Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Definitive Videoconferencing Battle
The COVID-19 pandemic forced employees to work from home, but the program had to go on in some way. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms turned into the lifeline that held services together. Even as operations go back to typical, videoconferencing service providers are pouring resources into their products.
The two primary partnership suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace deal videoconferencing capabilities, however we would be remiss not to consist of one of the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this moment, your business is nearly ensured to have a videoconferencing platform currently. If not, or if you are aiming to change platforms, continue checking out listed below for a breakdown of features and options that will assist you make your choice.
Are your meetings long or short? Are you mostly satisfying internally or with leads and customers? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without saying, if your company is currently subscribed to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you more than happy with the platform, you should utilize Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not registered for either and simply need a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a complimentary version that ought to solve the majority of your needs.
In the sections below, we will compare all three major videoconferencing platforms based upon various metrics you must consider before selecting the right one for your business.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Before diving into the complete list of features for each platform, it is necessary to understand just how much you get from the totality of what you are spending for.
Teams and Meet are part of larger productivity suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone item with all the videoconferencing-specific features you may need. While Teams and Meet can be acquired individually, they are best bundled with their bigger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro membership only offers you videoconferencing abilities. 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 fully integrated experience with desktop variations of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The biggest selling point of Microsoft is how quickly the apps work with each other, and the most significant difference in between Teams and its competitors is how centralized the suite is.
Groups leaps flawlessly from instant messaging to video calls, with the capability to switch back and forth between them.
Meanwhile, Google Meet is independent of Workspace's chat app, Google Chat. While users can utilize both Workspace apps simultaneously, the separation of the 2 is a bit counterproductive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, taped conferences, and files are all housed in the very same main place, making searchability far much easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will need to seek out saved chats from old conferences, or when it comes to Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is likewise the case when working on collective files. Any files connected in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, meaning you don't have to waste time chasing them down when you need them.
Microsoft provides even more applications in their plans than Google, however lots of go unnoticed.
For instance, Microsoft Sway permits you to rapidly get and trim a taped Teams satisfying 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 exact 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 consumed by an hours-long video, along with the time it would require to submit, trim, and export said video from a video editing platform.
Furthermore, all 3 platforms do have integrations with numerous other organization applications, so make certain to look at compatibility with any apps you currently 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 need for specific functions on their platforms, therefore most of the exact same functions overlap across plans for all three suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everybody's favorite: customized backgrounds. As for some other features, they differ across each company's offerings.
A table depicting the various strategies and features of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go
While present throughout the board, dial-in capabilities differ across strategies. Meet offers dial-in for free with any of their paid strategies, one of the most significant advantages that the platform has over its rivals.Teams offers its dial-in ability for $4 extra 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 in-house phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not useful.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice integrates flawlessly with Teams, enabling staff members to take service on the go, all with complete connection.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
Since the time of this post, each platform displays video in HD, however the quality varies. Groups can 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 business or business plans. 1080p can also be enabled by Zoom assistance in certain 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, but it can send out and get approximately 720p video.
Audio quality throughout platforms depends upon microphone and speaker quality, in addition to the quality of your web connection.
Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout spaces are essentially meetings that run at the same time to the initial videoconference. These were specifically essential for virtual education, so instructors could break trainees out into different groups to find out.
There is a clear utility for breakout rooms in expert areas, too. If a bigger team is meeting about a project, breaking down jobs into smaller groups, breakout spaces could be a terrific option.
Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout rooms belonging to their base platforms, across all plans. These rooms are essentially conferences that are running concurrently to the initial videoconference.
Meet permits breakout spaces through their standard and plus strategies, but not in the totally free or standard plans. However, like a lot of Google functions on less expensive plans, you can include Google Chrome extensions, however this could be more of a headache than it deserves in the end.
Just recently, Microsoft likewise rolled out Together Mode, which uses AI to place video participants 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 swiftly to the "Zoom bombing" of the early days of the pandemic, adding end-to-end file encryption and boosting their personal privacy policy. Over 500,000 Zoom accounts were taken and posted for sale online soon thereafter.
While Meet has actually not had any popular occurrences of personal privacy breaches, Google has actually had plenty of personal privacy concerns and a track record of collecting information for usage in advertising.
Microsoft has the very best track record of security and they likewise have the most transparent personal privacy policy.
All three platforms support two-factor authentication. Considering that 99% of cybersecurity attacks include a password element, two-factor authentication is a must if you want a genuine defense against cybercriminals.
As a part of the larger M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are encrypted and stored within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Additionally, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is offered on its Business Premium and E5 strategies, obstructing potentially destructive material from being accessed by those in your company.
Microsoft likewise utilizes Data Loss Protection (DLP) to catch sensitive information being shared (like social security numbers), and automatically block it from being sent out.
In addition to eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, talks, and files, Teams ensures you remain compliant with all data storage regulations.
A graphic showing the path of information 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 only, however these are just limited to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has no particularly noted DLP abilities.Zoom does not provide any of these functions on its primary platform.
Overall, Zoom has responded well to its privacy difficulties, but the modifications are mainly cosmetic.
End-to-end file encryption (E2EE) is excellent to have, however its addition was more of a reaction to a problem than a total option. It is not likely that E2EE protects 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 delicate details may be shared, and it will be offered on Teams soon according to Microsoft.
Based on track record alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Because your information is all kept in a single area, Teams and its security functions take your performance center and turns it into your company's own information fortress. This 2nd level of defense and privacy makes it the safest, in our experience.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though the majority of videoconferencing platforms have comparable features, your organization's precise requirements need to figure out whether you choose Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level features at a cost effective price, it is hard to beat Zoom, who is focused entirely on videoconferencing. For the most value, Teams it managed services ties your whole business together in one space, with the very best possible features and security readily available.
If you are searching for an all-in-one partnership hub that keeps all your communication in one area, we extremely recommend 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 until the present day.