Zoom
Strongest Asset: User Familiarity
Zoom has taken over as the most popular video conferencing platform. Most people will be at least vaguely familiar with the platform and if not, its user interface can be learned quite quickly.
Pros: Zoom is a familiar platform for most people. It can host a meeting of up to 100 participants for as long as 40 minutes. The “Share Screen” option comes with a slew of annotation tools.
Cons: If you want to host more than 100 people, you’ll need to upgrade to the Business plan. Zoom’s recording storage is light unless you buy the top tier Enterprise plan.
Google Meet
Strongest Asset: Google App Integration
Google Meet is a very accessible and widely known platform that can be used from your web browser or via their app on your iOS or Android device. This software is the revamped and rebranded version of Google Hangouts.
Pros: Google Meet is a very easy-to-use, free video conferencing platform. No download required if you are using a desktop. The integration with all other Google apps makes it very easy to sync all of your business activities across their services.
Cons: There is no option to annotate while sharing your screen. Compared to some of the other video conferencing platform, you may notice that Meet is a bit light on the features and video conference customizability.
Microsoft Teams
Strongest Asset: All-Encompassing Centralized Workspace
Microsoft Teams is the video conferencing and workspace solution from tech giant Microsoft. If your business is already using Microsoft 365, Teams will be available to you at no extra cost.
Pros: Teams is much more than just a video conferencing platform. It allows you to organize people into teams and conduct chats and file sharing with them through channels. Team members can collaboratively work on Microsoft Office files and engage in group chats before, after, and during a meeting.
Cons: Teams’ integration of all business aspects can make it confusing to navigate, especially if all you need is a video conferencing platform. The size of Teams can create lag and loading issues.
RingCentral
Strongest Asset: Best Free Option
RingCentral is an American company that specializes in cloud-based business communications with offices all over the globe.
Pros: RingCentral boasts HD audio & video calling. Their basic option can host up to 100 participants for as long as 24 hours. No download is required and you can store meeting recordings in the cloud for up to 7 days.
Cons: The mobile app for RingCentral can experience connectivity issues and limited functionality. To gain full functionality, participants need to download the software.
Webex by Cisco
Strongest Asset: Security
Webex is the video conferencing platform provided by American tech giant Cisco. This platform is a favourite among large businesses.
Pros: All paid plans include the free plan options as well as closed captioning, recording transcriptions, cloud recording storage, streaming ability through Facebook Live, and their file transfer feature. The free plan includes chat, note taking, polling, interactive whiteboarding, and breakout sessions.
Cons: Video meetings consume a large amount of bandwidth. Using Webex from your phone can create connectivity issues. Webex caters to large organizations, which may or may not be a plus depending on your business’ size.
Pexip
Strongest Asset: Interoperability With Other Digital Tools
Pexip is the product of a merger between the video infrastructure company Pexip, and the cloud-based video service provider Videxio.
Pros: Pexip is very secure and highly customizable based on your business’ needs. The platform can be outfitted to match your business’ colors and logo schemes. Pexip is also very integrable with other digital tools and platforms. It is one of the best all round video conferencing platforms available.
Cons: The customer support of Pexip can be a little slow to respond. Expect this to improve with more people using the software.
StarLeaf
Strongest Asset: Reliability and Customer Service
StarLeaf was established and is headquartered in Watford, England. It’s known for “taking the friction out of business collaboration” and is a great option for messaging and meetings.
Pros: StarLeaf makes it very easy to share your screen, files, images, or documents with other participants. StarLeaf boasts a great uptime guarantee, more than any video conferencing platform in the industry. StarLeaf’s customer service is very accessible and helpful.
Cons: The cost of StarLeaf can be a little bit more than their competitors. People may be unfamiliar with StarLeaf and this can create some delays and confusion for the first time users.
Start a Free Trial (Or Two)
Whether you prefer the familiarity of Zoom, the security of Webex, or the customizability of Pexip, you are bound to find a video conferencing platform that suits your business’ needs. Many of these platforms offer free trials so consider taking a handful of products out for a test drive before you commit your business and all of its employees to one of these platforms.
