Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Definitive Videoconferencing Fight
The COVID-19 pandemic forced staff members to work from house, however the show had to go on somehow. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms developed into the lifeline that held companies together. Even as operations go back to normal, videoconferencing companies are pouring resources into their products.
The two primary collaboration suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer videoconferencing abilities, but we would be remiss not to include among the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this point, your service is almost ensured to have a videoconferencing platform already. If not, or if you are aiming to change platforms, continue checking out below for a breakdown of features and options that will assist you make your decision.
Are your meetings long or short? Are you mostly meeting 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 ought to use Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not subscribed to either and simply require a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a free version that needs to resolve the majority of your requirements.
In the areas below, we will compare all three significant videoconferencing platforms based on various metrics you need to consider before picking the best one for your business.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Before diving into the complete list of functions for each platform, it is necessary to comprehend how much you receive from the whole of what you are paying for.
Groups and Meet are part of bigger efficiency suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone product with all the videoconferencing-specific functions you may need. While Teams and Meet can be acquired independently, they are best bundled with their bigger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Case in point, a Zoom Pro subscription just gives you videoconferencing capabilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business memberships consist of a full suite of business applications.
With Microsoft 365, you get a completely 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 biggest difference between Teams and its competitors is how centralized the suite is.
Groups leaps effortlessly from instantaneous 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 utilize both Workspace apps all at once, the separation of the 2 is a bit counterintuitive.
With M365 and Teams, all chats, taped meetings, and files are all housed in the very same central area, making searchability far much easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will need to seek out saved 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, implying you do not have to lose time chasing them down when you need them.
Microsoft offers even more applications in their plans than Google, however numerous go unnoticed.
For instance, Microsoft Sway allows you to rapidly grab and trim a taped Teams fulfilling that you can then house in your area within Teams itself.
In the case that somebody gets here late to a meeting, or a staff member records the very same meeting and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can quickly grab the part of the conference you require and save it.
This bypasses the storage that would be eaten up by an hours-long video, in addition to the time it would require to publish, trim, and export stated video from a video modifying platform.
Additionally, all 3 platforms do have combinations with numerous other business applications, so be sure to examine compatibility with any apps you already utilize, and these platforms.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Features
Comparing Free Versions vs. Paid
Microsoft, Google, and Zoom have actually all adapted well to the need for specific features on their platforms, thus the majority of the very same features overlap throughout prepare for all 3 suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everyone's favorite: customized backgrounds. When it comes to some other features, they differ throughout each company's offerings.
A table illustrating the various plans and features of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go
While present across the board, dial-in capabilities vary throughout plans. Meet offers dial-in free of charge with any of their paid strategies, one of the most significant advantages that the platform has over its competitors.Groups offers its dial-in capability for $4 extra per user, per month; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet offer internet-based PBX services that can change your internal phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not useful.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice integrates perfectly with Teams, permitting employees to take business 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, but the quality differs. Teams is capable of 1080p video at 30 frames per 2nd if you have 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.
Zoom likewise has 1080p video, but it is restricted to the platform's business or business plans. 1080p can also be allowed by Zoom support 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, but it can send and receive approximately 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 rooms are essentially conferences that run concurrently to the original videoconference. These were specifically required for virtual education, so teachers might break students out into separate groups to find out.
Both Teams and Zoom have breakout spaces native to their base platforms, throughout all strategies. These spaces are basically conferences that are running at the same time to the original videoconference.
Meet permits breakout rooms through their basic and plus strategies, however not in the totally free or fundamental strategies. However, like the majority of Google functions on cheaper strategies, you can add Google Chrome extensions, however this could be more of a headache than it deserves in the end.
Just recently, Microsoft also presented Together Mode, which uses AI to position video individuals in different digital settings, together. While the utility is light, Together Mode could be a strong spirits booster.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Privacy and Safety
To its credit, Zoom reacted quickly to the "Zoom battle" of the early days of the pandemic, adding end-to-end file encryption and boosting their personal privacy policy. Unfortunately, over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and posted for sale online quickly afterwards.
While Meet has not had any famous events of personal privacy breaches, Google has had plenty of personal privacy concerns and a performance history of collecting data for use in advertising.
Microsoft has the best performance history of security and they also have the most transparent privacy policy.
All three platforms support two-factor authentication. Considering that 99% of cybersecurity attacks include a password component, two-factor authentication is a should if you want a legitimate defense against cybercriminals.
As a part of the wider M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are secured and stored within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
In Addition, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is readily available on its Business Premium and E5 plans, obstructing potentially destructive content from being accessed by those in your company.
Microsoft likewise uses Data Loss Protection (DLP) to capture sensitive data being shared (like social security numbers), and instantly block it from being sent.
Along with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, talks, and files, Teams ensures you stay certified with all information storage policies.
A graphic showing the path of info as it is secured from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.
Google does use eDiscovery in their Business and Enterprise plans and DLP in their Enterprise plan just, however these are just limited to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has actually no particularly listed DLP capabilities.Zoom does not use any of these functions on its main platform.
In general, Zoom has actually responded well to its personal privacy difficulties, however the modifications are largely cosmetic.
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is great to have, however its addition was more of an action to a problem than a total solution. It is not likely that E2EE safeguards most users from more than file encryption in transit and at rest, like with Teams and Meet.
E2EE is most useful in 1-on-1 conversations where delicate information may be shared, and it will be available on Teams quickly according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing company has less to worry about since they are a single-purpose app, dealing entirely 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 regards to security.
Because your information is all stored in a single area, Teams and its security functions take your productivity hub and turns it into your company's own information fortress. This 2nd level of defense and privacy makes it the safest, in our experience.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though a lot of videoconferencing platforms have similar functions, your service's exact needs must determine whether you pick Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level features at a budget-friendly cost, it is difficult to beat Zoom, who is focused solely on videoconferencing. For the most value, Teams ties your entire business together in one area, with the best possible functions and security offered.
If you are searching for an all-in-one collaboration hub that keeps all your communication in one area, we extremely recommend Microsoft Teams.
IT Support Guys has leveraged the power of Microsoft 365 considering that 2008 when it was still called Business office 365 setup Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), and we have continued our partnership till the present day.