Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Definitive Videoconferencing Fight
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 companies together. Even as operations go back to regular, videoconferencing companies are pouring resources into their items.
The two main partnership suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace deal videoconferencing abilities, but we would be remiss not to include one of the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this moment, your company is practically guaranteed to have a videoconferencing platform already. If not, or if you are seeking to change platforms, continue reading below for a breakdown of functions and options that will assist you make your choice.
Are your meetings long or short? Are you primarily fulfilling internally or with leads and clients? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without stating, if your company is already registered for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you more than happy with the platform, you need to utilize Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not subscribed to either and computer repairs merely need a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a totally free version that ought to fix most of your needs.
In the sections listed below, we will compare all three major videoconferencing platforms based upon various metrics you ought to consider prior to selecting 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 very important to understand just how much you obtain from the totality of what you are spending for.
Groups and Meet are part of bigger productivity suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone product with all the videoconferencing-specific features you may need. While Teams and Meet can be obtained individually, they are best bundled with their bigger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro subscription just provides 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 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 most significant difference in between Teams and its competitors is how centralized the suite is.
Groups jumps perfectly from instant messaging to video calls, with the ability 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 concurrently, the separation of the two is a bit counterintuitive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, tape-recorded conferences, and files are all housed in the same central place, making searchability far easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will have to seek out saved chats from old meetings, or when it comes to 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, implying you don't have to waste time chasing them down when you need them.
Microsoft provides a lot more applications in their plans than Google, though lots of go undetected.
For instance, Microsoft Sway allows you to rapidly get and trim a recorded Teams satisfying that you can then house in your area within Teams itself.
In the event that someone shows up late to a meeting, or a worker records the exact same conference and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can rapidly get the part of the conference you require and save it.
This bypasses the storage that would be eaten up by an hours-long video, as well as the time it would take to submit, cut, and export stated video from a video modifying platform.
Furthermore, all 3 platforms do have integrations with various other business applications, so make certain to check on compatibility with any apps you currently use, and these platforms.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Features
Comparing Free Versions vs. Paid
Microsoft, Google, and Zoom have actually all adapted well to the demand for specific functions on their platforms, therefore the majority of the exact same features overlap throughout prepare for all three suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everybody's favorite: customized backgrounds. When it comes to some other features, they vary throughout each business'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 across the board, dial-in capabilities differ across strategies. Meet provides dial-in totally free with any of their paid strategies, one of the most significant advantages that the platform has over its competitors.Teams offers its dial-in capability for $4 additional per user, each month; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet deal internet-based PBX services that can replace your in-house phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not useful.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice incorporates seamlessly with Teams, allowing staff members to take business on the go, all with full connection.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
Since the time of this post, each platform shows 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 likewise has 1080p video, however it is limited to the platform's business 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, however it can send and get up to 720p video.
Audio quality throughout platforms depends on microphone and speaker quality, in addition to the quality of your internet connection.
Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout spaces are essentially conferences that run all at once to the initial videoconference. These were particularly needed for virtual education, so instructors might break trainees out into different groups to find out.
There is a clear utility for breakout spaces in expert areas, too. If a bigger group is fulfilling about a task, breaking down jobs into smaller sized groups, breakout spaces could be a fantastic service.
Both Teams and Zoom have breakout spaces belonging to their base platforms, across all plans. These rooms are essentially meetings that are running simultaneously to the original videoconference.
Meet enables breakout rooms through their basic and plus plans, but not in the totally free or basic plans. Like many Google functions on cheaper strategies, you can add Google Chrome extensions, however this might be more of a headache than it is worth in the end.
Recently, Microsoft likewise presented Together Mode, which uses AI to put video individuals in different digital settings, together. While the energy is light, Together Mode could be a solid morale booster.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Privacy and Safety
To its credit, Zoom responded promptly to the "Zoom bombing" of the early days of the pandemic, including end-to-end file encryption and intensifying their personal privacy policy. Regrettably, over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and published for sale online soon afterwards.
While Meet has actually not had any famous incidents of personal privacy breaches, Google has actually had a lot of personal privacy concerns and a track record of gathering information for use in advertising.
Microsoft has the very best track record of security and they also have the most transparent personal privacy policy.
All three platforms support two-factor authentication. Thinking about that 99% of cybersecurity attacks include a password aspect, two-factor authentication is a should if you desire a genuine defense against cybercriminals.
As a part of the broader M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are secured and stored within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
In Addition, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is available on its Business Premium and E5 strategies, blocking possibly destructive material from being accessed by those in your company.
Microsoft also utilizes Data Loss Protection (DLP) to catch delicate information being shared (like social security numbers), and immediately block it from being sent out.
In addition to eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, chats, and files, Teams ensures you stay certified with all information storage policies.
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 strategies and DLP in their Enterprise plan only, but these are only limited to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has actually no particularly noted DLP abilities.Zoom does not offer any of these functions on its primary platform.
Overall, Zoom has reacted well to its personal privacy difficulties, but the changes are mainly cosmetic.
End-to-end file encryption (E2EE) is excellent to have, however its addition was more of an action to an issue than a total option. It is not likely that E2EE protects most users from more than file encryption in transit and at rest, like with Teams and Meet.
E2EE is most beneficial in 1-on-1 discussions where sensitive details might be shared, and it will be offered on Teams quickly according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing company has less to stress over since they are a single-purpose app, dealing entirely with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, chats, and other information like Microsoft or Google.
Based on reputation alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in terms of security.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Most videoconferencing platforms have comparable functions, your organization's exact needs ought to determine whether you choose Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level features at a budget-friendly rate, it is hard to beat Zoom, who is focused entirely on videoconferencing. For the most value, Teams ties your whole business together in one space, with the best possible features and security readily available.
If you are looking for an all-in-one partnership hub that keeps all your communication in one space, we highly 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 actually continued our partnership until today day.