Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Definitive Videoconferencing Battle
The COVID-19 pandemic forced employees to work from house, but the program needed to go on in some way. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms developed into the lifeline that held services together. Even as operations return to normal, videoconferencing providers are pouring resources into their products.
The 2 main cooperation suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer videoconferencing capabilities, 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 company is almost guaranteed to have a videoconferencing platform currently. If not, or if you are seeking to change platforms, continue reading listed below for a breakdown of features and options that will help you make your choice.
Are your meetings long or short? Are you primarily satisfying internally or with leads and clients? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without saying, if your business is currently signed up for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you are happy with the platform, you must utilize Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not registered for either and simply require a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a free version that should fix most of your needs.
In the areas below, we will compare all three significant videoconferencing platforms based on different metrics you need to consider before choosing the ideal one for your service.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Before diving into the full list of features for each platform, it is important to comprehend just how much you receive from the totality of what you are paying for.
Groups and Meet become part of larger performance suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone item with all the videoconferencing-specific functions you may require. While Teams and Meet can be procured independently, they are best bundled with their larger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro membership just provides you videoconferencing capabilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business memberships consist of a full suite of company applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a totally incorporated experience with desktop versions 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 competitors is how centralized the suite is.
Teams leaps effortlessly from immediate messaging to video calls, with the ability to change backward and forward between them.
Google Meet is independent of Workspace's chat app, Google Chat. While users can make use of both Workspace apps concurrently, the separation of the 2 is a bit counterintuitive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, tape-recorded conferences, and files are all housed in the exact same main location, making searchability far much easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will need to look for conserved chats from old conferences, or when it comes to Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is also the case when dealing with collaborative files. Any files connected in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, indicating you don't need to waste time chasing them down when you require them.
Microsoft uses much more applications in their strategies than Google, however numerous go unnoticed.
For example, Microsoft Sway enables you to quickly grab and cut a recorded Teams satisfying that you can then house locally within Teams itself.
In the event that somebody shows up late to a meeting, or an employee records the very same conference and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can quickly get the part of the conference you need and save it.
This bypasses the storage that would be eaten up by an hours-long video, as well as the time it would require to upload, trim, and export said video from a video modifying platform.
Furthermore, all three platforms do have combinations with various other organization applications, so be sure to examine compatibility with any apps you already utilize, and these platforms.
Groups 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, hence most of the very same functions overlap across plans for all three suites. This consists of screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everyone's favorite: custom backgrounds. As for some other features, they differ throughout each company's offerings.
A table depicting the various plans and functions of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go
While present throughout the board, dial-in abilities vary throughout plans. Meet offers dial-in for free with any of their paid plans, among the most significant advantages that the platform has over its rivals.Teams offers its dial-in ability for $4 extra per user, monthly; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet offer internet-based PBX services that can change your in-house phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not useful.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice incorporates seamlessly with Teams, enabling workers to take company on the go, all with full continuity.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
Since the time of this post, each platform shows video in HD, but 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, but it is limited to the platform's service or business strategies. 1080p can also be allowed by Zoom assistance in certain 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, however it can send and receive up to 720p video.
Audio quality across platforms depends on microphone and speaker quality, along with the quality of your internet connection.
Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout rooms are essentially meetings that run at the same time to the original videoconference. These were especially necessary for virtual education, so teachers might break trainees out into different groups to find out.
There is a clear utility for breakout rooms in professional areas, too. If a larger group is meeting about a project, breaking down jobs into smaller sized groups, breakout rooms might be a great solution.
Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout rooms belonging to their base platforms, throughout all strategies. These rooms are essentially conferences that are running concurrently to the original videoconference.
Meet allows breakout spaces through their standard and plus strategies, but not in the free or fundamental strategies. Nevertheless, like the majority 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.
Just recently, Microsoft likewise rolled out Together Mode, which utilizes AI to position video individuals in various digital settings, together. While the utility is light, Together Mode could be a strong morale booster.
Teams 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 boosting their privacy policy. Over 500,000 Zoom accounts were taken and published for sale online soon thereafter.
While Meet has not had any well-known occurrences of personal privacy breaches, Google has actually had plenty of privacy concerns and a track record of collecting data for usage in marketing.
Microsoft has the very best track record of security and they likewise have the most transparent personal privacy policy.
All 3 platforms support two-factor authentication. Considering that 99% of cybersecurity attacks involve a password element, two-factor authentication is a must if you want a legitimate defense against 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 Go here E5 plans, blocking potentially destructive material from being accessed by those in your business.
Microsoft likewise utilizes Data Loss Protection (DLP) to catch delicate data being shared (like social security numbers), and automatically block it from being sent out.
Along with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, chats, and files, Teams ensures you stay certified with all data storage policies.
A graphic revealing the path of information 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, however these are only restricted to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has actually no specifically listed DLP abilities.Zoom does not provide any of these features on its primary platform.
Overall, Zoom has reacted well to its personal privacy difficulties, however the modifications are mainly cosmetic.
End-to-end file encryption (E2EE) is excellent to have, however its addition was more of a response to a problem than a complete service. It is unlikely that E2EE safeguards most users from more than encryption in transit and at rest, like with Teams and Meet.
E2EE is most beneficial in 1-on-1 conversations where sensitive details might be shared, and it will be available on Teams soon according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing company has less to fret about because they are a single-purpose app, dealing solely with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, talks, and other information like Microsoft or Google.
Based on credibility alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Since your information is all kept in a single space, Teams and its security features take your efficiency hub and turns it into your company's own information fortress. This second level of defense and personal privacy makes it the most safe, in our experience.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though a lot of videoconferencing platforms have similar features, your organization's precise requirements should figure out whether you choose Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level functions at an affordable rate, it is tough to beat Zoom, who is focused exclusively on videoconferencing. For the most bang for your buck, Teams ties your whole company together in one space, with the best possible features and security readily available.
If you are searching for an all-in-one collaboration center that keeps all your interaction in one space, we highly suggest 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 collaboration till the present day.