Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Conclusive Videoconferencing Battle
The COVID-19 pandemic forced workers to work from home, however the program needed to go on in some way. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms developed into the lifeline that held businesses together. Even as operations return to typical, videoconferencing service providers are pouring resources into their products.
The 2 main cooperation suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer videoconferencing abilities, however we would be remiss not to include among the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this moment, your company is almost ensured to have a videoconferencing platform already. If not, or if you are aiming to alter platforms, continue checking out below for a breakdown of functions and options that will help you make your decision.
Are your conferences long or short? Are you mostly satisfying internally or with leads and clients? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without saying, if your business is currently signed up for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you are happy with the platform, you ought to use Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not registered for either and merely require a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a totally free variation that should resolve the majority of your requirements.
In the areas listed below, we will compare all three significant videoconferencing platforms based on different metrics you must think about before choosing the ideal one for your organization.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Before diving into the full list of functions for each platform, it is important to understand just how much you obtain from the whole of what you are paying for.
Groups and Meet become part of larger performance suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone product with all the videoconferencing-specific features you may need. While Teams and Meet can be procured individually, they are best bundled with their larger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro subscription just offers you videoconferencing capabilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business memberships consist of a full suite of business applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a completely integrated experience with desktop variations of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The most significant selling point of Microsoft is how quickly the apps deal with each other, and the most significant difference between Teams and its competitors is how centralized the suite is.
Groups jumps perfectly from immediate messaging to video calls, with the capability to switch back and forth in between them.
Google Meet is independent of Workspace's chat app, Google Chat. While users can make use of both Workspace apps simultaneously, the separation of the 2 is a bit counterproductive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, taped conferences, and files are all housed in the same central location, making searchability far much easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will have to look for conserved chats from old meetings, or in the case of Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is also the case when dealing with collaborative files. Any files connected in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, suggesting you do not need to lose time chasing them down when you need them.
Microsoft provides a lot more applications in their strategies than Google, however lots of go undetected.
Microsoft Sway permits you to quickly grab and cut a recorded Teams meeting that you can then house locally within Teams itself.
In the event that someone arrives late to a meeting, or a staff member records the same meeting and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can rapidly grab the part of the conference you need and save it.
This bypasses the storage that would be eaten up by an hours-long video, as well as the time it would take to submit, trim, and export stated video from a video modifying platform.
In addition, all 3 platforms do have integrations with different other company applications, so be sure to look at compatibility with any apps you already utilize, and these platforms.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Features
Comparing Free Versions vs. Paid
Microsoft, Google, and Zoom have actually all adjusted well to the demand for particular functions on their platforms, thus most of the same features overlap across plans for all 3 suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everybody's favorite: custom backgrounds. When it comes to some other functions, they differ across each business's offerings.
A table depicting the various plans and features of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go
While present throughout the board, dial-in capabilities vary across plans. Meet provides dial-in for free with any of their paid plans, among the greatest benefits that the platform has more than its rivals.Groups offers its dial-in ability for $4 additional per user, per month; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet deal internet-based PBX options that can change your internal phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not useful.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice integrates perfectly with Teams, permitting employees to take business on the go, all with full connection.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the very best?
Since the time of this post, each platform displays video in HD, however the quality varies. Groups is capable of 1080p video at 30 frames per 2nd if you have 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.
Zoom also has 1080p video, but it is restricted to the platform's organization or business plans. 1080p can likewise be enabled by Zoom support in certain cases. Zoom's 1080p functionality needs 1.8 Mbps of bandwidth for 1-on-1 calls and 2.5 Mbps on group calls.
Meet will default to 360p video, however it can send out and receive approximately 720p video.
Audio quality across platforms depends upon microphone and speaker quality, as well as the quality of your internet connection.
Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout rooms are basically conferences that run concurrently to the original videoconference. These were especially essential for virtual education, so instructors could break trainees out into different groups to find out.
There is a clear utility for breakout rooms in expert spaces, too. If a larger group is satisfying about a task, breaking down jobs into smaller groups, breakout spaces could be a terrific service.
Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout spaces native to their base platforms, across all strategies. These spaces are essentially conferences that are running simultaneously to the original videoconference.
Meet permits breakout rooms through their basic and plus plans, but not in the complimentary or basic strategies. Like many Google functions on cheaper plans, you can add Google Chrome extensions, however this might be more of a headache than it is worth in the end.
Recently, Microsoft also presented Together Mode, which uses AI to place video individuals in different digital settings, together. While the utility is light, Together Mode could be a strong morale booster.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Privacy and Safety
To its credit, Zoom responded swiftly to the "Zoom bombing" of the early days of the pandemic, including end-to-end encryption and intensifying their personal privacy policy. Regrettably, over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and posted for managed it service sale online soon afterwards.
While Meet has actually not had any famous events of privacy breaches, Google has actually had plenty of privacy concerns and a track record of gathering information for usage in marketing.
Microsoft has the best track record of security and they also have the most transparent personal privacy policy.
All three platforms support two-factor authentication. Considering that 99% of cybersecurity attacks involve a password component, two-factor authentication is a must if you want a legitimate defense against cybercriminals.
As a part of the broader M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are secured and saved within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
In Addition, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is readily available on its Business Premium and E5 plans, blocking potentially harmful content from being accessed by those in your company.
Microsoft likewise utilizes Data Loss Protection (DLP) to catch sensitive information being shared (like social security numbers), and instantly block it from being sent out.
Along with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, chats, and files, Teams ensures you remain certified with all information storage policies.
A graphic revealing the path of info as it is encrypted from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Google does provide eDiscovery in their Business and Enterprise plans and DLP in their Enterprise strategy only, but these are just restricted to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has actually no particularly noted DLP abilities.Zoom does not provide any of these features on its main platform.
Overall, Zoom has actually reacted well to its privacy challenges, but the modifications are largely cosmetic.
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is great to have, but its addition was more of a response to an issue than a total solution. It is not likely that E2EE protects most users from more than file encryption in transit and at rest, like with Teams and Meet.
E2EE is most useful in 1-on-1 discussions where delicate information may be shared, and it will be offered on Teams quickly according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing business has less to fret about since they are a single-purpose app, dealing entirely with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, talks, and other details like Microsoft or Google.
Based upon track record alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Due to the fact that your information is all stored in a single space, Teams and its security features take your productivity hub and turns it into your company's own data stronghold. This second level of protection and privacy makes it the safest, in our experience.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though the majority of videoconferencing platforms have comparable functions, your company's precise requirements need to figure out whether you pick Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level functions at an affordable cost, it is hard to beat Zoom, who is focused entirely on videoconferencing. For the most bang for your buck, Teams ties your whole business together in one area, with the very best possible functions and security readily available.
If you are trying to find an all-in-one cooperation center that keeps all your interaction in one space, we highly suggest Microsoft Teams.
IT Support Guys has leveraged the power of Microsoft 365 given that 2008 when it was still called Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), and we have continued our partnership up until the present day.