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

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

The COVID-19 pandemic required workers to work from home, however the program had to go on somehow. Overnight, videoconferencing platforms became the lifeline that held organizations together. Even as operations return to typical, videoconferencing suppliers are pouring resources into their items.

The 2 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 point, your service is nearly ensured to have a videoconferencing platform already. If not, or if you are seeking to alter platforms, continue reading below for a breakdown of features and choices that will assist you make your decision.

Are your conferences long or short? Are you mainly fulfilling internally or with leads and customers? Will you be hosting webinars?

It goes without stating, if your company is currently subscribed to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and you are Have a peek here happy with the platform, you ought to use Teams or Meet respectively. If you are not subscribed to either and just require a standalone videoconferencing app, Zoom has a complimentary version that must fix most of your needs.

In the sections listed below, we will compare all 3 major videoconferencing platforms based on numerous metrics you need to consider before picking the best one for your service.

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

Before diving into the full list of functions for each platform, it is important to comprehend how much you receive from the entirety of what you are spending for.

Teams and Meet are part of bigger productivity suites, whereas Zoom is a standalone product with all the videoconferencing-specific functions you might need. While Teams and Meet can be procured individually, they are best bundled with their larger suites, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.

Case in point, a Zoom Pro membership just provides you videoconferencing abilities. For less than Zoom Pro, the M365 Business Standard and Workspace Business subscriptions consist of a complete suite of service applications.

With Microsoft 365, you get a completely incorporated experience with desktop variations of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The most significant selling point of Microsoft is how quickly the apps work with each other, and the greatest difference in between Teams and its competitors is how centralized the suite is.

Teams jumps effortlessly from instant messaging to video calls, with the ability 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 two is a bit counterproductive.

With M365 and Teams, all chats, recorded meetings, and files are all housed in the exact same main place, making searchability far easier.

With Meet and Zoom, you will need to look for conserved chats from old conferences, or when it comes to Meet, head over to Google Chat.

This is likewise the case when dealing with collective files. Any files attached in a Teams chat will appear under its files tab at the top of the window, indicating you do not need to waste time chasing them down when you require them.

Microsoft offers a lot more applications in their plans than Google, however many go undetected.

For example, Microsoft Sway enables you to quickly get and cut a tape-recorded Teams meeting that you can then house in your area within Teams itself.

In the event that somebody gets here late to a conference, or a staff member records the very same conference and lets it run for hours after its conclusion, you can quickly get the part of the conference you need and wait.

This bypasses the storage that would be consumed by an hours-long video clip, along with the time it would take to upload, cut, and export said video from a video modifying platform.

In addition, all 3 platforms do have combinations with various other service applications, so make sure to look at compatibility with any apps you currently use, and these platforms.

Teams vs Meet vs Zoom: Features

Comparing Free Versions vs. Paid

Microsoft, Google, and Zoom have all adapted well to the demand for certain functions on their platforms, hence most of the same features overlap throughout prepare for all three suites. This includes screen sharing, video recording, live captions, and everybody's favorite: custom backgrounds. When it comes to some other features, 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 vary across strategies. Meet provides dial-in free of charge with any of their paid it solutions for retail industry plans, one of the greatest 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.

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Both Teams and Meet offer internet-based PBX solutions that can change your internal phones, while Zoom's toll-based setup is not practical.

Microsoft 365 Business Voice incorporates seamlessly with Teams, permitting workers to take company on the go, all with complete connection.

Video Quality-- Who Supports the very best?

Since the time of this post, each platform displays video in HD, but the quality differs. Groups is capable of 1080p video at 30 frames per 2nd if you have 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.

Zoom also has 1080p video, but it is restricted to the platform's service or enterprise strategies. 1080p can likewise be made it possible for by Zoom assistance in certain 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 approximately 720p video.

Audio quality throughout platforms depends on microphone and speaker quality, as well as the quality of your web connection.

Spaces and Workspaces-- Breaking Things Down

Breakout spaces are essentially conferences that run concurrently to the original videoconference. These were particularly needed for virtual education, so teachers could break trainees out into different groups to find out.

There is a clear utility for breakout spaces in expert areas, too. If a bigger team is meeting about a project, breaking down tasks into smaller sized groups, breakout spaces could be a great service.

Both Teams and Zoom have actually breakout spaces native to their base platforms, throughout all plans. These rooms are basically meetings that are running at the same time to the initial videoconference.

Meet allows breakout spaces through their basic and plus plans, however not in the free or fundamental strategies. Like a lot of Google functions on cheaper plans, you can add Google Chrome extensions, however this could be more of a headache than it is worth in the end.

Recently, Microsoft likewise rolled out Together Mode, which utilizes AI to position video individuals in numerous digital settings, together. While the utility is light, Together Mode might be a strong morale booster.

Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: Privacy and Safety

To its credit, Zoom responded swiftly to the "Zoom bombing" of the early days of the pandemic, including end-to-end file encryption and intensifying their personal privacy policy. Over 500,000 Zoom accounts were stolen and published for sale online soon thereafter.

While Meet has not had any popular incidents of personal privacy breaches, Google has actually had a lot of privacy concerns and a track record of gathering data for usage in marketing.

Microsoft has the very best track record of security and they likewise 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 must if you desire a genuine defense versus cybercriminals.

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

Additionally, Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is readily available on its Business Premium and E5 strategies, obstructing potentially malicious material from being accessed by those in your business.

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

Together with eDiscovery and legal holds within channels, chats, and files, Teams guarantees you stay certified with all data storage regulations.

A graphic revealing the path of details 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 just restricted to Drive and Gmail. From what we can see Meet has no specifically noted DLP abilities.

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

Overall, Zoom has reacted well to its personal privacy obstacles, however the changes are mainly cosmetic.

End-to-end file encryption (E2EE) is great to have, however its addition was more of a reaction to a problem than a total service. 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 details may 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 upon reputation alone, Microsoft stands well above the others in regards to security.

Because your information is all stored in a single space, Teams and its security functions take your efficiency hub and turns it into your company's own information fortress. This second level of defense and personal privacy makes it the safest, in our experience.

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Groups vs Meet vs Zoom: The Verdict

A lot of videoconferencing platforms have comparable features, your business's specific requirements must identify managed it service provider whether you pick Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom.

For base-level features at a budget-friendly price, it is difficult to beat Zoom, who is focused exclusively on videoconferencing. For the most bang for your buck, Teams ties your entire business together in one area, with the very best possible features and security readily available.

If you are trying to find an all-in-one cooperation center that keeps all your communication in one space, we highly recommend 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 actually continued our partnership up until today day.