Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Conclusive Videoconferencing Fight
The COVID-19 pandemic required workers to work from house, but the show had to go on somehow. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms became the lifeline that held services together. Even as operations return to normal, videoconferencing suppliers are pouring resources into their items.
The 2 main collaboration suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace deal videoconferencing abilities, however we would be remiss not to include among the most popular videoconferencing apps in the market today-- Zoom.
At this point, your organization is almost ensured to have a videoconferencing platform currently. If not, or if you are seeking to change platforms, continue reading listed below for a breakdown of functions and choices that will help you make your decision.
Are your meetings long or short? Are you mostly fulfilling internally or with leads and clients? Will you be hosting webinars?
It goes without saying, if your company is currently 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 signed up for either and just require a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a free version that needs to resolve most of your needs.
In the sections below, we will compare all three major videoconferencing platforms based upon different metrics you need to think about before selecting the best one for your service.
Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services
Prior to diving into the complete list of functions for each platform, it is important to understand how much you get from the whole of what you are paying for.
Groups and Meet become part of larger 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 larger 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 full suite of service 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 easily the apps deal with each other, and the greatest difference between Teams and its rivals is how centralized the suite is.
Teams jumps perfectly from immediate messaging to video calls, with the ability 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, recorded conferences, and files are all housed in the exact same central area, making searchability far much easier.
With Meet and Zoom, you will need 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 working on collaborative files. Any files connected in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, indicating you don't have to waste time chasing them down when you need them.
Microsoft uses a lot more applications in their plans than Google, though many go undetected.
Microsoft Sway permits you to rapidly grab and trim a recorded Teams fulfilling that you can then house locally within Teams itself.
In the event that somebody arrives late to a conference, or an employee records the very same conference and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can rapidly grab the part of the conference you need and save it.
This bypasses the storage that would be eaten up by an hours-long video, along with the time it would take to submit, cut, and export said video from a video modifying platform.
Furthermore, all three platforms do have integrations with different other company applications, so make sure to check on 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 particular functions on their platforms, hence the majority of the same features overlap throughout plans for all 3 suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everybody's favorite: custom 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
Groups uses its dial-in capability for $4 extra per user, each month; while Zoom's dial-in is toll-based.
Both Teams and Meet deal internet-based PBX solutions that can change your internal phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not practical.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice integrates seamlessly with Teams, allowing staff members to take organization on the go, all with full continuity.
Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?
Since the time of this post, each platform shows video in HD, but the quality varies. Groups can 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 company or business strategies. 1080p can likewise be enabled by Zoom assistance in specific 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, however it can send out and get up to 720p video.
Audio quality throughout platforms depends on microphone and speaker quality, as well as the quality of your internet connection.
Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down
Breakout spaces are basically meetings that run at the same time to the original videoconference. These were specifically needed for virtual education, so teachers could break trainees out into different groups to learn.
There is a clear energy for breakout spaces in professional spaces, too. If a bigger team is satisfying about a task, breaking down jobs into smaller groups, breakout rooms could be a great solution.
Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout spaces belonging to their base platforms, across all strategies. These rooms are basically meetings that are running concurrently to the original videoconference.
Meet enables breakout rooms through their basic and plus plans, however not in the complimentary or basic strategies. However, like most Google functions on less expensive strategies, you can include Google Chrome extensions, but this could be more of a headache than it deserves in the end.
Just recently, Microsoft also presented Together Mode, which uses AI to put video participants in various digital settings, together. While the utility is light, Together Mode might be a solid spirits 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, adding end-to-end file encryption and intensifying their privacy policy. Unfortunately, over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and published for sale online quickly thereafter.
While Meet has not had any popular occurrences of personal privacy breaches, Google has actually had lots of privacy concerns and a performance history of gathering information for use in marketing.
Microsoft has the very best performance history of security and they likewise have the most transparent privacy policy.
All 3 platforms support two-factor authentication. Considering that 99% of cybersecurity attacks involve a password element, two-factor authentication is a must if you want a legitimate defense versus cybercriminals.
As a part of the wider M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are secured and stored within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.
Additionally, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is offered on its Business Premium and E5 strategies, obstructing potentially harmful material from being accessed by those in your business.
Microsoft also uses Data Loss Protection (DLP) to capture sensitive data being shared (like social security numbers), and immediately block it from being sent.
Together with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, talks, and files, Teams guarantees you remain certified with all data storage policies.
A graphic showing the course of information 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 strategy just, but these are only restricted to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has actually no specifically listed DLP abilities.Zoom does not provide any of these functions on its main platform.
In general, Zoom has actually reacted well to its privacy challenges, however the changes are largely cosmetic.
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is great to have, but its addition was more of a response to an issue than a complete solution. 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 details may be shared, and it will be managed it services brisbane readily available on Teams soon according to Microsoft.
The videoconferencing business has less to fret about because they are a single-purpose app, dealing exclusively with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, talks, and other information like Microsoft or Google.
Based upon track record alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.
Due to the fact that your information is all saved in a single space, Teams and its security features take your efficiency hub and turns it into your business's own information fortress. This second level of protection and privacy makes it the most safe, in our experience.
Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict
Though most videoconferencing platforms have similar features, your company's exact needs must figure out whether you choose Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.
For base-level features at an inexpensive price, it is hard to beat Zoom, who is focused solely on videoconferencing. For the most value, Teams ties your whole business together in one space, with the best possible functions and security offered.
If you are looking for an all-in-one collaboration center that keeps all your interaction in one space, we highly 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.