Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Definitive Videoconferencing Fight
The COVID-19 pandemic required staff members to work from house, however the show needed to go on somehow. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms became the lifeline that held organizations together. Even as operations go back to normal, videoconferencing service providers are pouring resources into their items.
The two main collaboration suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace deal videoconferencing capabilities, but we would be remiss not to include among the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this point, your business is almost guaranteed to have a videoconferencing platform already. If not, or if you are looking to alter platforms, continue reading below for a breakdown of features and options that will assist you make your decision.
Are your conferences long or short? Are you primarily meeting internally or with leads and customers? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without stating, if your company is currently subscribed to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you more than happy with the platform, you need to use Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not signed up for either and merely need a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a free variation that should fix the majority of your requirements.
In the sections below, we will compare all three significant videoconferencing platforms based on various metrics you must consider prior to choosing the best one for your company.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Prior to diving into the full list of functions for each platform, it is important to comprehend how much you get from the totality of what you are spending for.
Groups and Meet are part of bigger productivity suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone item with all the videoconferencing-specific features you might 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 only offers you videoconferencing capabilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 https://controlc.com/9ee770c3 Business Standard and Workspace Business memberships include a full suite of organization applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a completely integrated experience with desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The biggest selling point of Microsoft is how quickly the apps deal with each other, and the biggest distinction between Teams and its competitors is how centralized the suite is.
Teams leaps seamlessly from instant messaging to video calls, with the capability to change back and forth in between them.
On The Other Hand, Google Meet is independent of Workspace's chat app, Google Chat. While users can make use of both Workspace apps at the same time, the separation of the two is a bit counterproductive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, recorded conferences, and files are all housed in the same central area, making searchability far simpler.
With Meet and Zoom, you will need to look for saved chats from old meetings, or in the case of Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is likewise the case when working on collaborative files. Any files attached in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, implying you do not need to waste time chasing them down when you require them.
Microsoft offers even more applications in their plans than Google, however many go unnoticed.
Microsoft Sway enables you to quickly get and cut a tape-recorded Teams meeting that you can then house in your area within Teams itself.
In the case that someone shows up late to a conference, or an employee records the exact same conference and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can quickly get 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 publish, cut, and export said video from a video editing platform.
Additionally, all three platforms do have combinations with various other business applications, so be sure to examine compatibility with any apps you already use, and these platforms.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Features
Comparing Free Versions vs. Paid
Microsoft, Google, and Zoom have all adapted well to the demand for certain features on their platforms, thus the majority of the exact same features overlap across plans for all 3 suites. This consists of screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everyone's favorite: custom-made backgrounds. As for some other functions, they vary across each company's offerings.
A table portraying the different strategies and features of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go
While present across the board, dial-in capabilities differ across strategies. Meet provides dial-in totally free with any of their paid plans, one of the greatest benefits that the platform has over its rivals.Teams offers its dial-in capability for $4 additional per user, each month; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet deal internet-based PBX solutions that can replace your internal phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not practical.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
Since the time of this post, each platform displays video in HD, however the quality differs. Teams is capable of 1080p video at 30 frames per 2nd if you have 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.
Zoom also has 1080p video, however it is limited to the platform's business or enterprise strategies. 1080p can likewise be allowed by Zoom support in specific cases. Zoom's 1080p functionality requires 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, along with the quality of your internet connection.
Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout rooms are basically conferences that run simultaneously to the initial videoconference. These were specifically necessary for virtual education, so instructors might break trainees out into different groups to learn.
There is a clear utility for breakout rooms in expert spaces, too. If a larger team is satisfying about a project, breaking down jobs into smaller groups, breakout spaces could be a fantastic solution.
Both Teams and Zoom have breakout spaces native to their base platforms, throughout all plans. These rooms are basically meetings that are running at the same time to the initial videoconference.
Meet enables breakout rooms through their basic and plus strategies, but not in the complimentary or fundamental plans. Like many Google functions on more affordable strategies, you can include Google Chrome extensions, however this could be more of a headache than it is worth in the end.
Recently, Microsoft likewise presented Together Mode, which uses AI to position video participants in various 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 quickly 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 published for sale online soon afterwards.
While Meet has not had any famous occurrences of privacy breaches, Google has had a lot of privacy issues and a performance history of gathering information for use in marketing.
Microsoft has the very best performance history of security and they also have the most transparent personal privacy policy.
All 3 platforms support two-factor authentication. Thinking about that 99% of cybersecurity attacks include a password element, two-factor authentication is a need to if you want a genuine defense against cybercriminals.
As a part of the broader M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are encrypted and stored within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Additionally, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is readily available on its Business Premium and E5 strategies, blocking potentially malicious content from being accessed by those in your company.
Microsoft also uses Data Loss Protection (DLP) to capture delicate data being shared (like social security numbers), and immediately obstruct it from being sent.
Along with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, chats, and files, Teams guarantees you stay certified with all data storage regulations.
A graphic showing the course of details as it is secured from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Google does use eDiscovery in their Business and Enterprise strategies and DLP in their Enterprise strategy only, but these are just restricted to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has no specifically listed DLP abilities.Zoom does not use any of these features on its primary platform.
In general, Zoom has reacted well to its privacy difficulties, but the modifications are mainly cosmetic.
End-to-end file encryption (E2EE) is terrific to have, but its addition was more of a response to an issue than a total option. It is unlikely that E2EE secures most users from more than encryption in transit and at rest, like with Teams and Meet.
E2EE is most helpful in 1-on-1 conversations where sensitive information may be shared, and it will be offered on Teams soon according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing business has less to stress over since they are a single-purpose app, dealing exclusively with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, chats, and other info like Microsoft or Google.
Based upon track record alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Since your data is all kept in a single space, Teams and its security features take your efficiency center and turns it into your business's own information fortress. This second level of defense and privacy makes it the best, in our experience.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
A lot of videoconferencing platforms have comparable features, your organization's exact requirements must figure out whether you pick Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level functions at an inexpensive price, it is hard to beat Zoom, who is focused entirely on videoconferencing. For the most bang for your buck, Teams ties your entire company together in one space, with the very best possible features and security available.
If you are trying to find an all-in-one cooperation center that keeps all your communication in one space, we extremely advise 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 actually continued our collaboration until the present day.