When it comes to videoconferencing apps, Zoom Meetings, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams are what comes to one’s mind. The needs for video calls and conferencing arose as a result of the pandemic that recently struck the world. The above three apps are very good and have really come to the rescue of individuals and corporate bodies in keeping up with their businesses and remaining connected to one another.
Businesses continue to thrive and friends and family stay connected despite the lockdown and restrictions in movement. Schools also have keyed into the new videoconferencing app and have been able to keep their students busy through this avenue.
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Zoom meetings and others are really experiencing a surge in business with individuals trying to leverage on their videoconferencing and collaboration features to stay connected. They also have specific features that differentiate one from the other. There is also a competition among the videoconferencing providers as customers are finding it difficult to understand their special features as well as know the particular one to adopt.
This is the reason we have decided to compile this article in order to help you understand what makes each unique. You will also discover how they will work best for your needs. The three of them – Zoom Meetings, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams – are right here for you to make a choice.
Zoom Meetings
Zoom Meetings has been able to gather over 200 million users on a daily basis. It has become the number one videoconferencing app that people prefer. There have been great features added to it by the company. The waiting-room feature is provided for users to be screened before they are added to the group. The initial reason for creating Zoom Meetings is for businesses to leverage on it to stay put. However, anyone can now have access to it and it has been very helpful to them.
While Zoom Meetings is quite easy to use, it is also highly competitive with different enhancements on its features. The recent emergence of Zoom 5.0 has helped in the area of security. This is to aid in the identification, address and enhancement of the security and privacy of its services. In addition, users are given control over their video conferencing experiences. The hosts now have control over who could have access to Zoom meetings.
There is also a new Report User feature which is designed to put an end to the trend of zoom-bombing. Various customizable backgrounds are also enabled for the users to make the best out of the app. They add a layer of privacy and can keep the users away from the prying eyes of the public. Zoom can be accessed from the PC, Android or Apple devices.
There are both the free and paid versions of the app. The free version can host up to 100 participants with a limitless one-on-one meetings. The video calls are capped at 40 minutes. Also, the paid version which is called the Pro version has a monthly subscription of $14.99. It offers all the features of the free app and also included an improved admin control over the app. Meetings can be recorded and encrypted for up to 1Gigabyte. It also makes use of analytic tools and scheduling. Meeting IDs can be customised on the Pro version of Zoom too. Additionally, the maximum meeting duration is up to 24 hours and it is impossible for people to host a single meeting for such a long period of time.
Similarly, there is the Business version of Zoom which supports between 300 and 1000 participants at once. It also has features like single sign-on tools, admin dashboard, dedicated phone support, custom email and so on. By default, you will also enjoy all the features of the Pro version.
All the versions of Zoom are integrated with some email and calendar apps like Microsoft Office 365, Outlook, iCal, Gmail, among others. This makes it easier for people to schedule and join meetings.
If you have the Zoom app already installed in your phone, joining a Zoom meeting does not take much effort. If you connect to the meeting as a guest, you will either go directly to the meeting or see a Waiting Room. If the Waiting Room is not made available, every attendee can connect and chat with one another without any interruptions. You also have the option of enabling and disabling, muting and unmuting your video at any time.
You will also be handed the information on the connectivity of everyone on the call. Finally, there is the unique Participating Report feature that checks all the members who reported at the meeting.
Google Meet
Google Meet is the rebranded name for Google Hangouts Meet. The app has about two million users on a daily basis. Various organisations and customers make use of the app to accommodate larger meetings comprising about 250 participants at once. There is also the provision of live streaming for up to 10 000 viewers within a domain. Video meetings are capped at 60 minutes. That is not all about Google Meet. Meetings can also be recorded and saved on GoogleDrive for later use.
Of late, Google announced that it is enabling free access to different tools for video conferencing and communications for schools and businesses. This will last up to 30th September and all customers worldwide will benefit from this.
Google Meet is purely for videoconferencing and users can set up and join meetings on their computers or even phones. Meetings can be set up using meeting devices like Google Calendars, meeting URL links or codes, dial-in by phone numbers, as well as Google Meet hardware (examples include Chromebase and Chromebox).
In order to compete with Zoom, Google has added some interesting features to its Meet. The features include Zoom-esque which allows 16 people to be displayed on-screen at once. It also added background noise filtering to control noise from calls.
Google Meet does not take a long process to set up. Participating members have the option of seeing how they look, mute their microphone, turn on or off their camera before entering the call. You will also be reminded that your microphone is muted if you mistakenly speak without turning it on. you will also be enabled to view the 10 most active participant and send messages through the interface as well.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams are not as popular as the above two when videoconferencing is mentioned. However, it is gaining momentum in recent time because of its great features. It combines business VoIP, collaboration and videoconferencing features in just one app and integrated with other Microsoft’s business messaging suites. It is also easily accessed by subscribers of Microsoft Office 365 Business.
Microsoft Team does not really have a competitive advantage over Zoom Meetings or Cisco Webex Meetings. But is more like a competitor to Slack. Since it uninterruptedly integrates videoconferencing into its features, it gained some exposure to businesses. Recently, the number of daily users increased to 44 million with more than 650 organisations making use of it.
Users of Microsoft Teams can chat and video call, share and collaborate on Office Documents for real. The shared files are synced with OneDrive and SharePoint in order to safe-keep the copies of the document.
In order to enable more people to have access to their businesses during this pandemic, Microsoft made the features of its Team easier. IT professionals were also given the opportunity to have access to Microsoft Teams whether their businesses are licensed for Team or not. They are given a six-month free plan to have access to Office 365 E1. Educators are not left out of this free access as a free version of Office 365 is made available for free to all educational institutions like universities and colleges.
Microsoft Team can host calls with up to 250 members at once. This includes screen sharing and recording. You can only see nine participants on a call at once. Online platforms that would want to leverage on videoconferencing for online learning may find it difficult to use Microsoft Team because of the limited number of participants.
Microsoft Team, like Zoom Meetings, is available in both free and paid versions and can be accessed through Android, Apple device, and PC. Users of the free version can sign up for it via their email addresses. It also offers a limitless file and screen sharing, chat messages, search, audio and video calls, as well as the ability to collaborate on Office documents. Microsoft, recently, added virtual backgrounds to its Team so as to enable users to replace the home office with a better professional outlook.
Users of Microsoft Teams have the option to jump on a call from a text message thread. They can also share screen and record video easily. This will enable team members to revisit them later on. Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and institutions are provided with a multifaceted collaboration solution.
Zoom Meetings has its own issues – shifting from focusing on a business solution to providing a solution to everyone was sudden and not really expected. This has led to the issue of zoom-bombing, though the company is working on it.
Google Meet does not look like an after-thought issue. The video experience is top-notch. Talking about security, the app is very reliable. It restricts external participants from joining the meeting 15 minutes before the commencement time. There are other outstanding features of Google Meet that also makes it to stand out from the pack.
When it comes to Microsoft Teams, it is more relevant to organisations that are already in the system. Most people signing in for the first time had no intention of using the app for the sake of the videoconferencing feature. This is one of the reasons the free version of the app is set up – to enable individuals key into the Microsoft videoconferencing vision. In essence, your option depends solely on your reason for wanting to use the app. Though Zoom seems to be the rave of the moment, the other videoconferencing apps are also very impactful. With the above descriptions, you can confidently make your choice and your needs will be met.
