Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Conclusive Videoconferencing Battle
The COVID-19 pandemic forced employees to work from home, however the show had to go on in some way. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms turned into the lifeline that held companies together. Even as operations go back to normal, videoconferencing service providers are putting resources into their items.
The 2 main collaboration suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer 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 point, your organization is practically guaranteed to have a videoconferencing platform already. If not, or if you are wanting to alter platforms, continue reading below for a breakdown of features and options that will help you make your decision.
Are your meetings long or short? Are you mostly fulfilling internally or with leads and customers? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without saying, if your company is already signed up 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 merely require a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a totally free variation that ought to resolve most of your needs.
In the sections listed below, we will compare all three major videoconferencing platforms based upon various metrics you ought to think about prior to selecting the right one for your business.
Groups 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 get from the totality of what you are spending for.
Groups and Meet belong to bigger performance suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone item with all the videoconferencing-specific features you may 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 just provides you videoconferencing capabilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business subscriptions include a complete suite of service applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a fully incorporated experience with desktop variations of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The biggest selling point of Microsoft is how quickly the apps deal with each other, and the most significant distinction in between Teams and its competitors is how centralized the suite is.
Groups jumps perfectly from instant messaging to video calls, with the capability to change back and forth 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 two is a bit counterproductive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, recorded meetings, and files are all housed in the very same main area, making searchability far easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will need to seek out conserved chats from old meetings, or in the case of Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is also the case when dealing with collaborative files. Any files attached in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, implying you don't have to waste time chasing them down when you need them.
Microsoft offers much more applications in their strategies than Google, though many go unnoticed.
For example, Microsoft Sway permits you to rapidly grab and trim 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 meeting, or a worker records the same meeting 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 consumed by an hours-long video clip, along with the time it would take to upload, trim, and export said video from a video editing platform.
Furthermore, all 3 platforms do have combinations with different other service applications, so make sure to look at compatibility with any apps you already utilize, and these platforms.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Features
Comparing Free Versions vs. Paid
Microsoft, Google, and Zoom have all adapted well to the demand for specific functions on their platforms, thus most of the exact same functions overlap throughout plans for all 3 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 different plans and functions 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 offers dial-in totally free with any of their paid strategies, one of the biggest benefits that the platform has more than its rivals.Groups provides its dial-in ability for $4 additional per user, each month; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet deal internet-based PBX services that can change your internal phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not useful.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice integrates effortlessly with Teams, enabling staff members to take business on the go, all with full connection.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
As of the time of this post, each platform displays video in HD, but the quality differs. 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 business plans. 1080p can also be made it possible for by Zoom support 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, but it can send and receive up to 720p video.
Audio quality across platforms depends upon microphone and speaker quality, along with the quality of your web connection.
Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout rooms are basically meetings that run at the same time to the original videoconference. These were especially required for virtual education, so teachers might break trainees out into different groups to find out.
There is a clear energy for breakout managed it services spaces in expert spaces, too. If a bigger team is satisfying about a project, breaking down tasks into smaller sized groups, breakout spaces might be a terrific option.
Both Teams and Zoom have breakout rooms native to their base platforms, throughout all plans. These spaces are basically meetings that are running all at once to the original videoconference.
Meet permits breakout rooms through their standard and plus strategies, but not in the totally free or standard strategies. Like a lot of Google functions on less expensive plans, you can include Google Chrome extensions, but this might be more of a headache than it is worth in the end.
Just recently, Microsoft likewise presented Together Mode, which utilizes AI to position video individuals in various digital settings, together. While the energy is light, Together Mode might be a strong morale booster.
Teams 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 file encryption and intensifying their personal privacy policy. Over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and published for sale online quickly afterwards.
While Meet has not had any famous incidents of personal privacy breaches, Google has had lots of personal privacy issues and a track record of collecting information for use in advertising.
Microsoft has the very best performance history of security and they likewise have the most transparent personal privacy policy.
All 3 platforms support two-factor authentication. Thinking about that 99% of cybersecurity attacks involve a password aspect, two-factor authentication is a should if you want a legitimate defense versus cybercriminals.
As a part of the wider M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are secured and saved within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
In Addition, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is readily available on its Business Premium and E5 plans, obstructing potentially malicious material from being accessed by those in your company.
Microsoft likewise uses Data Loss Protection (DLP) to capture delicate information being shared (like social security numbers), and immediately obstruct it from being sent.
In addition to eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, chats, and files, Teams ensures you stay compliant with all data storage policies.
A graphic revealing the course of details as it is encrypted from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Google does provide eDiscovery in their Business and Enterprise strategies and DLP in their Enterprise strategy only, however these are just limited to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has actually no particularly listed DLP abilities.Zoom does not offer any of these features on its primary platform.
In general, Zoom has actually reacted well to its privacy difficulties, however the changes are largely cosmetic.
E2EE is most helpful in 1-on-1 discussions where sensitive details may be shared, and it will be readily available on Teams soon according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing business has less to stress over since 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 on track record alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though many videoconferencing platforms have comparable functions, your business's specific needs must figure out whether you choose Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level features at a cost effective rate, it is difficult to beat Zoom, who is focused entirely on videoconferencing. For the most bang for your buck, Teams ties your entire business together in one space, with the 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 highly suggest 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 actually continued our collaboration up until the present day.