Meeting online is the new way of doing things. Meeting is no longer a one-to-one or one-to-many thing. You can host an online meeting even if you are the only person invited to it. Now, you might think it would be easier to face your conversation partner in real life rather than sitting in front of the computer. But thanks to video conferencing tools, this isn’t always true any longer. You can now take your meeting with you anywhere at any time thanks to video conferencing app.
Let’s be honest for a moment. Not everyone finds meetings valuable. Some will hit the snooze button at least once, others will yawn their way through it, while many will just wait until the end to ask questions. And that’s unfortunate— because video meetings can help you get more out of your time (and sanity). Here are some tools that every organization should consider that will make your video meetings more meaningful and productive.
Zoom
Who should use it?
Zoom is ideal for anyone who works remotely or has remote team members. Zoom allows for simple, easy setup meetings or regular meetings in your personal meeting room. Quickly create and share a private meeting link with an individual or team and connect remote team members through video.
Top Free Features:
- Host up to 100 participants
- 1-1 and group meetings
- Unlimited meetings
- HD video and audio
- Screen sharing
- Scheduled meetings
- Private and group chat
- Host controls
Google Hangouts
Who should use it?
Google Hangouts is a simple way to connect with Google contacts (or those outside of your network) and can be used for personal or business reasons. Use this tool for individual conversations, team meetings, recorded demos, and more.
Top Free Features:
- Up to 25 video participants
- Video, audio, and messenger conversations
- Video meeting recordings
- Join calls using Google Calendar
- Screen sharing
Dialpad Meetings
Dialpad Meetings (formerly UberConference) is a no-download video conferencing tool with built-in AI and a high level of customization.
Meetings can be scheduled directly in the Dialpad interface, or via Microsoft 365/Google Calendar. Instant team chat messaging, screen/app/browser tab sharing, whiteboarding, and real-time file collaboration are also available with Dialpad Meetings.
Dialpad Meetings offers a free plan and a paid plan for $15.00/user per month. Free plan users enjoy 45-minute minutes with up to 10 participants. Additional free features include:
- Call recording
- Audio-only conferencing
- Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, LinkedIn, Twitter, Evernote, Intercom, and Salesforce integrations
- Meeting room locks
- Online knowledge base access
- Web and chat support
- Phone support Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Best For:
Dialpad Meetings is best for small companies that host brief meetings often, but who primarily need to find a free video conferencing tool that integrates with third-party tools many other platforms require a paid account to integrate.
Pros:
- Includes high level of free integrations
- Phone support available on the free plan
- Call recording, screen sharing, and instant messaging included in free plan
Cons:
- Free plan has a maximum participant capacity of 10
- Free plan doesn’t include some top AI features (like automated post-meeting notes) Dialpad is especially known for
Livestorm
Livestorm is an all-in-one platform that makes it easy for companies to build powerful video communication strategies. The platform is built for ease of use and collaboration. This makes it easy to organize every part of an online event, from promoting all the way to post-event analysis.
Livestorm allows marketing, sales, customer success, or HR teams to create online events for their audiences. From meetings, webinars, conferences, online training courses, podcast interviews, and product demos, Livestorm adapts to multiple types of events. All events are run directly from the browser, which makes Livestorm particularly easy to use.
Google Meet
Google Meet, previously named Google Hangouts Meet, is Google’s enterprise video conferencing software, offered as part of G Suite and also to free Google users. People call Google Meet as an answer to the Zoom from Google. Google Meet will let you share your full desktop, a single Chrome tab, or a single window.
It has support for up to 250 participants and 100,000 live stream viewers. You can turn off your camera, mute your mic, or share your screen—and you can see each call participant on the right side of your screen.
Top Features of Google Meet
- Supports up to 250 video participants in a meeting
- Video, audio, and messenger conversations at a time
- Supports video meeting or conference recording
- Join calls using Google Calendar
- Supports screen sharing with your team members in a running online meeting or webinar
Limitations of Google Meet
- It drains your battery and kicks in your laptop’s fans on longer calls.
- Has no recording facility
Who Should Use Google Meet?
Google Meet is a simple way to connect with Google contacts (or those outside of your network) and can be used for personal or business reasons. Use this tool for individual conversations, team meetings, and online conferences.
Skype
You can hardly find anyone who doesn’t hear the name of Skype. Over a million users, it is one of the largest free online meeting tools available for us.
A key selling-point for Skype is its real-time translation capabilities. The voice translator supports 10 languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, and Russian) while the text translator supports over 60 languages. This makes multilingual conferences easier than ever before.
Top Features of Skype
- Provides HD video calling facility
- Screen sharing and video recording
- Interactive video chats
- Location sharing
- Supports up to 25 people on free video calls at a time
Cons of Skype
- Takes time to customize the user’s profile
- Supports fewer people on free video call compare to other free online video meeting tools
Who Should Use Skype?
The free version of Skype works well for small teams with less than 25 total members. It is a good tool if you need a simple way to video chat from your computer, phone, or tablet and tend to have smaller group meetings or 1-1 conversations.
Dialpad Meetings
Who should use it?
The free version of Dialpad Meetings is ideal for teams of 10 or less. The free version limits your video call duration to 45 minutes, so it’s ideal for shorter meetings. Since it allows unlimited video conferences, you can use this video conferencing tool for recurring meetings, like 1-1s or monthly team debriefs.
Top Free Features:
- Up to 10 participants
- Unlimited conferences
- Call recording
- HD Audio
- Screen and document sharing
- Mobile apps
Webex Meetings
Webex Meetings is the most engaging, inclusive and intelligent video conferencing solution for the modern workforce Make meetings more interactive and engaging • Reduce disruptions with background noise removal and voice enhancement • Enable audiences to share their reactions with animated emojis and gesture recognition • Improve audience engagement with next-gen dynamic polling and Q&A by Slido • Customize the stage layout to focus on the content and people that matters most Make meetings more inclusive • Remove language barriers with real-time language translation into 100+ languages • Ensure everyone’s voice can be heard with anonymous polling/Q&A by Slido • Encourage everyone to participate with breakout rooms that enable smaller group discussions Let Webex help you work smarter • Make meetings more productive with automatic transcriptions, notes and highlights • Monitor and manage your work-life balance and professional relationships with personal insights
GoToMeeting
An industry leader in online video conferencing for companies around the world, GoToMeeting is trusted by millions of people everyday for real time virtual communication and collaboration. GoToMeeting provides a fast, easy and reliable professional online meeting solution that enables customers to meet face to face, connect with colleagues through in-meeting chat or conference calling, and screenshare their presentations, all with the click of a button. Nothing can match the momentum of your team or business when it’s fueled by an award-winning collaboration solution, GoToMeeting pairs productivity with flexibility to let employees work effectively anytime, anywhere on any device.
Conclusion:
Video conferencing is a popular form of communication nowadays. This is because you can see the person you are talking with directly through your computer, allowing an almost face-to-face conversation. Often used by businesses and schools, they offer a cheaper and more convenient alternative to traveling. Video conferencing is commonly used for interviews, seminars and business meetings. It also helps people feel more comfortable since they can see who they are conversing with.