LogMeIn revamps GoToConnect to support shift to flexible work

LogMeIn has launched major updates to GoToConnect, its Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) software, including native integrations with Microsoft Teams; updates to its Cloud Contact Center-as-a-Service (CCaaS) systems; updates to its mobile offering; and bundling options that bring together other LogMeIn products like LastPass, GoToWebinar, and GoToAssist.

The moves reflect shifts in how people are working because of the pandemic, with employees no longer tied to the same desk in an office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days a week.

The shift to remote work is likely to continue, according to Raul Castanon, senior analyst in workforce productivity and collaboration at 451 Research S&P Global Market intelligence.

Recent 451 Research indicates that 45% of companies expect to reduce their physical office footprint, while 37% will expand or add collaboration spaces such as conference rooms and huddle rooms, he said. Another 45% are investing in contactless technologies such as biometrics and voice user interfaces and 17% are replacing on-premises PBX with cloud-based telephony.

Paul Gentile, senior director of product marketing at LogMeIn, said IT decision makers need to think about ways to optimize the software they use to ensure that hybrid work is, “[successful] for employees that need support and for customers that they’re going to interact and engage with them in a different way.

They also need to tie in security measures, because as IT decision makers that report into a CTO or CIO, there’s always going to be concern about how much vulnerability they have at stake,” Gentile ssid. “The idea that remote work is really related to and only focuses on video conferencing or video meetings is a fallacy.”

New GoToConnect features

The updated GoToConnect offers users a new mobile UI designed to make employees more productive by, for example, allowing them to receive and make work calls on a mobile device without using their personal number. It also offers features such as Find Me and Follow Me, Advance Call Flip, Shared Extension, and Voicemail Transcriptions.

LogMeIn is also looking to bolster productivity in cloud-based contact centers, which have proved crucial to some companies’ ability to maintain business continuity.

“Those cloud deployments are going to be more critical than ever before when customers start to think about optimizing their tech stack,” said Gentile. “It’s not just with UCC, but with our remote support and management solutions, with our security identity and access management solution with LastPass password protection. We’ve created one single SKU, one delivery mechanism for all of these pieces brought together under one roof.”

Native integrations have also been made with Microsoft Teams to simplify and improve workflow. These allow users to continue to use Microsoft Teams with GoToConnect, powering their telephony service on the back end with direct routing capabilities. It also supports features such as click-to-call and user presence without having to switch out of the Teams app.

Castanon said the updates announced this week should be welcome news for LogMeIn customers “Features such as an enhanced mobility experience and voicemail transcriptions, as well as enhanced admin and support capabilities, should allow the company to better address the requirements of the hybrid/remote workforce,” he said.

Simplifying the tech stack

According to Gentile, conversations with customers and analysts over the past year found that most customers are looking to simplify their tech offerings, with buyers turning to one vendor/one platform options or best-of-breed offerings — all of them underpinned by cloud technology.

“Some employers went rogue in the way that they went about using different remote tools [at the start of the pandemic]. Now, 2021 is about them trying to consolidate, getting their arms back around this [issue] and doing so, while still maintaining the idea that you can be anywhere you want, and still be productive,” he said.

In a post-pandemic world, Gentile said work tools need to be flexible, cloud-based, secure, and easy to buy, deploy, and use. “…Simplicity is paramount as far as them being able to make … sure that they’re saving dollars,” he said.

Pricing for GoToConnect varies, depending on what level of service a company wants and how many employees it has. Costs range from $22 to $39 per user per month.

Castanon said remote work will continue to be an option for many workers for the forseeable future.

“This is an intensely competitive space; however, it’s fair to say that LogMeIn has a leg up with products such as LastPass and GoToAssist which were designed for these use cases,” he said. “Bringing them together to enhance GoToConnect could allow the company to position itself as a UCC platform for hybrid/remote workforce and differentiate from its competition.”