld remote. Note the Highfive service is a closed environment in that it does not support connections to non- Highfive video solutions (e.g. SIP / H.323 systems or Skype for Business users). Meeting Control Functions Highfive meeting participants have access to the following functions; Leave Call, Mute Mic, Disable Camera, Share Screen, and Move to TV (meaning transfer call to a Highfive device). As a part of our testing, we noticed that within the Highfive environment, all users are equal. While next generation friendly, we question whether such a democratic mindset makes sense in the conferencing world. For example, in the Highfive environment - Any Highfive user from the same company can barge into another person s meeting if he knows the meeting URL - Any meeting participant can invite others to join, admit others, and even mute others - Any registered user can take over a Highfive device and move it to another meeting even if the device was in use by someone else. This makes the Highfive solution best suited for highly collaborative work environments (think Silicon Valley startups, other fast-paced small- to medium-sized enterprises, etc.), but perhaps not for a 75,000- person financial or pharmaceutical firm). The Highfive Meeting Experience Overall, the experience provided by the Highfive device was quite good. Audio Performance / Experience As described above, the Highfive service is powered by Dolby Voice, which assuming the proper equipment is used, provides stereo, spatial audio. During our testing, the audio experience ranged from good to exceptional depending on the device / endpoint used to connect to the session. The audio performance using the built-in mics on the Highfive device was acceptable, but not great. However, the audio performance when we used the Dolby Conference Phone was exceptional. For local participants, the Dolby Conference Phone provided extremely high incoming audio quality sufficient to cover small and medium-sized meeting rooms. For remote participants, the Dolby solution provided high voice clarity, noise reduction, and spatial audio. The audio experience for mobile and PC users depended on whether we used a mono or stereo headset or speakerphone. In all cases, the audio quality was quite good. However, when we used a stereo headset, the audio experience was much stronger Wainhouse Research Page 5

Video Performance / Experience In general, the video performance of the Highfive device was good, although at times the video image froze momentarily.

circle-shaped thumbnails (see screenshot below). This worked well during our testing. Mobile device users, however, receive only a full-screen view of the currently active speaker.

6 Video Performance / Experience In general, the video performance of the Highfive device was good, although at times the video image froze momentarily. For Highfive devices and PC users, the system uses a dynamic video layout to provide large screen views of the last three speakers, while avatars of other participants are shown in smaller, circle-shaped thumbnails (see screenshot below). This worked well during our testing. Mobile device users, however, receive only a full-screen view of the currently active speaker. Content Sharing Experience Highfive supports content sharing from PC (Windows and Mac) and Android devices. Currently content sharing from ios is not supported. As a part of our testing, we shared content from several PCs and from two Android devices. Our testing included local content sharing (called wireless presentation) and content sharing during video calls. The image quality of the shared content was quite good. However, the system does not support dual displays for PC users, and when a PC user shares content, he loses the view of the far end participants. Additional Observations The Highfive device is optimized for use in small meeting rooms where the participants are seated fairly close to the device. The screenshot below shows the image captured by a Highfive device in our office with the participants sitting ~ 5 feet from the device. The Dolby Conference Phone, however, is well suited for small, medium, and even relatively large meeting rooms Wainhouse Research Page 6

7 During our testing, we noted that each Highfive Device uses up to 3 Mbps when connected to a meeting. This is far more bandwidth than used by competing meeting room devices. 1 And finally, while we applaud the integration work completed by Highfive and Dolby, we were disappointed that Highfive didn t make better use of the touch screen real-estate on the Dolby Conference Phone. As it stands today, only volume and mute can be controlled on the Dolby device. Analysis and Opinions There s quite a bit to like about the Highfive solution especially when paired with the Dolby Conference Phone. First of all, Highfive offers a mobile-device-centric workflow that our next-gen workers found very appealing. In addition, Highfive s cost model (low up-front cost, monthly fee per device, no monthly fee per user) makes it extremely cost effective to video-enable an entire company s workforce. Furthermore, the addition of Dolby Voice to the Highfive platform provides an exceptional audio experience that is on-par with, and in many cases, better than competing offerings. We especially enjoyed the spatial audio experience. While the solution is not perfect (e.g. lack of digital zoom, no interop with standards-based systems, and some content sharing limitations), Highfive is clearly not afraid of breaking a few rules on its way to simplifying the video conferencing experience. Highfive has come quite a long way in the last 18 months. We can only imagine what the next 18 months will bring. 1 Highfive has made no secret of its plan to move to WebRTC, which according to the company will reduce bandwidth consumption during video calls. This capability, however, was not available for testing, 2016 Wainhouse Research Page 7

Contributing Authors / Research Team Ira M. Weinstein is a Senior Analyst & Partner at Wainhouse Research and a 25-year veteran of the conferencing, collaboration and audio-visual industries.

and integration, business strategy, and general business practices. Ira specializes in providing strategic advisory services to vendors, resellers, and end-users within the collaboration space.

Saar Litman is a Senior Researcher & Consultant at Wainhouse Research and has 15 years of experience in the audio-visual and video conferencing industry.

In addition, Saar provides AV design services, helps enterprise organizations define and implement global AV standard systems and designs, and manages the WR test lab in Coral Springs, Florida.

8 Contributing Authors / Research Team Ira M. Weinstein is a Senior Analyst & Partner at Wainhouse Research and a 25-year veteran of the conferencing, collaboration and audio-visual industries. Ira has authored and contributed to dozens of articles, white papers, studies, reports, and evaluations on rich media communications, video conferencing, streaming and webcasting, audiovisual design and integration, business strategy, and general business practices. Ira specializes in providing strategic advisory services to vendors, resellers, and end-users within the collaboration space. Ira can be reached at iweinstein@wainhouse.com. Saar Litman is a Senior Researcher & Consultant at Wainhouse Research and has 15 years of experience in the audio-visual and video conferencing industry. Saar s primary focus is the products, services, and companies within the audio-visual space. In addition, Saar provides AV design services, helps enterprise organizations define and implement global AV standard systems and designs, and manages the WR test lab in Coral Springs, Florida. Saar can be reached at slitman@wainhouse.com. Peter Schwarck is a Researcher & Technical Writer at Wainhouse Research. Peter has authored and developed content for private corporations, non-profits, and government organizations. In addition, Peter worked as an educational consultant while writing and developing textbooks and curriculums for foreign companies abroad. Peter can be reached at pschwarck@wainhouse.com. About Wainhouse Research Wainhouse Research, is an independent analyst firm that focuses on critical issues in the Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C). The company conducts multi-client and custom research studies, consults with end users on key implementation issues, publishes white papers and market statistics, and delivers public and private seminars as well as speaker presentations at industry group meetings. About Highfive (Copy provided by Highfive) Highfive is the easiest-to-use meeting-room solution, combining lightweight hardware with intuitive cloud software to deliver high-quality collaboration and video conferencing. At a fraction of the cost of traditional systems, you can put Highfive in every room, not just the boardroom. For more information, please visit About Dolby Laboratories (Copy provided by Dolby) Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) creates audio, video, and voice technologies that transform entertainment and communications in mobile devices, at the cinema, at home, and at work. For more than 50 years, sight and sound experiences have become more vibrant, clear, and powerful in Dolby. For more information, please visit Wainhouse Research Page 8

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