Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Definitive Videoconferencing Battle
The COVID-19 pandemic required 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 return to regular, videoconferencing suppliers are putting resources into their items.
The 2 primary collaboration suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer videoconferencing abilities, however we would be remiss not to include among the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this point, your business is nearly guaranteed to have a videoconferencing platform currently. If not, or if you are aiming to alter platforms, continue reading listed below for a breakdown of features and choices that will help you make your decision.
Are your conferences long or short? Are you mostly fulfilling internally or with leads and customers? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without saying, if your business is currently registered for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you more than happy with the platform, you ought to 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 should resolve the majority of your requirements.
In the areas listed below, we will compare all three significant videoconferencing platforms based on different metrics you should consider prior to picking the best one for your company.
Teams 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 obtain from the totality of what you are spending for.
Groups and Meet become part of larger productivity suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone item with all the videoconferencing-specific features you might need. While Teams and Meet can be obtained individually, 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 subscriptions include a complete suite of organization applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a fully integrated experience with desktop variations of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The greatest selling point of Microsoft is how easily the apps deal with each other, and the greatest difference between Teams and its rivals is how centralized the suite is.
Teams jumps flawlessly from instantaneous messaging to video calls, with the capability to switch backward and forward between them.
Meanwhile, 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 counterintuitive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, taped meetings, and files are all housed in the very same main place, making searchability far much easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will need to seek out conserved chats from old conferences, or when it comes to 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, meaning you do not need to lose time chasing them down when you require them.
Microsoft offers a lot more applications in their plans than Google, however lots of go undetected.
Microsoft Sway permits you to rapidly get and cut a taped Teams satisfying that you can then house in your area within Teams itself.
In the case that somebody arrives late to a meeting, or a worker 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 clip, as well as the time it would take to upload, cut, and export stated video from a video modifying platform.
In addition, all three platforms do have integrations with various other business applications, so make certain to check on 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 functions on their platforms, therefore most of the very same features overlap across prepare for all three suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everybody's favorite: custom-made backgrounds. As for some other features, they differ across each company's offerings.
A table illustrating 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 abilities differ across plans. Meet provides dial-in totally free with any of their paid plans, among the biggest advantages that the platform has more than its rivals.
Teams provides its dial-in ability for $4 additional per user, monthly; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet deal internet-based PBX options that can change your internal phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not practical.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice integrates perfectly with Teams, permitting staff members to take company on the go, all with full connection.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
Since the time of this post, each platform displays video in HD, however the quality varies. Groups can 1080p video at 30 frames per second if you have 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.
Zoom likewise has 1080p video, however it is limited to the platform's service or business plans. 1080p can likewise be made it possible for by Zoom assistance in particular 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, in addition to the quality of your web connection.
Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout rooms are essentially meetings that run simultaneously to the initial videoconference. These were specifically required for virtual education, so instructors might break students out into different groups to learn.
There is a clear energy for breakout spaces in expert areas, too. If a larger group is meeting about a project, breaking down jobs into smaller groups, breakout rooms could be an excellent service.
Both Teams and Zoom have breakout rooms belonging to their base platforms, throughout all strategies. These spaces are basically conferences that are running concurrently to the original videoconference.
Meet permits breakout rooms through their standard and plus plans, but not in the free or standard strategies. Nevertheless, like most Google functions on more affordable plans, you can add Google Chrome extensions, but this might be more of a headache than it deserves in the end.
Recently, Microsoft likewise presented Together Mode, which utilizes AI to position video participants in various digital settings, together. While the utility 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 battle" 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 taken and published for sale online quickly afterwards.
While Meet has actually not had any popular incidents of personal privacy breaches, Google has actually had plenty of personal privacy concerns and a track record of gathering data for usage in marketing.
Microsoft has the best track record of security and they likewise have the most transparent small business it support brisbane personal privacy policy.
All three platforms support two-factor authentication. Considering that 99% of cybersecurity attacks involve a password aspect, two-factor authentication is a should if you want a genuine defense versus cybercriminals.
As a part of the larger M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are secured and stored within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Additionally, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is offered on its Business Premium and E5 plans, obstructing possibly malicious content from being accessed by those in your business.
Microsoft also uses Data Loss Protection (DLP) to capture sensitive data being shared (like social security numbers), and immediately obstruct it from being sent out.
Along with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, chats, and files, Teams ensures you remain compliant with all data storage guidelines.
A graphic revealing the path of details as it is secured from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Google does offer 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 no particularly noted DLP abilities.
Zoom does not use any of these functions on its main platform.
In general, Zoom has actually reacted well to its privacy obstacles, but the changes are mainly cosmetic.
End-to-end file encryption (E2EE) is terrific to have, but its addition was more of a reaction to a problem than a total option. 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 information might be shared, and it will be readily available on Teams quickly according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing business has less to stress over because they are a single-purpose app, dealing solely with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, talks, and other info like Microsoft or Google.
Based on credibility alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Due to the fact that your data is all stored in a single area, Teams and its security features take your efficiency center and turns it into your company's own information fortress. This 2nd level of defense and personal privacy makes it the safest, in our experience.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though the majority of videoconferencing platforms have similar functions, your business's exact requirements ought to identify whether you select Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level functions at an economical cost, it is tough to beat Zoom, who is focused exclusively on videoconferencing. For the most bang for your buck, Teams ties your entire business together in one area, with the best possible features and security readily available.
If you are looking for an all-in-one collaboration center that keeps all your communication 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 collaboration till the present day.