You’ve read the reviews, you’ve researched your options, and you’ve finally decided that video meetings provide the solution your team needs. You know that quality video conferencing software will provide a better way to connect with your colleagues and clients. It may even lead to greater productivity and reduce your travel costs. Now the only question that remains is… which video conferencing platform is for you?

That question is hard to answer unless you’re able to trial the platform and try it for yourself. After all, how can you make an important buying decision without seeing and touching the platform first? You would never buy a car without test-driving it, and the same should be true for your video meetings platform.

This is why we offer a free trial of BlueJeans Meetings—to give you a chance to explore the experience and make sure it meets your needs. But what happens once you start the trial? The steps below will ensure that you get the most out your experience.

1. Download the desktop application. Visit the BlueJeans Download Center to download the application for your Mac or PC. This will ensure that you get the full user-friendly experience with all our new features. Plus, installing it now will allow you to see how easy it will be for your colleagues to download the application should you decide to purchase the platform later.

2. Schedule your first meeting. Log in to your account and click “Schedule Meeting” to add a meeting to your calendar.

If you have the calendar integration installed, you can also schedule your meeting directly from your Google, Outlook, or O365 calendar itself. Don’t forget… your meeting attendees do not need a BlueJeans account to meet with you. Simply invite them, and they can attend!

3. Join your first meeting! Start any meeting by joining your personal meeting room. Note that this ID number is unique to you and is customizable. Simply hit “Start” to join the meeting from your desktop application and enter into your personal meeting room.

If you don’t have someone to meet with, you can always test the service by talking to Jean the Parrot. Type her Meeting ID (111) into the “Join By Meeting ID” box, and you’ll immediately be entered into her meeting. This is the same flow you would use when joining a colleague’s meeting room.

4. Set your meeting preferences. By clicking “Settings” in the top-right corner, you can change your video and audio controls. This is especially useful if you have multiple screens or want to use your headphones instead of computer audio.

5. Mute your audio and video. Once you start the meeting, you may have times where you want to mute your audio or video streams. Practice this by clicking on the appropriate icon at the top of the screen.

6. Share your screen with your colleagues! Simply click the “Share Screen” button next to your audio control to start the process. You’ll then have the option to share your entire screen, or just one application, depending on what you want to show.

Pro Tip: If you only have one asset to show, only share one application. This will prevent meeting attendees from seeing your entire screen, which makes it more clear for them and saves you from any potential embarrassment via Slack or iMessage.

7. Explore other BlueJeans features. There are several other options available within the BlueJeans Meetings platform—recording, chat, whiteboarding, annotating, and more. Play with the platform to take advantage of each of these and uncover which features will be most beneficial to you and your team. We recommend downloading the mobile app, integrating your collaboration tools, and exploring additional products in order to get the entire BlueJeans experience.

8. Get advanced training as needed. The BlueJeans experience is straightforward, but we know that everyone has different preferences when it comes to learning. Check out our support resources or live instruction sessions to learn best practices for hosting video meetings.

That’s it! Getting started with BlueJeans is fast, simple, and secure. Use the trial period to explore BlueJeans and see how it aligns with your needs. We think you’ll be surprised by how our meetings platform for the modern workplace can help you gain a competitive advantage in your industry. Whether you need to boost productivity, increase employee engagement, or reduce travel costs, BlueJeans is here to help.

Love your free trial? Purchase BlueJeans for your organization today.