Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Definitive Videoconferencing Battle
The COVID-19 pandemic required staff members to work from house, but the program had to go on somehow. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms turned into the lifeline that held services together. Even as operations go back to regular, videoconferencing suppliers are putting resources into their products.
The two primary collaboration suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace deal videoconferencing abilities, however 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 nearly ensured to have a videoconferencing platform already. If not, or if you are aiming to alter platforms, continue checking out below for a breakdown of features and options that will assist you make your decision.
Are your conferences long or short? Are you mainly meeting internally or with leads and clients? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without saying, if your business is currently registered for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you enjoy with the platform, you need to utilize Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not registered for either and just need a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a totally free version that should resolve most of your requirements.
In the areas below, we will compare all 3 major videoconferencing platforms based upon different metrics you should think about prior to picking the best one for your service.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Before diving into the complete list of functions for each platform, it is important to comprehend just how much you get from the totality of what you are paying for.
Teams and Meet belong to larger productivity suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone product with all the videoconferencing-specific functions you may need. While Teams and Meet can be acquired independently, they are best bundled with their bigger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro subscription only small business it support gold coast gives you videoconferencing capabilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business subscriptions consist of a complete suite of business applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a totally incorporated experience with desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The most significant selling point of Microsoft is how quickly the apps deal with each other, and the biggest distinction in between Teams and its rivals is how centralized the suite is.
Groups jumps seamlessly 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 use both Workspace apps all at once, the separation of the two is a bit counterproductive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, tape-recorded conferences, and files are all housed in the very same central area, making searchability far easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will have to seek out conserved chats from old conferences, 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, suggesting you do not have to waste time chasing them down when you require them.
Microsoft offers a lot more applications in their strategies than Google, however numerous go undetected.
Microsoft Sway permits you to quickly get and cut a taped Teams fulfilling that you can then house locally within Teams itself.
In the event that somebody shows up late to a meeting, or a worker records the very same meeting and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can rapidly get the part of the meeting you need and save it.
This bypasses the storage that would be eaten up by an hours-long video, in addition to the time it would require to publish, 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 examine compatibility with any apps you already use, and these platforms.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Features
Comparing Free Versions vs. Paid
Microsoft, Google, and Zoom have actually all adjusted well to the need for particular functions on their platforms, therefore the majority of the same features overlap throughout plans for all 3 suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everybody's favorite: customized backgrounds. As for some other features, they vary throughout each company'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 vary across plans. Meet provides dial-in for free with any of their paid strategies, among the biggest advantages that the platform has more than its rivals.Teams uses its dial-in capability for $4 additional per user, monthly; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet offer internet-based PBX services that can change your internal phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not useful.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice incorporates seamlessly with Teams, permitting workers to take organization on the go, all with complete connection.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
As of the time of this post, each platform displays video in HD, however the quality varies. Groups is capable of 1080p video at 30 frames per 2nd if you have 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.
Zoom also has 1080p video, but it is limited to the platform's service or business strategies. 1080p can also be made it possible for by Zoom assistance in particular cases. Zoom's 1080p performance 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 approximately 720p video.
Audio quality throughout platforms depends upon microphone and speaker quality, in addition to the quality of your web connection.
Rooms and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout spaces are essentially meetings that run at the same time to the initial videoconference. These were especially necessary for virtual education, so teachers could break students out into separate groups to learn.
There is a clear utility for breakout rooms in professional areas, too. If a larger group is satisfying about a job, breaking down tasks into smaller groups, breakout rooms could be a great service.
Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout spaces native to their base platforms, throughout all strategies. These spaces are essentially conferences that are running at the same time to the original videoconference.
Meet enables breakout rooms through their basic and plus strategies, but not in the totally free or fundamental plans. Nevertheless, like a lot of Google functions on more affordable strategies, you can include Google Chrome extensions, but this might be more of a headache than it is worth in the end.


Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Privacy and Safety
To its credit, Zoom reacted swiftly to the "Zoom battle" of the early days of the pandemic, including end-to-end file encryption and beefing up their personal privacy policy. Regrettably, over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and published for sale online soon thereafter.
While Meet has actually not had any famous incidents of privacy breaches, Google has had plenty of privacy issues and a performance history of collecting data for usage in marketing.
Microsoft has the very best performance history of security and they likewise have the most transparent personal privacy policy.
All three platforms support two-factor authentication. Thinking about that 99% of cybersecurity attacks involve a password component, two-factor authentication is a need to if you want a legitimate defense versus cybercriminals.
As a part of the wider M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are encrypted and saved within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Additionally, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is readily available on its Business Premium and E5 strategies, blocking possibly destructive material from being accessed by those in your business.
Microsoft also uses Data Loss Protection (DLP) to capture delicate data being shared (like social security numbers), and instantly obstruct it from being sent.
Together with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, talks, and files, Teams guarantees you stay compliant with all information storage policies.
A graphic revealing the path of information 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 plan only, but these are just restricted to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has actually no specifically listed DLP capabilities.Zoom does not offer any of these functions on its primary platform.
In general, Zoom has actually reacted well to its privacy obstacles, but the modifications are largely cosmetic.
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is fantastic to have, however its addition was more of a reaction to an issue than a complete 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 useful in 1-on-1 conversations where sensitive information may be shared, and it will be offered on Teams soon according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing company has less to fret about because they are a single-purpose app, dealing exclusively 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.
Because your information is all saved in a single area, Teams and its security features take your performance hub and turns it into your business's own data fortress. This 2nd level of defense and privacy makes it the best, in our experience.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Many videoconferencing platforms have comparable functions, your organization's exact needs ought to identify whether you choose Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level functions at a budget friendly price, it is hard to beat Zoom, who is focused entirely on videoconferencing. For the most value, Teams ties your entire business together in one space, with the very best possible features and security available.
If you are searching for an all-in-one cooperation center that keeps all your interaction in one space, we extremely advise Microsoft Teams.
IT Support Guys has leveraged the power of Microsoft 365 considering that 2008 when it was still called Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), and we have continued our partnership till the present day.