This article was originally published on 08/08/2019
Help your employees better manage their time and meetings with their teams with our top five web conferencing software.
The effectiveness of work meetings can be a controversial topic. The global pandemic has introduced more hybrid working models where teams are composed of members at the office and others at home. Team communication is vital for this model to work, but how do you replace the discussions that used to take place across a desk? Online meetings.
However, for some critics, holding too many meetings reduces productivity. Meetings are usually too long and often require commitment before they even take place. It is not uncommon to receive an invitation followed by a few notifications to indicate a change of room or schedule to accommodate a particular team member, even with current remote work scenarios. To avoid the feeling of “always being in a meeting”, you should check out web conferencing software, which is helpful for planning effective meetings.
Below we’ve selected five web conference applications that can make your life easier while encouraging your employees to take part in successful collaboration in the workplace. For this list, ordered alphabetically, we considered products with at least 500 reviews on Capterra over the last two years and a minimum overall user rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. These tools all allow presentation streaming, video conferencing, and screen sharing as their core features. You can find the full methodology at the end of this article.
1.
- Overall rating: 4.5 / 5
- Ease of use: 4.6 / 5
- Customer Service: 4.3 / 5
- Features: 4.3 / 5
- Value for Money: 4.6 / 5
Google Meet is the video-conferencing platform that forms part of Google Workspace. In case you aren’t familiar with it, Google Workspace was developed by Google as G-Suite and launched in 2006 with the aim to provide cloud computing, productivity, and collaboration tools to businesses. But the platform is most known for its messaging and video chat.
Google Meet is free to use, but it’s also offered as part of Google Workspace with added features. The platform integrates with other Google apps such as Gmail or Google calendar. Google offers four plans: Starter, Standards, Plus, and Enterprise. The Starter plan includes access to Gmail, Google Meet, Team Messaging, Calendars, and 30GB of cloud storage.
2.
- Overall rating: 4.4 / 5
- Ease of use: 4.3 / 5
- Customer Service: 4.2 / 5
- Features: 4.4 / 5
- Value for Money: 4.4/ 5
A key part of the Microsoft 365 family, replacing Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams is a group chat solution for teams who want a shared workspace and messaging service. It is available on iOs, Android, and Windows operating systems. Teams is a messaging app that allows users to manage projects, send messages, and make calls and video conferences with co-workers. Additionally, users can get real-time updates and share files with colleagues.
Microsoft Teams comes with a free version that includes unlimited one-to-one meetings up to 30 hours long, unlimited group meetings for an hour, unlimited chat with team members, and up to 100 participants per meeting, among other features.
The premium features allow for a larger number of meeting participants and expanded cloud storage. Mircosoft Teams also provides a free trial of their Business Basic and Standard packages that includes 1 TB of storage, business-class email, and webinar hosting.
3.
- Overall rating: 4.7/ 5
- Ease of use: 4.6/ 5
- Customer Service: 4.4 / 5
- Features: 4.5 / 5
- Value for Money: 4.5/ 5
Acquired by Salesforce in 2020, Slack is a workplace communication tool and online collaboration hub that allows teams to connect and share tools. Slack includes open discussions, private groups, and direct messaging, along with contextual search features and file sharing.
Slack also integrates with a number of tools, such as bots, Google Drive, MailChimp, and Dropbox.
Slack is free to use but also has paid plans with more features such as unlimited integrations and message history or unlimited workspaces, depending on the chosen plan.
4.
- Overall rating: 4.6/ 5
- Ease of use: 4.6/ 5
- Customer Service: 4.3 / 5
- Features: 4.6 / 5
- Value for Money: 4.4/ 5
TeamViewer is a collaborative tool for remote maintenance and remote assistance. Even if your collaborators have not installed the software, they can go online and enter a code to join a meeting. TeamViewer offers secure connectivity to let users access, control, manage, monitor, and support devices across platforms from remote locations.
TeamViewer is free for private, non-commercial use, but professional licenses vary depending on the number of managed devices, the licensed users needed, and the number of channels required.
5.
- Overall rating: 4.6/ 5
- Ease of use: 4.6/ 5
- Customer Service: 4.4 / 5
- Features: 4.5 / 5
- Value for Money: 4.5/ 5
Zoom Meetings is an online collaboration tool with features including private chats, breakout rooms, and waiting rooms. Zoom allows colleagues to take part in meetings, use video calls or audio calls, send messages, and attend webinars in conference rooms.
Other features include cloud and local recordings with transcripts and multi-annotation capabilities via screen share.
Zoom Meetings is free to use but with time restraints in its meetings. Premium features allow more attendees without time restrictions and include cloud storage.
A solution for every need
Whether videoconferencing, screen sharing, or recording meetings, there are plenty of tools to support successful team collaboration in the workplace that help you organise effective meetings and encourage your employees to participate.
Methodology
To be considered for this report, products had to:
- Meet our definition for web conferencing software: “Web conferencing software helps connect remote teams through audio, video, and chat, and allows hosts to present to an audience regardless of location.
- Have the following core features: Presentation streaming, screen sharing, video conferencing
- Have a minimum of 500 reviews on Capterra between 20/06/20 and 20/06/22
- Score at least 4.5 or more stars on Capterra.co.uk for average rating