Online video conferencing has started to grow rapidly as one of the best ways to increase face-to-face communication, as well as nurture interaction and relationship, as several instances have reportedly shown. For those who may not know what online video meeting is, it simply means having a virtual face-to-face meeting facilitated by several online platforms and platforms dedicated to such cause. Although there are numerous platforms that offer such features and benefit, only a few is worth considering and finding out more. With that in mind, here is a comprehensive guide that will aid business people and entrepreneurs in learning about the best online video conferencing platforms available for use. Please make sure to give it a good read if you like.
Best Video Conferencing Software
Video conferencing software enables online communication for audio meetings, video meetings, and seminars, with built-in features such as chat, screen sharing, and recording. These applications are implemented to enable long-distance or international communication, enhance collaboration, and reduce travel costs. Employees at every level within an organization can use video conferencing tools to host or attend virtual meetings with fellow employees, company partners, or customers, no matter where the attendees are physically located.
Video conferencing solutions eliminate the need for in-person attendance in both quick scrums and important meetings, adding convenience to daily schedules for all involved, improving client relationships, and ensuring open and consistent communication between teams. Some video conferencing systems offer integrations with marketing automation and CRM software to sync critical business data into relevant conferences and allow for streamlined follow-up communications and updates to contact accounts.
To qualify for inclusion in the Video Conferencing category, a product must:Provide online video and audio communication between two or more partiesAllow video conference hosts to modify specifications and invite guests to meetingsOffer features like screen sharing and chat within individual conferencesOffer recording capabilities for future references or presentations
Zoom
The best-known video conferencing brand, by far
After a successful IPO in 2019, Zoom solidified its status as one of the leaders in the video conferencing industry, although recent security and privacy concerns have tarnished that reputation somewhat. Its conferencing software allows simple one-to-one chat sessions that can escalate into group calls, training sessions and webinars for internal and external audiences, and global video meetings with up to 1,000 participants and as many as 49 HD videos on-screen simultaneously.
Zoom sessions can start from a web browser or in dedicated client apps for every desktop and mobile platform, with end-to-end encryption, role-based user security (including HIPAA compliance), and easy-to-use screen sharing and collaboration tools. Meeting invitations integrate smoothly with popular calendaring systems, and meetings can be recorded as local or cloud-based files, with searchable transcripts.
The free tier allows unlimited 1:1 meetings but limits group sessions to 40 minutes and 100 participants. Paid plans start at $15 per month per host and scale up to full-featured Business and Enterprise plans.View now at Zoom
BlueJeans Meetings
New owner Verizon has cut prices and beefed up security
Billing itself as “the meetings platform for the modern workplace,” BlueJeans Meetings is a video conferencing solution that focuses on instant connections, using a mobile or desktop app or directly from a browser (with no download required). Verizon acquired the company in April 2020 and kept the quirky name, which comes from the founders’ desire to make video conferencing software “as comfortable and casual as your pair of jeans. After the purchase closed, Verizon quickly lowered prices and added a slew of new features, including support for end-to-end AES-256 GCM encryption. The company plans to “deeply integrate” BlueJeans into its 5G product roadmap.
The meeting technology, powered by Dolby Voice, includes background noise cancellation and integrates with hardware-based conference room systems as well as enterprise applications like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Facebook Workplace. A full array of whiteboard and screen sharing tools add collaboration capabilities to any meeting. (For livestreams and large-scale web-based presentations, you’ll need a separate product called BlueJeans Events.)
After an initial free trial of the conferencing software, BlueJeans Meetings requires one of three plans, which can be billed monthly or annually, at a 20% discount. The Standard plan, designed for individuals and small businesses, costs $12.49 per meeting host per month; it supports up to 50 attendees and 5 hours of meeting recordings but doesn’t integrate with messaging apps like Slack. The Pro plan, at $17.49 per host per month or $167.88 per year, supports up to 75 attendees and includes 25 hours of cloud recordings per host. The Enterprise plan, with unlimited cloud recordings and an assortment of enterprise-focused tools, supports up to 200 attendees and requires a custom quote.View now at BlueJeans Meetings
Microsoft Teams
Best for businesses and schools that already use Office apps
Microsoft Teams, a successor to Skype for Business, isn’t so much a product as it is a feature of Microsoft 365, which tells you a lot about its design and who its features are best suited for: businesses and educational organizations of all sizes. Anyone can sign up for the free version of Microsoft Teams using a personal email address; that tier supports up to 300 meeting participants, with guest access, one-on-one and group video and audio calls, shared files (2GB per user and 10GB per team), screen sharing, and document collaboration using online Office web apps.
