Over the past 16 months the majority of people have spent more time on Zoom than they ever had before. This has become such a common part of working and social life that there are numerous studies and reports about “Zoom fatigue” and how it is affecting our mental and physical health.
However, it is likely that conference calling is going to be here for the foreseeable future, as it is more convenient, and less time consuming than face to face meetings. But Zoom isn’t the only option when it comes to conference call software with the other popular solutions being Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.
So, which is better?
Google Meet
Whilst most people use Google everyday there are only two million daily Google Meet users.
What are the key features?
· Meetings for up to 100 people
· 60-minute meetings (until September)
· No need to install an app as it works directly though an internet connection
· Chat box capability
· Share screen
· Record meetings and save to GoogleDrive
· 16 people visible in the gallery
· Chance to upgrade to G-Suite and increase to 250 participants, and live streaming to 100,000 viewers
Who is it best for?
Google Meet is great for those who want a straightforward, simple piece of software for speaking with a few colleagues or family members. It is ideal for small, quick meetings.
Google Meet is available for anyone with a Google account so not necessarily so user friendly for an office environment, where the business addresses are unlikely to be Google. Therefore, this is more appropriate for personal rather than business use.
Zoom
There are more than 200million users a day on Zoom, so it remains the world’s go-to video conferencing platform. It was originally designed as a business platform but quickly pivoted to include individual consumers once there was clearly a global need.
What are the key features?
· Meetings for up to 100 people
· 40-minute meetings (free version)
· Call record options
· Chat box capabilities
· Share screen
· Virtual backgrounds
· Waiting room and breakout rooms
· 49 people visible in the gallery
· Upgrade available to the Pro Plan for up to 24-hour meeting times and up to 300 participants
· 24/7 web support with the free version with additional phone support on the upgrade
Who is it best for?
Zoom is much better for large meetings as there are more features which can facilitate discussions. These features allow meetings to be held in a manner closer to face to face with breakout rooms and the ability for participants to raise their hands.
Microsoft Teams
With 1.5 billion active users of Microsoft products worldwide it is surprising that Teams isn’t the global go-to for video conferencing with only 44 million daily users. It is already part of the Microsoft 365 package so many people have the platform but prefer to use Zoom instead.
What are the key features?
· Audio and video conferencing
· Meetings of up to 250 participants
· Chat box capability
· Instant messaging app
· Nine participants onscreen in the gallery
· Screen sharing and file sharing
· Integration with MS 365
· Support only available for paid version
Who is it best for?
As Teams comes free withMicrosoft365 it is aimed at those individuals and businesses who have the MS 365products and want familiarity and convenience. For businesses Teams is the best option as it is integrated with MS 365 meaning file sharing is much easier, making remote working much more efficient.
Although there is a videoing conference capability to Teams it is more commonly used for filesharing and for the chat feature.
What next?
If you are not sure which video conferencing would be most appropriate for your business or you have Microsoft 365 and aren’t sure how to set up Teams why not give us at SupportWise a call or see our contact page and we can get you face to face with your clients from the comfort of your office.
