Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Conclusive Videoconferencing Battle
The COVID-19 pandemic forced employees to work from house, however the show had to go on in some way. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms turned into the lifeline that held businesses together. Even as operations go back to normal, videoconferencing suppliers are pouring resources into their items.
The two main collaboration suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace deal videoconferencing abilities, but we would be remiss not to consist of among the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this point, your service is nearly ensured to have a videoconferencing platform already. If not, or if you are wanting to change platforms, continue checking out below for a breakdown of functions and choices that will assist you make your decision.
Are your conferences long or short? Are you mainly meeting internally or with leads and clients? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without stating, if your business is already registered for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you are happy with the platform, you should utilize Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not subscribed to either and simply require a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a complimentary variation that must solve the majority of your needs.
In the areas below, we will compare all three significant videoconferencing platforms based upon numerous metrics you ought to consider before choosing the ideal one for your organization.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Prior to diving into the complete list of functions for each platform, it is essential to understand just how much you receive from the entirety of what you are paying for.
Groups and Meet belong to bigger performance suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone item with all the videoconferencing-specific functions you might require. While Teams and Meet can be obtained separately, they are best bundled with their bigger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro subscription only gives you videoconferencing abilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business subscriptions include a complete suite of organization applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a totally integrated experience with desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The most significant selling point of Microsoft is how easily the apps deal with each other, and the most significant difference between Teams and its rivals is how centralized the suite is.
Groups jumps effortlessly from instantaneous messaging to video calls, with the ability to change backward and forward in between them.
Google Meet is independent of Workspace's chat app, Google Chat. While users can utilize both Workspace apps at the same time, the separation of the 2 is a bit counterproductive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, recorded meetings, and files are all housed in the very same main place, making searchability far much easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will have to look for saved chats from old conferences, or when it comes to Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is likewise the case when working on collective files. Any files connected in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, indicating you do not have to waste time chasing them down when you need them.
Microsoft provides even more applications in their strategies than Google, though many go unnoticed.
For example, Microsoft Sway permits you to quickly get and cut a recorded Teams meeting that you can then house locally within Teams itself.
In the case that someone shows up late to a conference, or an employee records the very same conference and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can rapidly grab the part of the conference you need and wait.
This bypasses the storage that would be eaten up by an hours-long video, along with the time it would require to upload, cut, and export said video from a video editing platform.
In addition, all 3 platforms do have combinations with numerous other service applications, so make certain to look at compatibility with any apps you currently use, and these platforms.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Features
Comparing Free Versions vs. Paid
Microsoft, Google, and Zoom have actually all adapted well to the demand for specific features on their platforms, thus the majority of the very same features overlap throughout plans for all three suites. This consists of screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everyone's favorite: customized backgrounds. As for some other functions, they differ across each company's offerings.
A table illustrating the different plans and features of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go
While present across the board, dial-in capabilities vary across strategies. Meet offers dial-in for free with any of their paid plans, one of the most significant advantages that the platform has over its rivals.Teams uses its dial-in capability for $4 extra per user, monthly; 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.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice integrates seamlessly with Teams, allowing workers to take company on the go, all with complete continuity.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
Since the time of this post, each platform displays video in HD, but the quality varies. 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 restricted to the platform's company or enterprise strategies. 1080p can likewise be made it possible for by Zoom support in certain cases. Zoom's 1080p performance 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 and receive as much as 720p video.
Audio quality throughout 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 meetings that run at the same time to the original videoconference. These were specifically needed for virtual education, so instructors could break trainees out into different groups to find out.
There is a clear energy for breakout rooms in expert spaces, too. If a bigger group is meeting about a task, breaking down jobs into smaller sized groups, breakout rooms might be a great solution.
Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout rooms belonging to their base platforms, throughout all plans. These spaces are essentially conferences that are running at the same time to the initial videoconference.
Meet allows breakout spaces through their standard and plus strategies, however not in the totally free or fundamental strategies. Like a lot of Google functions on less expensive plans, you can add Google Chrome extensions, however this might be more of a headache than it is worth in the end.
Just recently, Microsoft also rolled out Together Mode, which utilizes AI to put video participants in different digital settings, together. While the utility is light, Together Mode could be a solid spirits booster.
Teams 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 beefing up their privacy policy. Over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and posted for sale online soon afterwards.
While Meet has not had any famous occurrences of personal privacy breaches, Google has actually had plenty of personal privacy issues and a performance history of collecting data for use in advertising.
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 component, two-factor authentication is a should if you want a genuine defense versus cybercriminals.
As a part of the wider M365 suite, https://rentry.co/7bn2s all chats, notes, and files are secured and stored within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Additionally, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is readily available on its Business Premium and E5 plans, obstructing potentially harmful content from being accessed by those in your company.
Microsoft also utilizes Data Loss Protection (DLP) to capture sensitive information being shared (like social security numbers), and instantly block it from being sent.
Together with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, talks, and files, Teams guarantees you remain compliant with all data storage regulations.
A graphic revealing the course of info as it is encrypted from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Zoom does not offer any of these features on its main platform.
Overall, Zoom has responded well to its personal privacy obstacles, but the modifications are mostly cosmetic.
End-to-end file encryption (E2EE) is fantastic to have, however its addition was more of a response to an issue than a complete solution. It is not likely that E2EE protects most users from more than encryption in transit and at rest, like with Teams and Meet.
E2EE is most useful in 1-on-1 conversations where delicate details may be shared, and it will be available on Teams soon according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing company has less to fret about because they are a single-purpose app, dealing exclusively with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, talks, and other details like Microsoft or Google.
Based upon reputation alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Since your information is all stored in a single space, Teams and its security functions take your productivity hub and turns it into your company's own information fortress. This second level of defense and personal privacy makes it the best, in our experience.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though many videoconferencing platforms have comparable features, your organization's specific needs ought to figure out whether you select Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level functions at a budget-friendly price, it is hard to beat Zoom, who is focused exclusively on videoconferencing. For the most value, Teams ties your entire business together in one area, with the best possible features and security offered.
If you are trying to find an all-in-one collaboration center that keeps all your interaction in one area, we highly recommend 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 until today day.