During the pandemic, many professions started “Work From Home” with the help of Online Meeting Platforms and many professions and companies do want to continue with this culture only. Therefore, choosing the best platform for your need is important.
If you are new to “Online Meeting Platforms”, go through the Introduction.
Introduction
What is an online meeting platform ?
You can consider online meeting as an advanced video call. In latest online meeting platforms, you can not only see or listen to your colleagues but also record the conversation, share your screen and sometimes you can access the screen of the person at the other end.
All the tech giants like Google, Microsoft and many more have introduced their online meeting platforms, and all of them have their own credits. Let us find out which one is the best for you !
How to compare “Online Meeting Platforms”
Let us understand what features matters the most in an Online Meeting Platform and then we’ll compare the platforms mentioned above on their basis.
Maximum Connect Limit
The maximum number of people that can connect into a meeting are generally over 50 in all the platforms, if you are a big corporation then you may need to worry about the limit. Many platforms can also increase this limit on request basis in their premium versions.
Screen Share & Remote Access
If you are planning to give an online presentation, you may want to share your screen with others during the meeting. Another important thing is “Remote access” , where you can access someone else’s PC who is connected in the meeting
Recording
You may want to record the conversation to rewind what you discussed, or you may want to share it with someone who was absent during the meeting.
Document Upload
You may need to send attachments like DOC, PDF, images, videos, etc. during the conversation. Check if the platform you are using allows that.
Here, we have compared a few most known platforms : Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Skype & Messenger Rooms. You can access all of these platforms with Mobile apps, Desktop apps or directly on Web.
| Google Meet | Microsoft Teams | Zoom | Skype | Messenger Rooms | |
| Maximum Member Limit | 100 | 250 | 100 | 50 | 50 |
| Screen Sharing | |||||
| Recording | |||||
| Remote Access | (Paid Version) | ||||
| Document Upload Allowed |
If you are interested to make a long term choice, you may also want to look for cloud storage, maximum meeting time, mobile app size, etc. to narrow down your choice.
How to choose “The best one for me” ?
All the well known online meeting platforms have been developed by Tech giants. So, the functionalities they offer might change over time according to their business model. But, how can you decide the best pick for you ?
- Privacy : If you want to use the online meeting platform for corporate based conversations or sensitive personal conversations, take a look to the privacy policies of the platforms. (i.e. Last year, There has been many allegations on Zoom platform’s privacy)
- Ease of Access : Choose the platforms where most of your colleagues can easily connect. For example, if you have a G-Suite for your employees, it is easier to connect on Google Meet.
- Budget : Decide, how much you want to spent to have an online conversation. If you want to use only free platforms, the options will narrow down accordingly.
- Audience : You may choose any of the available meeting platform, if the people in your circle are technically sound, but if not, you may like to choose the one which is easier to use. (i.e. Google Meet)
It is also true that there are a lot more emerging platforms, we have just discussed about a few which are mostly used by people. Let us know, which is your favourite online meeting platform ?
