BlueJeans enters virtual corporate learning space

Verizon-owned videoconferencing platformvideoconferencing platform BlueJeans has announced the launch of a dedicated Corporate Learning and Training environment, which aims to make virtual corporate learning easier by bringing instructors, participants and all necessary learning tools together in one dedicated virtual environment.

Features include a dashboard designed to provide a snapshot of the training session and quick access to classroom management tools; a ‘Collab Board’ whiteboard for collaboration with up to 25 users; and a Weather Person mode, allowing the presenter to be layered on top of the content being shared in the meeting.

The platform will also offer simultaneous language interpretation options for attendees in up to five concurrent channels, automated closed captioning in five languages, and sessions will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 participants.

Instructors will also have access to a ‘hard mute’ function, where they can disable the microphone or video stream for all participants and prevent participants from unmuting themselves.

Corporate training is big business

According to a 2021 industry report by Training magazine, cited by BlueJeans, training expenditures rose by nearly 12 per cent between 2020 and 2021 in the United States, with organisations spending an estimated $92.3 billion on corporate learning. The study also found that virtual classrooms and webcasting accounted for 37 per cent of the total number of hours spent on training, up from 23 per cent in 2020.

Krish Ramakrishnan, chief of innovation and product at BlueJeans said that corporate learning environments should empower instructors, without the overhead associated with facilitating virtual or hybrid training.

“Working with Verizon’s global corporate training experts, we’ve been able to hone in on what matters most to corporate trainers and consolidate learning, collaboration and training into one place to keep employees engaged throughout their learning and development journey,” he said.

BlueJeans is not the first videoconferencing platform that has pivoted into the virtual learning space in the wake of the pandemic, although most currently available platforms are currently targeted at school learning, rather than corporate training.

Last year, Microsoft started offering Microsoft Teams for Education, providing a virtual classroom environment for teachers and students. Elsewhere, Zoom also offers a Zoom for Education plan, which provides support for remote and hybrid learning environments for primary schools, secondary schools and in higher education institutions.