Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Definitive Videoconferencing Fight
The COVID-19 pandemic forced employees to work from house, however the show had to go on somehow. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms turned into the lifeline that held services together. Even as operations go back to regular, videoconferencing companies are pouring resources into their products.
The 2 main partnership suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace deal videoconferencing abilities, but we would be remiss not to include one of 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 wanting to change platforms, continue checking out listed below for a breakdown of functions and options that will assist you make your choice.
It goes without stating, if your company is already registered for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you are happy with the platform, you need to utilize Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not subscribed to either and just need a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a complimentary version that ought to fix most of your requirements.
In the sections listed below, we will compare all three major videoconferencing platforms based upon various metrics you must consider before selecting the right one for your business.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Prior to diving into the complete list of functions for each platform, it is necessary to comprehend just how much you receive from the entirety of what you are paying for.
Groups and Meet become part of bigger productivity suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone product with all the videoconferencing-specific features you may require. While Teams and Meet can be acquired separately, they are best bundled with their bigger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro subscription just offers you videoconferencing abilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business memberships consist of a full suite of service applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a totally integrated experience with desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The greatest 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.
Teams leaps perfectly from immediate messaging to video calls, with the capability to change backward and forward 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 easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will have to look for conserved chats from old conferences, or in the case of Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is likewise 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, indicating you do not need to lose time chasing them down when you require them.
Microsoft uses much more applications in their plans than Google, private cloud vs on prem though numerous go unnoticed.
For instance, Microsoft Sway allows you to quickly get and cut a recorded Teams meeting that you can then house in your area within Teams itself.
In the case that somebody gets here late to a conference, or a staff member records the exact same conference and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can quickly grab the part of the conference you require and save it.
This bypasses the storage that would be eaten up by an hours-long video, as well as the time it would require to publish, trim, and export stated video from a video modifying platform.
In addition, all 3 platforms do have integrations with different other organization applications, so make sure to look at compatibility with any apps you currently use, 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 need for specific features on their platforms, therefore the majority of the very same functions overlap across prepare for all three suites. This consists of screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everyone's favorite: custom-made backgrounds. As for some other features, they vary throughout each business's offerings.
A table portraying the various plans 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 uses dial-in free of charge with any of their paid plans, among the biggest benefits that the platform has more than its rivals.Groups offers its dial-in capability for $4 additional per user, per 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.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice incorporates effortlessly with Teams, enabling staff members to take organization on the go, all with full continuity.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the very best?
Since the time of this post, each platform displays video in HD, but the quality varies. Groups can 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 also 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, but it can send and receive approximately 720p video.
Audio quality across platforms depends on microphone and speaker quality, as well as the quality of your internet connection.
Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout spaces are basically conferences that run simultaneously to the initial videoconference. These were especially essential for virtual education, so instructors could break students out into separate groups to find out.
There is a clear utility for breakout rooms in professional areas, too. If a larger group is fulfilling about a project, breaking down jobs into smaller sized groups, breakout spaces could be a terrific solution.
Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout rooms belonging to their base platforms, across all strategies. These spaces are basically conferences that are running concurrently to the initial videoconference.
Meet enables breakout rooms through their standard and plus strategies, however not in the free or standard plans. Nevertheless, like a lot of Google functions on more affordable plans, you can add 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 place video participants in different digital settings, together. While the energy is light, Together Mode might be a solid spirits booster.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Privacy and Safety
To its credit, Zoom reacted quickly to the "Zoom bombing" of the early days of the pandemic, adding end-to-end encryption and boosting their personal privacy policy. Regrettably, over 500,000 Zoom accounts were taken and published for sale online quickly thereafter.
While Meet has actually not had any famous occurrences of personal privacy breaches, Google has had plenty of privacy issues and a track record of gathering data for use in marketing.
Microsoft has the very best performance history of security and they also have the most transparent privacy policy.
All 3 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 genuine defense versus cybercriminals.
As a part of the wider M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are secured and stored within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Furthermore, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is readily available on its Business Premium and E5 plans, obstructing potentially malicious content from being accessed by those in your company.
Microsoft also uses Data Loss Protection (DLP) to catch sensitive information being shared (like social security numbers), and instantly block it from being sent.
Along with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, talks, and files, Teams guarantees you remain compliant with all data storage guidelines.
A graphic revealing the course of info as it is secured from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Google does use eDiscovery in their Business and Enterprise plans and DLP in their Enterprise plan only, but these are just restricted to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has actually no specifically noted DLP abilities.Zoom does not provide any of these features on its primary platform.
Overall, Zoom has actually reacted well to its personal privacy difficulties, but the changes are mainly 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 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 info may be shared, and it will be offered on Teams soon 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 terms of security.
Since your data is all saved in a single area, Teams and its security features take your efficiency center and turns it into your company's own data fortress. This second level of defense and personal privacy makes it the most safe, in our experience.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though many videoconferencing platforms have similar functions, your organization's precise needs must figure out whether you select Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level functions at an economical rate, it is hard to beat Zoom, who is focused exclusively on videoconferencing. For the most bang for your buck, Teams ties your whole business together in one space, with the very best possible functions and security available.
If you are looking for an all-in-one collaboration center that keeps all your interaction in one space, we extremely advise Microsoft Teams.
IT Support Guys has leveraged the power of Microsoft 365 because 2008 when it was still called Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), and we have continued our partnership until the present day.