Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Conclusive Videoconferencing Battle
The COVID-19 pandemic required staff members to work from home, but the show had to go on in some way. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms turned into the lifeline that held organizations together. Even as operations return to normal, videoconferencing suppliers are pouring resources into their products.
The two primary cooperation suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer videoconferencing abilities, however we would be remiss not to consist of one of the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this point, your service is nearly guaranteed to have a videoconferencing platform currently. If not, or if you are seeking to alter platforms, continue reading listed below for a breakdown of functions and choices that will help you make your choice.
Are your conferences long or short? Are you primarily fulfilling internally or with leads and customers? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without stating, if your company is currently registered for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you are happy with the platform, you ought to utilize Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not subscribed to either and merely need a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a totally free variation that should fix the majority of your needs.
In the areas below, we will compare all three major videoconferencing platforms based on different metrics you need to consider before choosing the best one for your organization.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Prior to diving into the full list of features for each platform, it is essential to understand how much you obtain from the whole of what you are paying for.
Teams and Meet are part of bigger efficiency suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone product with all the videoconferencing-specific features you might need. While Teams and Meet can be acquired independently, they are best bundled with their bigger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro membership just provides you videoconferencing capabilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business subscriptions include a full suite of service applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a fully incorporated experience with desktop variations of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The most significant selling point of Microsoft is how easily the apps work with each other, and the most significant difference between Teams and its rivals is how centralized the suite is.
Teams jumps seamlessly from immediate messaging to video calls, with the ability to switch backward and forward in between them.
On The Other Hand, Google Meet is independent of Workspace's chat app, Google Chat. While users can use both Workspace apps simultaneously, the separation of the two is a bit counterintuitive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, recorded meetings, and files are all housed in the exact same central location, making searchability far much easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will need to look for saved chats from old conferences, or when it comes to Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is also the case when dealing with collective files. Any files connected in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, implying you don't have to lose time chasing them down when you need them.
Microsoft uses a lot more applications in their strategies than Google, however numerous go undetected.
For example, Microsoft Sway permits you to quickly grab and trim a recorded Teams fulfilling that you can then house in your area within Teams itself.
In the event that somebody gets here late to a conference, or a staff member records the same meeting and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can rapidly get the part of the conference you require and save it.
This bypasses the storage that would be eaten up by an hours-long video clip, along with the time it would require to publish, cut, and export stated video from a video editing platform.
Furthermore, all 3 platforms do have integrations with numerous other business applications, so make certain to examine compatibility with any apps you currently utilize, and these platforms.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Features
Comparing Free Versions vs. Paid
Microsoft, Google, and Zoom have actually all adapted well to the need for specific features on their platforms, hence the majority of the very same functions overlap across prepare for all three suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everyone's favorite: customized backgrounds. When it comes to some other features, they vary throughout each business's offerings.
A table portraying the various strategies and features of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go
While present throughout the board, dial-in abilities vary throughout strategies. Meet provides dial-in free of charge with any of their paid plans, one of the greatest advantages that the platform has more than its competitors.Teams uses its dial-in ability for $4 additional per user, each month; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet managed it services gold coast offer internet-based PBX services that can change your in-house phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not practical.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice incorporates perfectly with Teams, allowing workers to take service on the go, all with full connection.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
As of the time of this post, each platform displays video in HD, but the quality differs. Groups is capable of 1080p video at 30 frames per 2nd if you have 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.
Zoom likewise has 1080p video, however it is limited to the platform's business or business strategies. 1080p can likewise be made it possible for by Zoom assistance in particular 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, but it can send and receive up to 720p video.
Audio quality across platforms depends on microphone and speaker quality, along with the quality of your web connection.
Rooms and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout spaces are essentially meetings that run all at once to the initial videoconference. These were especially necessary for virtual education, so teachers could break students out into separate groups to learn.
Both Teams and Zoom have breakout spaces belonging to their base platforms, throughout all plans. These spaces are essentially meetings that are running simultaneously to the original videoconference.
Meet enables breakout spaces through their basic and plus plans, however not in the complimentary or basic plans. Nevertheless, like the majority of Google functions on more affordable plans, you can include Google Chrome extensions, but this could be more of a headache than it is worth in the end.
Just recently, Microsoft likewise rolled out Together Mode, which uses AI to position video individuals in different digital settings, together. While the energy is light, Together Mode could be a solid spirits booster.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Privacy and Safety
To its credit, Zoom reacted promptly to the "Zoom battle" of the early days of the pandemic, including end-to-end file encryption and boosting their privacy policy. Sadly, over 500,000 Zoom accounts were taken and posted for sale online quickly thereafter.
While Meet has not had any famous events of personal privacy breaches, Google has had lots of privacy issues and a performance history of collecting data for usage in marketing.
Microsoft has the very best performance history of security and they likewise have the most transparent personal privacy policy.
All three platforms support two-factor authentication. Considering that 99% of cybersecurity attacks include a password element, two-factor authentication is a should if you desire a genuine defense against cybercriminals.
As a part of the wider M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are encrypted and kept within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Furthermore, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is readily available on its Business Premium and E5 strategies, obstructing possibly destructive content from being accessed by those in your business.
Microsoft also utilizes Data Loss Protection (DLP) to capture sensitive information being shared (like social security numbers), and automatically block it from being sent.
Along with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, chats, and files, Teams ensures you remain compliant with all information storage guidelines.
A graphic showing the path of info as it is encrypted from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Google does offer eDiscovery in their Business and Enterprise strategies and DLP in their Enterprise plan just, however these are only restricted to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has no particularly noted DLP abilities.Zoom does not use any of these functions on its primary platform.
Overall, Zoom has reacted well to its personal privacy difficulties, however the modifications are mainly cosmetic.
End-to-end file encryption (E2EE) is fantastic to have, however its addition was more of a response to an issue than a total option. It is not likely that E2EE safeguards most users from more than file encryption in transit and at rest, like with Teams and Meet.
E2EE is most beneficial in 1-on-1 conversations where delicate information may be shared, and it will be readily available on Teams soon according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing business has less to worry about due to the fact that they are a single-purpose app, dealing entirely with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, chats, and other info like Microsoft or Google.
Based on credibility alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Because your information is all kept in a single area, Teams and its security functions take your productivity center and turns it into your company's own data stronghold. This second level of defense and privacy makes it the best, in our experience.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though many videoconferencing platforms have similar functions, your business's precise needs should identify whether you select Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level features at an economical rate, it is hard to beat Zoom, who is focused entirely on videoconferencing. For the most value, Teams ties your whole company together in one space, with the very best possible features and security readily available.
If you are searching for 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.