One of the renewing experiences that the year 2020 left behind was the adaptation of many environments (educational, business or business) towards the digital world due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, video calling and video conferencing services have increased progressively. Companies have adapted their work environments from a closed-door office to the comfort of home; however, not all video conferencing software is the same. What do the most used programs offer us over others? Which one to choose from all of them? In this article, we will answer your questions.
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Choosing the best video conferencing software is the most fundamental part of our job. If we fail in our attempt, we can download a program that interrupts our meeting due to poor image quality or connection problems. Before installing video conferencing software, we need to have answers to the following questions:
When we have the answers, we must compare each service and find the one that meets our requirements. The service to choose depends on the needs to be covered: videoconferences, webinars or chat with our friends.
It is one of the most popular platforms; previously, it was known as Skype for Business. Microsoft’s product is focused on business customers. The program is included in the Office 365 suite, within which you can make extensive video conferences and use an interactive virtual whiteboard; in turn, it is downloaded and installed without having to purchase the entire Office package; it can also be used in a period of test for a period of 6 months. Access to videoconferences is free; It is one of the most popular cloud-based video conferencing platforms. Microsoft video conferencing is natively integrated with the camera, microphones, and sound system.
It is globally recognized as the most used video conferencing app in 2020. It is cloud-based and can be used on computers and mobile devices. Its free version allows 100 people to connect simultaneously for 40 minutes to a meeting, while the paid version supports the participation of 1000 people. Zoom has space for text chat, sharing functions, recording or notifying our intervention in the meeting by activating the notification to raise your hand. Zoom is a very easy program to use.
Skype has been in the arena for several years, and it is software with which we can make online calls. We can use it on various operating systems: Linux, Mac OS, Windows, Android and iOS. It has a free chat feature with text messages, voice calls, and video calls. The free version establishes a meeting of up to 50 people.
Video conference with Skype
In Hangouts, up to 10 people can simultaneously interact in a video conference. If you need to hold a meeting with more participants, you must install Google Meet, which has a capacity of up to 250 people; it is a paid application. Schools and companies have used Hangouts for their beneficial compatibility with Google services, such as Calendar and Drive, where our documents can be uploaded to the group meeting.
When video conferencing applications took off, Facebook was just a little behind and made the Messenger Rooms service available worldwide. It is similar to Skype, as it only allows group meetings with 50 participants. In Messenger Rooms, we can create a room to invite several participants to our conversation. The point in its favour is that the group members do not strictly have to be registered users of Facebook since we only have to invite them to enter the generated link, and they will automatically be able to join the room from their browser. When you are the room administrator, you can set who can join; if it is visible to your friends, you can remove people from the conversation or close the room.
WebEx is a reliable program for scheduling video conference meetings. Large corporations widely use it, but as a result of the Coronavirus and the use of video meetings, it gained popularity among small businesses. WebEx was founded in 1995; by the great Cisco; its free version allows the simultaneous participation of 100 people for 50 minutes. The premium option has various additional features and increases the number of participants to 200.
In the paid version, we have access to great features like sharing our desktop, creating notes, recording meetings, connecting to phone calls, and sharing the conference with other people through a link without having to install the software on the computer.
Join. me is a video conferencing program in English with a free trial period; then, to continue using it, we must subscribe to a monthly fee. The cheapest plan allows five people to connect simultaneously to your meeting; the most expensive plan offers a meeting of up to 250 users; its great advantage is that the conference in all its programs will not have a time limit.
To participate in a video call, guests need to install the Join. me program on their device; It is available for desktop and mobile devices. Offer meetings with high image and sound quality, manage notes and record a meeting.
AnyMeeting has certain similarities with WebEx since it allows you to enjoy video conferences without installing the program, so we only require a good Internet connection and an updated web browser. We can share presentations, text messages, and notes within our meetings and record the meeting. AnyMeeting can be integrated with G-Suite, Outlook, Slack and MS Teams.
When using it for the first time, we can use its trial version for 14 days; later, we must subscribe to a type of plan, each with unlimited time meetings but with a capacity of between 4 to 30 participants.
Published in 2004, it is a program that allows live or recorded audio and video group conferences without time limits. The program allows you to share files with other participants.
GoToMeeting offers a 14-day trial before we sign up for a paid plan that offers a variety of features such as note-taking, drawing tools, Office 365 plug-ins, Google Calendar, remote access to the desktop organizer, keyboard and mouse. The limit of people for each plan varies from 150 to 250 guests; in the same way, its security system is advanced based on AES-256 Encoding.
In conclusion
There are many video conferencing software with different characteristics from each other; some establish video transmission for only four people; others have free trials compared to those with low-rate plans. However, the point of comparison between all telecommuting programs is the time limits for the meeting and the number of participants.
There are programs created for large corporations with very intuitive functions, ideal for presenting webinars, long video conferences, sharing any document, slide shows, audio or video files, security system, easy handling and high-quality transmission.
Before choosing any video conferencing software, we must know the type of frequency with which the meetings will be held, their duration and the number of participants. If our purpose is to hold a single meeting with many participants, we can install the free programs. On the contrary, if your meetings are for daily or weekly efforts, you will require paid software.
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