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 needed to go on somehow. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms became the lifeline that held businesses together. Even as operations go back to normal, videoconferencing companies are putting resources into their items.
The two main collaboration suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace deal videoconferencing capabilities, however we would be remiss not to include among the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this moment, your service is nearly guaranteed to have a videoconferencing platform already. If not, or if you are looking to change platforms, continue checking out below for a breakdown of features and options that will assist you make your decision.
It goes without saying, if your business is already registered for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you are happy with the platform, you must use Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not registered for either and simply require a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a complimentary version that should solve the majority of your needs.
In the areas below, we will compare all 3 major videoconferencing platforms based upon numerous metrics you need to think about prior to picking the right one for your company.
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 essential to understand just how much you obtain from the whole of what you are paying for.
Teams and Meet become part of larger efficiency suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone item with all the videoconferencing-specific functions you may need. While Teams and Meet can be obtained independently, they are best bundled with their bigger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro membership just offers you videoconferencing capabilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business memberships include a full suite of company applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a fully integrated experience with desktop variations of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The most significant selling point of Microsoft is how easily the apps work with each other, and the most significant difference between Teams and its rivals is how centralized the suite is.
Groups leaps perfectly from instant messaging to video calls, with the capability to switch back and forth between them.
Google Meet is independent of Workspace's chat app, Google Chat. While users can utilize both Workspace apps all at once, the separation of the 2 is a bit counterintuitive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, tape-recorded meetings, and files are all housed in the exact same central location, making searchability far simpler.
With Meet and Zoom, you will need to look for conserved chats from old meetings, or in the case of Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is likewise 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 don't have to waste time chasing them down when you require them.
Microsoft uses much more applications in their plans than Google, however many go unnoticed.
For example, Microsoft Sway allows you to quickly grab and trim a taped Teams meeting that you can then house in your area within Teams itself.
In the event that somebody gets here late to a conference, or an employee records the very same conference and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can quickly grab the part of the conference you need and wait.
This bypasses the storage that would be consumed by an hours-long video clip, along with the time it would take to publish, trim, and export said video from a video modifying platform.
Additionally, all 3 platforms do have integrations with various other company applications, so be sure to look at compatibility with any apps you already use, 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 features on their platforms, therefore the majority of the same features overlap across plans for all 3 suites. This consists of screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everybody's favorite: custom backgrounds. As for some other features, they vary across each business's offerings.
A table portraying the various strategies and functions of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go
While present across the board, dial-in capabilities managed it support - itleaders.com.au vary across plans. Meet offers dial-in free of charge with any of their paid strategies, among the most significant advantages that the platform has over its competitors.Teams uses its dial-in ability for $4 extra per user, each month; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet offer internet-based PBX options that can replace your in-house phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not useful.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice integrates effortlessly with Teams, permitting 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, but the quality differs. Groups can 1080p video at 30 frames per second if you have 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.
Zoom also has 1080p video, however it is restricted to the platform's organization or business strategies. 1080p can also be made it possible for by Zoom support in specific cases. Zoom's 1080p performance 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 as much as 720p video.
Audio quality throughout platforms depends upon microphone and speaker quality, as well as the quality of your web connection.
Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout spaces are basically conferences that run simultaneously to the original videoconference. These were especially necessary for virtual education, so teachers could break trainees out into separate groups to discover.
There is a clear energy for breakout rooms in expert areas, too. If a larger group is satisfying about a project, breaking down tasks into smaller groups, breakout spaces could be a great solution.
Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout rooms belonging to their base platforms, across all strategies. These spaces are essentially meetings that are running all at once to the original videoconference.
Meet allows breakout spaces through their standard and plus plans, but not in the complimentary or basic strategies. Like a lot of Google functions on less expensive strategies, you can add Google Chrome extensions, but 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 individuals in various digital settings, together. While the energy is light, Together Mode might be a strong morale booster.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Privacy and Safety
To its credit, Zoom responded swiftly to the "Zoom bombing" of the early days of the pandemic, including end-to-end file encryption and beefing up their personal privacy policy. Sadly, over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and published for sale online quickly afterwards.
While Meet has not had any popular incidents of privacy breaches, Google has had lots of personal privacy issues and a performance history of gathering information for use in advertising.
Microsoft has the best performance history of security and they likewise have the most transparent privacy policy.
All 3 platforms support two-factor authentication. Thinking about that 99% of cybersecurity attacks include a password component, two-factor authentication is a should if you desire a legitimate defense against cybercriminals.
As a part of the larger M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are secured and stored within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Furthermore, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is available on its Business Premium and E5 strategies, blocking potentially destructive material from being accessed by those in your company.
Microsoft likewise utilizes Data Loss Protection (DLP) to capture delicate data being shared (like social security numbers), and instantly obstruct it from being sent.
Along with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, talks, and files, Teams ensures you remain compliant with all information storage regulations.
A graphic showing 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, however these it solutions for healthcare industry are just restricted to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has actually no particularly listed DLP abilities.Zoom does not use any of these features on its main platform.
Overall, Zoom has responded well to its personal privacy obstacles, however the changes are largely cosmetic.
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is fantastic to have, but its addition was more of an action to an issue than a total option. 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 may be shared, and it will be offered on Teams quickly according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing company has less to stress over because they are a single-purpose app, dealing entirely with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, talks, and other info like Microsoft or Google.
Based upon track record alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in terms of security.
Due to the fact that your data is all saved in a single area, Teams and its security functions take your performance hub and turns it into your company's own data stronghold. This 2nd level of protection and personal privacy makes it the safest, in our experience.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though the majority of videoconferencing platforms have similar functions, your service's precise needs ought to identify whether you choose Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level features at a cost effective cost, it is hard to beat Zoom, who is focused entirely on videoconferencing. For the most value, Teams ties your whole business together in one area, with the best possible features and security offered.
If you are looking for an all-in-one collaboration center that keeps all your interaction in one area, we extremely 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 continued our collaboration up until today day.