Frustrated by Jolly Roger 1

I was checking out the latest iteration of the Jabber iPad app and this was the first review that came up. Interesting read. I promise everyone I did not write this and I have no idea who the author is.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cisco-jabber-for-ipad/id540243083?mt=8

------------------------------Customer Reviews------------------------------------------------

FRUSTRATED!

by Jolly Roger 1

I spent about 3 to 4 hours of my precious weekend time trying to figure out this product, as well as other Cisco products.

I have the WebEx Meeting account for up to 3 people. My online WebEx account indicates what my "Jabber ID" is. In Jabber for iPad, I input my Jabber ID...didn't work. Then I put in my email...didn't work. I was brought to a screen to select my product. I selected WebEx Meeting. Then it asked for my email again. This time it worked.

This is where things got much worse. I discovered that there appear to be MULTIPLE accounts and/or apps that interact with each other, instead of a simple "one app fits all." Jabber appears to be simply a portal. For instant messaging, you need another account. I guess I'm using Web Ex Meeting for this. Then, you need to have a THIRD Cisco product/account for audio and video (see more below). Then, for meetings, you need to use a FOURTH app...I'm using WebEx Meetings. What a nightmare!!

So, then, the app asked me for the account I use for video and audio. I thought it was my WebEx Meeting account since that has video...didn't work. You can then click "Jabber for Telepresence" and it asks for a user name and password to create this account...doesn't work. I just get an error message that the user name or password is invalid or that the account has been deactivated.
Then I spent hours trying to figure out what "audio and video" product by Cisco will work. The "help" file was no help at all. There were multiple products by Cisco on the website, many replaced by other ones, to make it even more confusing (as if that wasn't enough). Trying to find out HOW to get these products was equally as confusing and frustrating.

I THINK I may have found a way to obtain Jabber for Telepresence, which I THINK might work. I just didn't have any more time or wits to open up another dang account and spend more time on something that MAY work.

WHY HAVE ALL THESE ACCOUNTS NECESSARY???!!! It should be easy enough to simply create something akin to a Skype account...maybe call it "Jabber by Cisco." And have ONE email (user name) and password for BOTH instant messaging AND audio and video!! And, if you are using a desktop device, like a Mac or PC, that same user name and password should be used there as well.
Either I'm missing something, or Cisco needs to wipe the slate clean and create ONE app that does everything where you need only ONE account. I believe Cisco also needs to make the navigation of their website MUCH easier, in addition to being able to easily acquire a product of interest. Just terrible!

Additionally, adding contacts is broken. I had a contact I was trying to add, and I sent him an invitation through the app. This contact did the same for me. Prior to installing Jabber, I had added this person as a contact on WebEx Meeting in my account while using a PC. Jabber created two entries for this person and when my contact installed Jabber on his iPad, the entry of him using my PC showed him as "available" and online. The contact entries on both our ends that were created from within the Jabber app showed "waiting for confirmation." But, we never received any request, in the app, by email, etc.! With the entry created by the PC, we were able to instant message each other. When I clicked "call," it rang on his end, but the app did nothing when he tried to answer. He couldn't call me at all.

There is also a way to create customized statuses, such as "out to lunch," "be right back," etc. Great. I like that. But, when you do this within Jabber you can't select the color. For example, when I created "Be Right Back," I feel it should be yellow. Jabber automatically made it green. However, in my WebEx Meeting account accessed by my PC, I could select the color (either green, yellow or red).
It's a shame. The interface of Jabber looked promising, but there are more bugs and issues in this app (and in Cisco) that make using it impractical if not impossible. Time to go back to the drawing board, in my opinion!

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For those that want to check out Lync 2013 for iPad:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-lync-2013-for-ipad/id605608899?mt=8

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