Where Teams begins to deliver its full promise as a video conferencing solution is in an organization that runs on a Business or Enterprise version of Microsoft 365, where Teams is just another feature (and the successor to Lync and Skype for Business). In that environment, administrators have access to a full range of management, security, and compliance tools. Team members can share files (up to 1TB per user), schedule meetings directly from Outlook, record meetings, and collaborate on documents using the desktop Office programs and SharePoint Online. Those paid plans also support online training sessions and webinars.
Microsoft 365 plans start at $5 per user per month, and Redmond has been rolling out new features at a steady clip for the past year. For organizations that aren’t deeply embedded in the Microsoft way of working, the Teams feature set can be baffling. But for anyone who already lives in SharePoint and Outlook, Microsoft’s conferencing software should be a tight fit.View now at Microsoft Teams
GoToMeeting
A pioneer of remote software broadens its horizon
LogMeIn has been on an acquisition tear in recent years, with GoToMeeting and a collection of related collaboration tools acquired from Citrix back in 2016. A major update to the video conferencing software released in late 2019 includes a long list of new features and what LogMeIn calls “a completely reimagined product” that works in a web browser (no download required) or through desktop and mobile apps. After a 14-day free trial, you’ll need to choose a paid plan; options include Professional ($12 per organizer per month, up to 150 participants) and Business ($16 per organizer per month for up to 250 participants). An Enterprise plan supports up to 3,000 participants.
The reworked user experience in LogMeIn’s GoToMeeting conferencing solution is consistent across platforms and integrates with calendar solutions and platforms from Office 365, G Suite, Salesforce, Zoho, and Slack. For each call, you can take notes in real-time, which are then embedded and saved in the meeting transcript. Besides the normal option to save to video, you can also capture presentation slides from a meeting and share them in a PDF for later download.View now at GoToMeeting
Intermedia AnyMeeting
Big-time services from a company that’s not too big
AnyMeeting has been around for nearly a decade, and the video conferencing software’s user base had grown to more than 1 million when the company was acquired in 2017 by Intermedia. Today, AnyMeeting is available as part of Intermedia Unite, a unified communication and collaboration platform that integrates its video conferencing, chat, and screen sharing functions into a cloud-based service that also includes VOIP capabilities and an enterprise-grade PBX system. If that’s overkill for your small business’ video conferencing needs, AnyMeeting is available separately in Lite and Pro plans that cost $10 and $13 per user per month, respectively.
Video conferencing software features are essentially the same between the two plans, with the ability to create custom meeting URLs, schedule recurring meetings, and integrate with productivity tools from Google, Microsoft, Slack, and others. HIPAA compliance and end-to-end encryption are standard features as well. Upgrading to a Pro plan increases the number of web-based participants from 10 to 30 (but a maximum of 12 in Full HD). The Pro plan also includes the ability to record and transcribe meetings and unlimited cloud storage of meetings.
We’ve been a big fan of Intermedia for years, precisely because it offers the option to use big-time software and services from a company that’s not too big to care.View now at Intermedia AnyMeeting
Pexip
Pexip is definitely one of the best web conference solutions available right now. What’s great about Pexip is that they allow you to host the web conferences yourself on-premise, or you can choose to host them on a cloud service like Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, or Amazon Web Services. The Pexip service is scalable and customizable and allows businsses to integrate traditional video systems.
TeamViewer
TeamViewer can compete with Cisco as far as security goes. TeamViewer’s home page claims to have 1.3 billion protected devices that are operating using remote support and participate in online meetings. The platform places an emphasis on support and solutions. TeamViewer’s features include the ability to run several remote sessions at the same time on Mac operating systems within browser tabs. Another feature is the sticky note feature. Users can leave a message to clients to inform them of any updates or just to leave a friendly message.
TeamViewer also has interesting add-ons, like TeamViewer QuickJoin. TeamViewer QuickJoin lets customers join meetings and presentations fast with little effort. The feature can be used without needing to have administrator rights or going through an installation process. It is also supported by Mac, Linux, Android, Windows, Chrome OS, and iOS. TeamViewer has most devices covered. There is also video and audio conferencing. Users can also use text-based chat. There are other good features, even though they are behind a paywall, includes Remote QuickSteps. Remote QuickSteps adds single-click shortcuts for their remote support actions. Anyone who upgrades to the paid plan will notice that TeamViewer offers great support and IT use.
RingCentral Video
RingCentral Video offers a superbly integrated video, message, and telephony experience that’s unified, fast, trusted, and open. RingCentral Video is geared towards organizations and teams of all sizes. With RingCentral Video, you get HD video and HD audio conferencing, as well as a guaranteed 99.999% uptime reliability. You, your organization, and clients can use RingCentral Video without having to download anything, since it works right in the web browser automatically. RingCentral Video also boats enterprise-grade security, and a wealth of integrations with the other apps you use every day like Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Slack, and more.
Conclusion
On-demand video conferencing is the future of business meetings. And if you are planning to throw an online meeting, you’d better be ready to use an online meeting platform.