Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Conclusive Videoconferencing Fight
The COVID-19 pandemic forced employees to work from home, however the show needed to go on somehow. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms developed into the lifeline that held organizations together. Even as operations return to normal, videoconferencing companies are pouring resources into their items.
The two main collaboration suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer videoconferencing capabilities, but we would be remiss not to include one of the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this moment, your business is nearly ensured to have a videoconferencing platform currently. If not, or if you are aiming to alter platforms, continue checking out below for a breakdown of features and options that will help you make your decision.
Are your conferences long or short? Are you primarily satisfying internally or with leads and clients? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without stating, if your business is already subscribed to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you are happy with the platform, you should use Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not subscribed to either and simply require a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a totally free version that ought to resolve most of your requirements.
In the sections listed below, we will compare all three significant videoconferencing platforms based upon various metrics you ought to think about before choosing the right one for your service.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Before diving into the full list of features for each platform, it is very important to comprehend how much you obtain from the totality of what you are spending for.
Groups and Meet become part of bigger productivity suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone product with all the videoconferencing-specific features you might require. While Teams and Meet can be obtained individually, they are best bundled with their larger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro subscription only provides you videoconferencing capabilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business memberships include a full suite of organization 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 work with each other, and the biggest distinction in between Teams and its competitors is how centralized the suite is.
Groups jumps perfectly from instantaneous messaging to video calls, with the ability to change back and forth between them.
On The Other Hand, Google Meet is independent of Workspace's chat app, Google Chat. While users can use both Workspace apps all at once, the separation of the two is a bit counterintuitive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, taped meetings, and files are all housed in the same central place, making searchability far much easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will need to seek out saved chats from old conferences, or when it comes to Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is also 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 need to waste time chasing them down when you require them.
Microsoft offers even more applications in their plans than Google, though lots of go undetected.
Microsoft Sway allows you to quickly grab and trim a recorded Teams satisfying that you can then house in your area within Teams itself.
In the case that somebody shows up late to a conference, or a worker records the very same conference and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can rapidly get the part of the conference you need and wait.
This bypasses the storage that would be consumed by an hours-long video clip, along with the time it would take to upload, trim, and export stated video from a video editing platform.
In addition, all three platforms do have integrations with various other company applications, so make certain to check on 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 all adapted well to the demand for certain features on their platforms, thus most of the very same features overlap throughout prepare for all 3 suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everybody's favorite: custom-made backgrounds. When it comes to some other functions, they vary throughout each company's offerings.
A table depicting the various strategies and functions of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go
While present throughout the board, dial-in abilities differ across plans. Meet offers dial-in for free with any of their paid plans, among the greatest benefits that the platform has more than its rivals.Groups provides its dial-in capability for $4 extra per user, monthly; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet offer internet-based PBX options that can change your in-house phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not practical.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice incorporates flawlessly with Teams, allowing staff members to take business on the go, all with complete continuity.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the very best?
Since the time of this post, each platform shows video in HD, but the quality varies. 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 company or enterprise strategies. 1080p can likewise be enabled 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, however it can send out and get approximately 720p video.
Audio quality throughout platforms depends upon microphone and speaker quality, as well as the quality of your internet connection.
Rooms and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout rooms are essentially conferences that run at the same time to the original videoconference. These were particularly needed for virtual education, so instructors might break trainees out into different groups to learn.
There is a clear utility for breakout rooms in professional spaces, too. If a bigger team is satisfying about a project, breaking down tasks into smaller sized groups, breakout spaces could be a great service.
Both Teams and Zoom have breakout spaces belonging to their base platforms, throughout all plans. These rooms are basically meetings that are running all at once to the initial videoconference.
Meet enables breakout spaces through their basic and plus strategies, but not in the free or fundamental strategies. Nevertheless, like most Google functions on more affordable strategies, 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 presented Together Mode, which uses AI to position video individuals in numerous digital settings, together. While the energy is light, Together Mode could be a strong spirits booster.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Privacy and Safety
To its credit, Zoom reacted swiftly to the "Zoom bombing" of the early days of the pandemic, including end-to-end file encryption and intensifying their personal privacy policy. Sadly, over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and posted for sale online quickly afterwards.
While Meet has not had any famous occurrences of privacy breaches, Google has actually had plenty of personal privacy concerns and a track record of gathering data for usage in advertising.
Microsoft has the best performance history of security and they likewise have the most transparent privacy policy.
All three platforms support two-factor authentication. Considering that 99% of cybersecurity attacks include a password element, two-factor authentication is a need to if you desire a legitimate defense versus cybercriminals.
As a part of the wider M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are encrypted and stored within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Additionally, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is available on its Business Premium and E5 plans, blocking potentially malicious material from being accessed by those in your business.
Microsoft also utilizes Data Loss Protection (DLP) to catch delicate data being managed it support services shared (like social security numbers), and instantly obstruct it from being sent.
In addition to eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, talks, and files, Teams ensures you stay certified with all data storage guidelines.
A graphic showing the course of details as it is encrypted from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Google does use eDiscovery in their Business and Enterprise strategies and DLP in their Enterprise strategy only, however these are just restricted to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has no specifically listed DLP capabilities.Zoom does not provide any of these features on its main platform.
In general, Zoom has responded well to its personal privacy challenges, however the modifications are largely cosmetic.
End-to-end file encryption (E2EE) is great to have, but its addition was more of a reaction to a problem than a total service. 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 might be shared, and it will be offered on Teams quickly according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing business has less to worry about since 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 reputation alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Because your information is all saved in a single area, Teams and its security functions take your performance center and turns it into your business's own data fortress. This 2nd level of protection and privacy makes it the most safe, in our experience.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though many videoconferencing platforms have comparable functions, your business's precise requirements ought to identify whether you choose Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level functions at a cost effective price, it is difficult to beat Zoom, who is focused entirely on videoconferencing. For the most bang for your buck, Teams ties your whole company together in one space, with the very best possible features and security offered.
If you are trying to find an all-in-one cooperation hub that keeps all your interaction in one space, we highly recommend Microsoft Teams.
IT Support Guys has actually leveraged the power of Microsoft 365 because 2008 when it was still called Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), and we have continued our collaboration till today day.