MaestroConference

Score7 out of 10

9 Reviews and Ratings

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Reviews

3 Reviews

Maestro Conference is an excellent conference tool

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

July 5, 2014

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I used Maestro Conference to lead group coaching programs and host interactive telesummits. The number one business problem it addresses is how to make large group calls more dynamic, engaging and interactive. By using Maestro Conference participants in the calls are able to connect with each other and actively connect in group exercises.

Pros

The number one strength of Maestro Conference is the ability for the host to create "break out" groups where members of the call can interact with each other in smaller groups as if they were in an in-person conference.
Another quality of Maestro Conference that I love is the fact that the host can then "weave in and out" of the different break out groups, listening in, providing support and getting feedback. It's an incredibly tool that Maestro offers.
Lastly I think Maestro Conference has excellent customer service.

Cons

The only challenge I found with Maestro conference is that sometimes the break out groups function didn't operate as smoothly as I needed it to. People wouldn't always find themselves in groups or they would be switched from one group to another without the host moving them.

Likelihood to Recommend

Key questions to ask might be:
1) Do I want to create a more "in-person" experience for my participants?
2) Do I want participants to be able to connect in smaller groups?
3) Will I be leading exercises that I want participants to actively engage in?
4) Would it be helpful for participants to be able to talk amongst themselves at any point during my presentation?
5) Do I want to be able to listen in on what participants share in the smaller groups?

Daphne Cohn

Business Coach, Crap Slayer at DaphneCohn.com (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

-2 years of experience

It's all about the breakout rooms

Rating: 5 out of 10

Incentivized

July 5, 2014

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I used MC to conduct complicated telephone calls with breakout rooms. I also used it for weekly teleconference classes with my e-learning school. The complicated conferences were only possible with Maestro Conference because of the breakout rooms.

Pros

The breakout rooms are fantastic. It was complicated to move people in and out of them, but once we got the hang of it things went smoothly. The calls I ran had up to 10 breakout rooms, and it was difficult to manage it without two conductors.
The chimes that tell people where they are time wise in the breakout rooms are really great. I made good use of them.
The conductor panel is very good, once you learn how to use it. It does have an annoying glitch wherein you can't change a person's status on the fly.

Cons

The call sound quality was often pretty poor, and we had a lot of trouble with calls being dropped. Over the years I would periodically throw in the towel and go back to Free Conferencing just to have reliable quality. But they only have 3 of 4 breakout rooms and I couldn't conduct the rooms easily. Then I try MC again to see if the engineering had improved. It was like a wave. Sometimes better, sometimes worse.
The conductor interface has an annoying glitch wherein we could not change a persons attribute fields on the fly. I would interview my callers and assign them to one class or another based on their answers, and the partner up people into breakout rooms based on their answers. This meant editing the two attribute fields , and it just plain didn't work 75% of the time.
Maestro Conference repositioned its business away from small educators like me, to large organizations like political action committees. The price became too high for me, and it just no longer made sense. I repositioned my product to work with less expensive and less complicated solutions.
The add on features, like recording each conference room, were insanely expensive.
VOIP and MC didn't mix. The MC dialer never worked. Neither did Skype. This meant that my international callers were out of luck. This was FRUSTRATING to say the least. Now I just use Skype. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Likelihood to Recommend

Maestro Conference makes sense when breakout rooms are critical. This is the only time that this solution is better than the dozens of other telecall and web conference solutions out there.

Verified User

General Manager in Corporate (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

Maestroconference's Virtual Breakout Groups Rock!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

June 27, 2014

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are a national organization with sites all over the US and Canada. We use Maestroconference to provide learning opportunities to our direct care staff, developing leaders and other targeted groups. We also us it for town hall meetings, communities of practice, etc. The breakout group technology allows us to create a sense of connectedness between people who are doing similar work in different geographies. They are able to share and learn from each other and produce innovative solutions to challenges they face. The interactivity level that maestroconference provides increases the participation and impact that we are able to make.

Pros

The breakout group technology is phenomenal. It allows a large webinar to feel much more intimate and allows instructors to 'listen in' to small group discussions
The ability to poll, have participants raise their hands for questions or comments, control the microphones, see who's talking make facilitating a large group virtual presentation very manageable and interactive. The participants' attention is retained, and did I mention the breakout groups are phenomenal!
the social conferencing, where you can see a webcam or still picture of participants is also really helpful for increasing engagement and active participation

Cons

their customer service is good, but has room for improvement. They are very friendly and good at responding to quick fix issues. They are willing to partner to find solutions to tricker issues, but sometimes that takes a number of follow-up contacts.
it is difficult to format the automatic messages

Likelihood to Recommend

This is best suited for webinars where you want increase participant engagement. Maestroconference has helped us avoid the type of webinar where the presenter has no idea if people are listening and participants often lose interest and end up checking email. The interaction level can become extremely high leading to increased engagement, satisfaction and buy-in.

Tasha Walsh

Chief Learning Officer at Providence Service Corporation (5001-10,000 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

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It's all about the breakout rooms

Rating: 5 out of 10

Incentivized

July 5, 2014

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

The breakout rooms are fantastic. It was complicated to move people in and out of them, but once we got the hang of it things went smoothly. The calls I ran had up to 10 breakout rooms, and it was difficult to manage it without two conductors.
The chimes that tell people where they are time wise in the breakout rooms are really great. I made good use of them.
The conductor panel is very good, once you learn how to use it. It does have an annoying glitch wherein you can't change a person's status on the fly.

Cons

The call sound quality was often pretty poor, and we had a lot of trouble with calls being dropped. Over the years I would periodically throw in the towel and go back to Free Conferencing just to have reliable quality. But they only have 3 of 4 breakout rooms and I couldn't conduct the rooms easily. Then I try MC again to see if the engineering had improved. It was like a wave. Sometimes better, sometimes worse.
The conductor interface has an annoying glitch wherein we could not change a persons attribute fields on the fly. I would interview my callers and assign them to one class or another based on their answers, and the partner up people into breakout rooms based on their answers. This meant editing the two attribute fields , and it just plain didn't work 75% of the time.
Maestro Conference repositioned its business away from small educators like me, to large organizations like political action committees. The price became too high for me, and it just no longer made sense. I repositioned my product to work with less expensive and less complicated solutions.
The add on features, like recording each conference room, were insanely expensive.
VOIP and MC didn't mix. The MC dialer never worked. Neither did Skype. This meant that my international callers were out of luck. This was FRUSTRATING to say the least. Now I just use Skype. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Likelihood to Recommend

Maestro Conference makes sense when breakout rooms are critical. This is the only time that this solution is better than the dozens of other telecall and web conference solutions out there.

Verified User

General Manager in Corporate (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience