Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Conclusive Videoconferencing Fight
The COVID-19 pandemic required workers to work from home, but the program had to go on in some way. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms became the lifeline that held companies together. Even as operations go back to regular, videoconferencing companies are pouring resources into their products.
The two main collaboration suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace deal videoconferencing abilities, but we would be remiss not to consist of one of the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this moment, your organization is almost guaranteed to have a videoconferencing platform currently. If not, or if you are aiming to change platforms, continue reading below for a breakdown of functions and choices that will assist you make your choice.
Are your conferences long or short? Are you primarily meeting internally or with leads and clients? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without stating, if your business is currently subscribed to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you enjoy with the platform, you must utilize Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not registered for either and just require a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a free version that ought to resolve the majority of your needs.
In the areas below, we will compare all three significant videoconferencing platforms based upon different metrics you should think about prior to selecting the best one for your service.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Prior to diving into the complete list of features for each platform, it is necessary to understand how much you get from the totality of what you are paying for.
Groups and Meet belong to larger efficiency suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone product with all the videoconferencing-specific features you might require. While Teams and Meet can be acquired individually, they are best bundled with their bigger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro membership just offers you videoconferencing abilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 managed it service gold coast Business Standard and Workspace Business subscriptions consist of a full suite of business applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a completely integrated experience with desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The greatest selling point of Microsoft is how quickly the apps work with each other, and the biggest difference between Teams and its competitors is how centralized the suite is.
Teams leaps perfectly from immediate messaging to video calls, with the capability to switch back and forth in between them.
Google Meet is independent of Workspace's chat app, Google Chat. While users can use both Workspace apps concurrently, the separation of the two is a bit counterproductive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, taped meetings, and files are all housed in the exact same central place, making searchability far simpler.
With Meet and Zoom, you will have to seek out saved 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 attached in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, implying you do not have to lose time chasing them down when you need them.
Microsoft uses much more applications in their plans than Google, however many go undetected.
For instance, Microsoft Sway enables you to rapidly grab and cut a taped Teams satisfying that you can then house locally within Teams itself.
In the event that someone arrives late to a meeting, or an employee records the very same meeting and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can rapidly grab the part of the meeting you require and wait.
This bypasses the storage that would be consumed by an hours-long video, along with the time it would require to publish, cut, and export said video from a video modifying platform.
Furthermore, all three platforms do have integrations with various other company 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 all adjusted well to the need for particular functions on their platforms, thus the majority of the same functions overlap throughout plans for all three suites. This consists of screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everyone's favorite: customized backgrounds. When it comes to some other features, they differ across each company's offerings.
A table depicting the various strategies and features of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go
While present across the board, dial-in abilities differ throughout plans. Meet offers dial-in free of charge with any of their paid strategies, one of the most significant benefits that the platform has more than its competitors.Groups provides 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 perfectly with Teams, allowing employees to take service on the go, all with complete connection.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
Since the time of this post, each platform shows video in HD, however the quality differs. Teams 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 enabled by Zoom support in certain 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 and receive approximately 720p video.
Audio quality across platforms depends on microphone and speaker quality, in addition to the quality of your internet connection.
Rooms and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout spaces are essentially meetings that run concurrently to the original videoconference. These were especially 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 professional areas, too. If a bigger team is fulfilling about a project, breaking down jobs into smaller groups, breakout rooms could be a fantastic service.
Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout rooms belonging to their base platforms, across all strategies. These rooms are basically conferences that are running simultaneously to the initial videoconference.
Meet enables breakout rooms through their basic and plus strategies, but not in the free or fundamental strategies. Nevertheless, like the majority of Google functions on less expensive strategies, 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 utilizes AI to put video participants in various digital settings, together. While the utility is light, Together Mode could be a solid morale 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, adding end-to-end encryption and intensifying their personal privacy policy. Over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and published for sale online soon thereafter.
While Meet has not had any famous incidents of personal privacy breaches, Google has actually 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 three platforms support two-factor authentication. Considering that 99% of cybersecurity attacks include a password component, two-factor authentication is a should if you desire a genuine defense against cybercriminals.
As a part of the larger M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are secured and kept within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Furthermore, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is readily available on its Business Premium and E5 plans, blocking possibly malicious material from being accessed by those in your business.
Microsoft also utilizes Data Loss Protection (DLP) to capture sensitive data being shared (like social security numbers), and automatically block it from being sent.
Along with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, talks, and files, Teams guarantees you stay certified with all information storage regulations.
A graphic showing the course of information as it is encrypted from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Zoom does not offer any of these functions on its primary platform.
In general, Zoom has actually responded well to its personal privacy obstacles, but the changes are largely cosmetic.
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is excellent to have, however its addition was more of a reaction to a problem than a complete service. It is not likely that E2EE safeguards 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 details might be shared, and it will be offered on Teams soon according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing business has less to stress over because they are a single-purpose app, dealing exclusively with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, chats, and other details like Microsoft or Google.
Based upon track record alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Due to the fact that your data is all saved in a single space, Teams and its security functions take your performance center and turns it into your company's own information fortress. This second level of security and personal privacy makes it the best, in our experience.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Many videoconferencing platforms have similar functions, your company's precise requirements ought to determine whether you choose Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level functions at an affordable cost, 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 very best possible features and security readily available.
If you are looking for an all-in-one partnership center that keeps all your communication in one space, we extremely suggest Microsoft Teams.
IT Support Guys has actually leveraged the power of Microsoft 365 considering that 2008 when it was still called Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), and we have actually continued our partnership until the present day.