Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Conclusive Videoconferencing Battle
The COVID-19 pandemic forced staff members to work from home, however the show had to go on somehow. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms became the lifeline that held companies together. Even as operations return to normal, videoconferencing providers are putting resources into their products.
The two main cooperation suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace deal videoconferencing abilities, however we would be remiss not to consist of among the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this moment, your service is nearly guaranteed to have a videoconferencing platform currently. If not, or if you are seeking to alter platforms, continue checking out listed below for a breakdown of features and options that will assist you make your decision.
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 company is already signed up for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you more than happy with the platform, you need to use Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not subscribed to either and merely require a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a free variation that must fix the majority of your needs.
In the sections below, we will compare all 3 major videoconferencing platforms based on different metrics you must consider prior to selecting the right one for your organization.
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 how much you obtain from the entirety of what you are spending for.
Groups and Meet become part of bigger performance suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone product with all the videoconferencing-specific functions you might need. While Teams and Meet can be acquired separately, they are best bundled with their larger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro subscription only gives you videoconferencing abilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business subscriptions include a full suite of business applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a completely incorporated experience with desktop variations of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The biggest selling point of Microsoft is how easily the apps work with each other, and the biggest distinction in between Teams and its rivals is how centralized the suite is.
Teams jumps effortlessly from immediate messaging to video calls, with the capability to switch backward and forward in 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 two is a bit counterintuitive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, taped meetings, and files are all housed in the very same main area, making searchability far much easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will have to look for conserved chats from old conferences, or in the case of Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is also the case when dealing with collective files. Any files connected in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, implying you don't need to lose time chasing them down when you require them.
Microsoft uses even more applications in their strategies than Google, however many go undetected.
For instance, Microsoft Sway allows you to quickly grab and trim a recorded Teams fulfilling that you can then house locally within Teams itself.
In the event that somebody shows up late to a conference, or a staff member records the same meeting and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can quickly get 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 submit, cut, and export said video from a video editing platform.
In addition, all three platforms do have combinations with numerous other organization applications, so be sure to look at 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 all adapted well to the demand for specific features on their platforms, thus the majority of the exact same features overlap throughout prepare for all three suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everyone's favorite: custom backgrounds. When it comes to some other functions, they vary across each business's offerings.
A table illustrating the different plans and functions of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go
While present throughout the board, dial-in capabilities vary throughout strategies. Meet offers dial-in for free with any of their paid strategies, one of the most significant benefits that the platform has more than its rivals.Groups provides its dial-in ability for $4 additional per user, monthly; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet offer internet-based PBX solutions that can change your internal phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not practical.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice incorporates seamlessly with Teams, allowing staff members to take company on the go, all with complete continuity.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
As of the time of this post, each platform shows video in HD, however the quality differs. Teams can 1080p video at 30 frames per second if you have 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.
Zoom also has 1080p video, but it is restricted to the platform's organization or enterprise strategies. 1080p can likewise be allowed 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, however it can send and get up to 720p video.
Audio quality throughout platforms depends on microphone and speaker quality, along with the quality of your web connection.
Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout spaces are basically conferences that run all at once to the original videoconference. These were specifically required for virtual education, so instructors might break students out into different groups to find out.
There is a clear energy for breakout rooms in professional spaces, too. If a managed it services larger team is satisfying about a project, breaking down tasks into smaller groups, breakout spaces could be a terrific option.
Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout rooms native to their base platforms, across all strategies. These spaces are essentially conferences that are running simultaneously to the initial videoconference.
Meet enables breakout spaces through their standard and plus strategies, but not in the free or basic strategies. However, like a lot of Google functions on cheaper strategies, you can include Google Chrome extensions, but this could be more of a headache than it is worth in the end.
Recently, Microsoft also presented Together Mode, which utilizes AI to put video participants in various digital settings, together. While the energy is light, Together Mode could be a strong spirits booster.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Privacy and Safety
To its credit, Zoom reacted promptly to the "Zoom battle" of the early days of the pandemic, adding end-to-end file encryption and beefing up their privacy policy. Over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and posted for sale online quickly thereafter.
While Meet has actually not had any famous incidents of personal privacy breaches, Google has actually had plenty of privacy issues and a performance history of gathering information for use in advertising.
Microsoft has the best track record of security and they likewise have the most transparent privacy policy.
All three 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 against cybercriminals.
As a part of the broader M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are secured and kept within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Furthermore, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is offered on its Business Premium and E5 plans, blocking possibly harmful content from being accessed by those in your company.
Microsoft likewise uses Data Loss Protection (DLP) to capture delicate data being shared (like social security numbers), and automatically obstruct it from being sent out.
Together with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, chats, and files, Teams ensures you remain compliant with all information storage policies.
A graphic revealing the course of details as it is encrypted from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Google does use eDiscovery in their Business and Enterprise plans and DLP in their Enterprise strategy just, but these are only limited to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has no particularly listed DLP abilities.Zoom does not use any of these functions on its main platform.
In general, Zoom has actually responded well to its personal privacy challenges, but the modifications are mostly cosmetic.
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is great to have, however its addition was more of a reaction to an issue than a complete option. 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 helpful in 1-on-1 discussions where delicate info may be shared, and it will be readily available on Teams soon according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing company has less to fret about because they are a single-purpose app, dealing entirely with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, chats, and other details like Microsoft or Google.
Based on credibility alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Since your data is all stored in a single space, Teams and its security features take your productivity center and turns it into your business's own information stronghold. This second level of defense and personal privacy makes it the best, in our experience.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though most videoconferencing platforms have comparable features, your business's exact requirements should determine whether you choose Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level features at a cost effective rate, it is tough to beat Zoom, who is focused entirely on videoconferencing. For the most bang for your buck, Teams ties your whole company together in one space, with the very best possible functions and security offered.
If you are trying to find 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 since 2008 when it was still called Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), and we have actually continued our collaboration up until the present day.