Top Three Video Conferencing Tools
(Originally posted on LinkedIn)
This may be your company's first time working remotely. Now what? Efficiency and collaboration are the top priorities and you'll need tools to support that. As remote work and virtual meetings have become more commonplace, video conferencing tools have continued to develop alongside. Here are the top three that are used today:
1. Zoom Meeting
Zoom is an easy to use, cost-effective option for first-time users. It can be implemented in minutes and ran via a browser or an app. Additionally, they have a chrome extension that integrates with calendars to easily add meetings to invites or start a meeting with a single click.
Zoom provides scalable features to ensure you aren't investing in a tool that you don't need while providing the features that are important to you.
A few of the features are as follows:
HD Video and Audio
Support for up to 1,000 participants
Transcription
Recording
Team chat for file sharing
256-bit TLS encryption
Mobile Apps
Free Tier
2. GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting is a legacy system that has continued to develop while remaining competitive. GoToMeeting provides similar functionality of other tools while setting itself apart with its VoIP capabilities and powerful mobile functionality.
GoToMeeting is very easy to use and easy to implement. Their intuitive platform makes them a great option for organizations that are new to video conferencing. As many of their features overlap with Zoom, here are a few features that differentiate GoToMeeting:
VoIP functionality via GoToConnect
3,000 Participant limit
Powerful mobile apps
3. Google Hangouts Meet
Google Hangouts Meet is part of the G Suite productivity platform. Google provides a simple yet powerful solution that is great for anyone from students to enterprise organizations. While standard Google Hangouts provides instant messaging capabilities, Google Hangouts Meet extends the capabilities to make working with external clients easy.
Google Hangouts Meet is a familiar name and software that allows for easy implementation because most people have used a Google product at one point in time. The biggest differentiators are as follows:
Familiarity
Part of the G Suite
Enterprise-grade security
Conference integrations
Inexpensive if you are already using Google products
You can't go wrong with any choice you make. All three platforms will provide a powerful video conferencing solution for your team. Try them all before making a decision to ensure they align with your feature requirements, are easy for you to use and implement, and are within your budget.