Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Conclusive Videoconferencing Battle

Managed IT Support Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet vs Zoom: The Definitive Videoconferencing Fight

The COVID-19 pandemic forced employees to work from house, but the program had to go on in some way. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms became the lifeline that held services together. Even as operations return to typical, videoconferencing service providers are pouring resources into their products.

The 2 main partnership suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer 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 service is almost guaranteed to have a videoconferencing platform currently. If not, or if you are aiming to alter platforms, continue checking out below for a breakdown of functions and choices that will assist you make your decision.

Are your conferences long or short? Are you mostly meeting internally or with leads and clients? Will you be hosting webinars?

It goes without saying, if your business is already signed up for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you are happy with the platform, you need to utilize Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not registered for either and simply need a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a totally free variation that must fix most of your needs.

In the sections listed below, we will compare all 3 significant videoconferencing platforms based on different metrics you should think about before picking the best one for your company.

Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Integration with your other apps/services

Before diving into the full list of functions for each platform, it is essential to comprehend just how much you obtain from the whole of what you are spending for.

Groups and Meet belong to bigger efficiency suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone item with all the videoconferencing-specific functions you may require. While Teams and Meet can be obtained separately, they are best bundled with their larger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.

Case in point, a Zoom Pro subscription only gives you videoconferencing abilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business memberships consist of a complete suite of company applications.

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With Microsoft 365, you get a completely integrated experience with desktop variations 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 distinction between Teams and its competitors is how centralized the suite is.

Teams leaps perfectly from instant messaging to video calls, with the capability to switch back and forth between them.

On The Other Hand, Google Meet is independent of Workspace's chat app, Google Chat. While users can utilize both Workspace apps concurrently, 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 main location, making searchability far easier.

With Meet and Zoom, you will have 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 attached in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, suggesting you don't have to waste time chasing them down when you need them.

Microsoft provides much more applications in their plans than Google, however many go unnoticed.

For instance, Microsoft Sway permits you to rapidly get and trim a taped Teams fulfilling that you can then house in your area within Teams itself.

In the event that someone arrives late to a meeting, or a worker records the same conference and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can quickly get the part of the meeting you need and wait.

This bypasses the storage that would be consumed by an hours-long video clip, as well as the time it would require to upload, cut, and export stated video from a video modifying platform.

In addition, all three platforms do have integrations with numerous other company applications, so make certain to examine 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 demand for certain functions on their platforms, therefore the majority of the same functions overlap across prepare for all three suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everybody's favorite: customized backgrounds. As for some other features, they vary across each company's offerings.

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A table depicting the different strategies and features of Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet vs. Zoom Audio Conferencing On-the-Go

While present throughout the board, dial-in abilities differ across strategies. Meet uses dial-in totally free with any of their paid strategies, one of the greatest advantages that the platform has more than its competitors.

Groups uses its dial-in ability for $4 additional per user, monthly; 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 incorporates effortlessly with Teams, enabling employees to take organization on the go, all with complete connection.

Video Quality-- Who Supports the Best?

Since the time of this post, each platform shows video in HD, however the quality differs. Teams is capable of 1080p video at 30 frames per second if you have 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.

Zoom also has 1080p video, however it is limited to the platform's service or enterprise plans. 1080p can also be made it possible for by Zoom support in certain cases. Zoom's 1080p functionality 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 receive up to 720p video.

Audio quality across platforms depends on microphone and speaker quality, in addition to the quality of your internet connection.

Rooms and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down

Breakout spaces are basically on site support meetings that run all at once to the initial videoconference. These were especially essential for virtual education, so instructors might break students out into different groups to find out.

There is a clear energy for breakout spaces in expert spaces, too. If a bigger team is satisfying about a project, breaking down jobs into smaller sized groups, breakout spaces might be a fantastic service.

Both Teams and Zoom have breakout spaces belonging to their base platforms, across all strategies. These spaces are basically conferences that are running concurrently to the original videoconference.

Meet permits breakout rooms through their basic and plus plans, however not in the totally free or basic strategies. However, like the majority of Google functions on less expensive strategies, you can include Google Chrome extensions, however this could be more of a headache than it is worth in the end.

Recently, Microsoft also rolled out 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 swiftly to the "Zoom battle" of the early days of the pandemic, including end-to-end encryption and boosting their privacy policy. Sadly, over 500,000 Zoom accounts were taken and published for sale online quickly afterwards.

While Meet has not had any well-known incidents of personal privacy breaches, Google has actually had plenty of personal privacy concerns and a performance history of collecting information for usage in marketing.

Microsoft has the best performance history of security and they also have the most transparent personal privacy policy.

All 3 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 genuine defense against cybercriminals.

As a part of the broader M365 suite, all chats, notes, and files are encrypted and stored within OneNote and SharePoint, respectively.

Additionally, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is available on its Business Premium and E5 plans, blocking possibly harmful material from being accessed by those in your company.

Microsoft also utilizes Data Loss Protection (DLP) to catch sensitive data being shared (like social security numbers), and immediately obstruct it from being sent out.

Along with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, talks, and files, Teams guarantees you remain compliant with all information storage guidelines.

A graphic revealing the path of information as it is secured from Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365.

Google does offer 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 no particularly listed DLP abilities.

Zoom does not provide any of these functions on its main platform.

In general, Zoom has reacted well to its privacy obstacles, but the modifications are mostly cosmetic.

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is terrific to have, but its addition was more of a response to a problem than a complete option. It is unlikely that E2EE secures 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 sensitive info may be shared, and it will be available on Teams soon according to Microsoft.

The videoconferencing business has less to stress over because they are a single-purpose app, dealing entirely with videoconferencing, and not the storage of files, talks, and other info like Microsoft or Google.

Based on reputation alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in terms of security.

Since your data is all stored in a single area, Teams and its security features take your productivity center and turns it into your business's own data fortress. This 2nd level of protection and privacy makes it the best, in our experience.

Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict

A lot of videoconferencing platforms have comparable features, your organization's exact needs need to figure out whether you pick Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.

For base-level functions at a cost effective cost, it is tough 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 features and security available.

If you are trying to find an all-in-one partnership center that keeps all your interaction in one space, we highly advise Microsoft Teams.

IT Support Guys has leveraged the power of Microsoft 365 given that 2008 when it was still called Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), and we have continued our collaboration until the present day.