Video conferencing is one of the technologies that has advanced more in pandemic lockdowns than it would have done in years. Whether used for work meetings, for virtual events with perhaps many attendees, or for dislocated families and friends to get together and share their concerns, gossip and love, many people had to learn very quickly and from a standing start about which software systems to use and how to use them. Tech-shy businesses had to change their behaviours overnight. This article takes a look at 10 of the leading video conferencing platforms, and includes several that provide video conefenencing free to users.
Most systems offer a broadly comparable range of facilities, though it’s worth checking out the factors that are most relevant to you. These can vary depending on using video conferencing for personal uses, work meetings or staging events. Consider whether you want to register an account with a service provider, or access conferencing direct from your browser. Be aware of bandwidth requirements given that most people will be accessing via a residential connection. Check security measures to prevent uninvited guests dropping in, and from hackers. Find out the extent of add-ons such as screen sharing, recording, a virtual white board to sketch things out on and share, file exchange, chat messaging, and more. And for the platforms that allow initial use for free, find out how many people can be involved at a time, and how long you can use it free of charge before it will shut down.
If you’re a freelancer or working some other way in the gig-economy then your work meetings could be with a changing crowd of people, and with varied employer or work-placement platforms. If something happens to your computer the outcome is going to be a lot worse than missing Netflix shows, so take at least some basic cybersecurity measures: we covered some in a recent article.
Top 10 video conferencing platforms
Zoom
Zoom launched in 2011, the same year that Microsoft bought Skype. It has been a notable winner during the pandemic, largely because Zoom’s simple app approach is easy to use. It’s easy to organise and join meetings without needing an account, and free to use for up to 40 minutes. In October 2020 it was reported that Zoom was claiming it had 300 million daily active users. It can handle global video meetings with up to 1,000 participants.
Microsoft Teams
Maybe it was the early problems of Skype’s technology on smartphones that at least in part encouraged Microsoft to launch Microsoft Teams in 2016. It is fully compliant with all aspects of Windows software, and it ties into existing Office 365 subscriptions.
In October 2020 Microsoft announced that usage had risen 50% in the previous six months, to reach a figure of 115 million users a day.
Skype isn’t going away, but Teams is where Microsoft is focusing.
Google Meet
If you’re a fan of using Google for most everything else anyway then you should check this out.
Skype
Skype was an early market leader, the original disruptor. If the coronavirus pandemic had swept across the world in 2011, which is when Microsoft bought it for $85 million, it’s what most people would have
Though 2011 was also the time that smartphones arrived, and Skype’s peer-to-peer technology did not transfer well. Nonetheless, it retained a core user base of around 200 million people (based on usership in a pre-Covid six month period) who were familiar with it. During the early stages of the pandemic Microsoft said it had around 40 million users a day.
Cisco Webex
GoToMeeting
Starting at a low subscription price of $12 a month, GoToMeeting by LogMeIn offers all the standard features of a video conferencing platform while additionally making it possible for users to join meetings from any device. Its app is compatible with both iOS and Android.
Company headquarters is in Boston, Massachusetts, US.
UberConference
The business has no formal ties with Uber, other than Uber was an early user of Dialpad. Craig Walker commented: “disruptive startups want more and want different in what their telco can provide them and are bypassing the long established companies like AT&T and Verizon. Instead, the newly minted, high growth companies are choosing to embrace the more nimble, service providers that have come on stream post the birth of the cloud era.”
The UberConference service can accommodate up to 100 callers at a time for $15 per month per user ($10 per month if paid annually), and includes all the expected features. Meeting hosts can manage calls online, dial out to add callers after the meeting has started, and record meetings for later playback. Their ‘free video conferencing’ plan doesn’t include all the features the paid plan offers, though it does include the basics and gives a reliable service for hosting small conference calls for up to 10 people.
BlueJeans Meetings
After an initial free trial of the conferencing software, users have a choice of three plans, which can be billed monthly or annually.
Whereby
Whereby is a very useful video conferencing tool that can be used by anyone due to its ease of use. All a host has to do is create an account, generate a link and they are ready to start talking in the video
Chat, recording and screen sharing are among the available features, though it remains very easy to use. Not having to download anything improves security, and it’s video conferencing for free.
join.me
A new user creates their account, fills in some identity data, and creates a link to their conference. Once the link is received by colleagues, friends or whoever is involved, they only have to click the link and they are redirected to the video call.
For collaboration, it provides presentations and screen sharing in video calls that can also be recorded and saved for future use in the cloud or on your local hard drive. It uses low bandwidth and it’s a considerably lightweight piece of software that provides a smooth conferencing experience without any lag.
Have you some experiences with any of these video conferencing platfoms to share with us? Or maybe you’ve enjoyed using one we haven’t included, please let us know.
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