Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Definitive Videoconferencing Battle
The COVID-19 pandemic required employees to work from house, but the show had to go on in some way. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms turned into the lifeline that held services together. Even as operations return to typical, videoconferencing providers are putting resources into their products.
The two main cooperation suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace deal videoconferencing capabilities, however we would be remiss not to consist of among the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this moment, your company is almost ensured to have a videoconferencing platform currently. If not, or if you are seeking to alter platforms, continue checking out below for a breakdown of features and options that will assist you make your choice.
Are your meetings long or short? Are you primarily meeting internally or with leads and customers? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without saying, if your business is already subscribed to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you are happy with the platform, you ought to use Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not registered for either and merely need a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a complimentary variation that must fix the majority of your needs.
In the areas below, we will compare all three major videoconferencing platforms based upon numerous metrics you should consider prior to picking the right one for your organization.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Before diving into the full list of functions for each platform, it is very important to comprehend how much you receive from the whole of what you are paying for.
Groups and Meet belong to larger performance suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone item with all the videoconferencing-specific functions you might require. 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 only gives you videoconferencing capabilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business memberships consist of a complete suite of organization applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a completely integrated experience with desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The biggest 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.
Teams leaps perfectly from instantaneous messaging to video calls, with the capability to switch 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 at the same time, the separation of the 2 is a bit counterproductive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, recorded conferences, and files are all housed in the very same main place, making searchability far easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will have to seek out conserved chats from old meetings, or in the case of Meet, head over to Google Chat.
This is also 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 do not have to lose time chasing them down when you require them.
Microsoft provides much more applications in their strategies than Google, though lots of go unnoticed.
Microsoft Sway allows you to quickly grab and trim a taped Teams fulfilling that you can then house locally within Teams itself.
In the event that somebody gets here late to a conference, or a staff member records the exact same conference and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can quickly grab the part of the meeting you require and wait.
This bypasses the storage that would be consumed by an hours-long video, along with the time it would require to publish, cut, and export said video from a video modifying platform.
In addition, all three platforms do have combinations with different other organization applications, so make certain to look at compatibility with any apps you currently 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 certain features on their platforms, thus the majority of the same features overlap across prepare for all three suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everybody's favorite: custom-made backgrounds. As for some other functions, they vary across each company's offerings.
A table portraying the different plans 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 uses dial-in free of charge with any of their paid strategies, among the biggest benefits that the platform has more than its competitors.
Both Teams and Meet deal internet-based PBX solutions that can replace your in-house phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not practical.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice incorporates flawlessly with Teams, permitting staff members to take company on the go, all with full connection.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the very best?
As of the time of this post, each platform shows video in HD, however the quality differs. Groups is capable of 1080p video at 30 frames per second if you have 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.
Zoom likewise has 1080p video, however it is restricted to the platform's organization or enterprise plans. 1080p can likewise be made it possible for by Zoom assistance in specific cases. Zoom's 1080p functionality 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 out and get up to 720p video.
Audio quality across platforms depends upon microphone and speaker quality, in addition to the quality of your web connection.
Rooms and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout rooms are basically conferences that run concurrently to the initial videoconference. These were specifically needed for virtual education, so teachers could break trainees out into separate groups to learn.
There is a clear energy for breakout rooms in professional areas, too. If a larger team is satisfying about a project, breaking down tasks into smaller groups, breakout rooms could be a terrific option.
Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout rooms belonging to their base platforms, throughout all plans. These rooms are basically conferences that are running simultaneously to the initial videoconference.
Meet allows breakout spaces through their standard and plus plans, however not in the totally free or fundamental strategies. However, like most Google functions on more affordable strategies, you can include Google Chrome extensions, but this might be more of a headache than it deserves in the end.
Recently, Microsoft likewise presented Together Mode, which uses AI to put video participants in various digital settings, together. While the energy is light, Together Mode could be a solid 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 encryption and intensifying their personal privacy policy. Over 500,000 Zoom accounts were taken and published for sale online soon thereafter.
While Meet has actually not had any popular events of privacy breaches, Google has had lots of personal privacy concerns and a performance history of collecting data for use 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. Thinking about that 99% of cybersecurity attacks involve 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 saved within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
In Addition, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is readily available on its Business Premium and E5 plans, blocking potentially harmful material from being accessed by those in your company.
Microsoft likewise uses Data Loss Protection (DLP) to catch delicate information 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 certified with all information storage guidelines.
A graphic showing the course of information as it is encrypted from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Google does offer eDiscovery in their Business and Enterprise plans and DLP in their Enterprise strategy just, but these are only restricted to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has actually no specifically noted DLP capabilities.
In general, Zoom has actually reacted well to its privacy obstacles, however the changes are mainly cosmetic.
End-to-end file encryption (E2EE) is great to have, however its addition managed it service was more of a reaction to an issue than a total option. It is unlikely that E2EE protects most users from more than file encryption in transit and at rest, like with Teams and Meet.
E2EE is most helpful in 1-on-1 conversations where delicate information may be shared, and it will be offered on Teams quickly according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing business has less to stress over due to the fact that they are a single-purpose app, dealing solely with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, chats, and other info like Microsoft or Google.
Based on reputation alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in terms of security.
Due to the fact that your data is all saved in a single space, Teams and its security features take your productivity hub and turns it into your business's own information stronghold. This 2nd level of protection and personal privacy makes it the most safe, in our experience.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
The majority of videoconferencing platforms have comparable features, your organization's precise requirements must identify whether you pick 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 entire business together in one space, with the best possible functions and security available.
If you are trying to find an all-in-one collaboration hub that keeps all your communication in one space, we extremely advise Microsoft Teams.
IT Support Guys has actually leveraged the power of Microsoft 365 considering that 2008 when it was still called Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), and we have actually continued our partnership until today day.