Related Article: 5 Ways Video Conferencing Will Enable the Future of Work
Advances in technology means that reliable video conferencing has become accessible and affordable, and can easily serve the modern workplace. This has become important for a wide range of reasons, not least to empower employee flexibility to work remotely from home, businesses having multiple office locations, but also the increasing likelihood that key clients and partners are more likely to be based around the world.
Video conferencing means that none of these issues present the complications they used to, and now meetings can take place online without worrying about technical problems, accessibility, or cost. Additionally, with increasing concerns about the carbon cost of travel to the environment, it makes total sense for companies to seek to communicate face-to-face online rather than indulge in the wasteful cost to the business and environment in forcing people to travel to meet in a single location.
Normal consumer offerings such as Facetime and Skype have made video communications a normalized part of the conversation process, and the expectation is that businesses will increasingly embrace this technology simply because it offers so many all-round benefits, though some larger corporations remain slow on the digital take-up.
As we move into 2020, here are the best video conferencing solutions on the market - we've also highlighted the best phone service for business:
Best Video Conferencing Software - At a Glance
BlueJeans
Lifesize
GoToMeeting
CyberLink U Meeting
Zoom your way to more productive remote meetings with this affordable, easy-to-use video conferencing software.
Positives
Free
User friendly
Negatives
Could use more security features
Zoom Meetings offers a video conferencing and messaging solution for desktop and mobile devices, that aims to be very quick and easy to set up, and offer a wide range of scaleable features.
Not only does it provide HD video and audio, but it can support up to 1,000 participants at the same time, and up to 49 videos on a single screen, though such large gatherings are probably best suited to big-screen monitors.
Meetings can be saved locally or to the cloud, along with transcripts that have searchable text to work with. Additionally, collaboration is built in with the ability for participants to share their screens and work together to provide their own notes as required.
On top of this a team chat feature allows for file sharing, a searchable history, and a ten year archive. Meetings can also be escalated into one-on-one calls.
Security is built-in, using 256-bit TLS encryption for both meetings and shared files, and automated scheduling can be done from Gmail, Outlook, and iCal.
Even better is that a feature-rich free tier is available, and able to accommodate up to 100 people for up to 40 minutes, but there is a cost to include additional tools for team administration and management pricing.
Think outside this box with this futuristic video conferencing tool.
Positives
30-day free trial
Dolby voice support
Negatives
No price disclosed for top tier
BlueJeans was founded in 2009 and has its headquarters in California. The company provides interoperable cloud-based video conferencing platform.
There are three pricing tiers. BlueJeans does not have a free tier but it does offer a 30-day free trial.
The ‘Me’ tier can have up to 50 attendees, connect from any computer, iOS or Android device and all meetings include dial-in numbers. The ‘My Team’ plan includes all the lower tier had to offer plus 10 hours of cloud meeting recordings, command centre dashboard and up to 75 participants. The ‘My Company’ packages includes all the features of the other plans along with connection H.323//SIP room systems, room system calendar support and up to 150 participants.
Users do not have to sign up to an annual subscription with BlueJeans. The basic tier supports free phone audio in over 40 countries. BlueJeans also supports Dolby voice. This might suit users who are more concerned about video quality rather than the number of features included with the platform.
BlueJeans seems to have less features than some of its nearest competitors however this is overlooked due to the quality of their system along with the fact users can utilise the 30-day free trial to see if it suits their needs.
Bring your remote meetings to life with this handy tool
Positives
14-day free trial
Hardware devices included
Free tier
Supports 4k video
Negatives
Annual subscription required
Lifesize was founded in 2003. The company’s main branches are located in Austin, Texas and Munich, Germany. Lifesize provides high definition video conferencing endpoints, touchscreen conference room phones and a cloud-based video collaboration platform.
Lifesize has three pricing tiers. There was no free tier, however that has changed with Lifesize Go, a completely free browser-based version of Lifesize’s service that allows users to host an unlimited number of video calls (plus screen sharing on desktop) with up to 8 participants, no caps on meeting length and no app downloads.
Each tier requires an annual contract which some users may find off-putting.
The ‘Mini Bundle’ tier includes 25 users, 1 permanent meeting room, global support, everyday collaboration features and an icon 400 which the company describe as a ‘small conference room solution’. The ‘Small Bundle’ plan includes 125 users, 2 icon 450s, 2 HD phones, 2 wireless sharing devices, 10 permanent meeting rooms, unlimited audio conferencing, single sign-on, Skype for Business interoperability, 50 meeting participants and global support. The ‘Medium Bundle’ package includes 4 icon 450s, 1 icon 600, 5 HD phones, 5 wireless sharing devices, 250 users, 50 permanent meeting rooms, unlimited recording and global support.
Outside of the free version, Lifesize’s prices may seem a bit steep compared to other video conferencing solutions. This is more than made up for with the inclusion of its own hardware into the mix. Users receive numerous devices in each plan, freeing them from not having to rely on their own integrated camera systems. Lifesize also supports 4k video conferencing.
Mobile-friendly video conferencing
Positives
Mobile friendly
Good apps
VoIP upgrade
GoToMeeting is the standalone web conferencing service provided by LogMeIn. As expected it provides audio and video conferencing, as well as screen sharing.
One of the features that sets GoToMeetings apart is its mobile friendliness - you can set up and start a conference from your smartphone, something some big brand software would struggle to do. There are also settings to maximise call and image quality, as well as one-tap invites to join meetings as well as chats.
Mobile apps are provided separately for Android and iOS, and both have high positive review volumes, which again makes a change from some other providers who struggle to balance quality and usability with mobile use.
In terms of pricing, almost all standard features are available with the most basic payment tier. Even the limit of 150 participants is generous, and for most businesses this is all that will be required. A Business plan tier is available which increases the number of participants to 250 and includes a few admin features plus drawing tools and mouse sharing. An Enterprise plan is available to accommodate up to 3,000 participants.
However, while there are many good things to be said for GoToMeetings, if you're looking for a business VoIP solution then GoToConnect offers both cloud-based phone system which integrates GoToMeetings as part of the package, and it may be more cost-effective to sign up for that instead.
Browser based video conferencing ideal for smaller enterprises
Positives
Free tier
No download required
Negatives
No video recording
CyberLink is a Taiwanese multimedia software company. It was founded in 1996. U Meeting is the company’s video conferencing solution.
CyberLink U Meeting has four pricing plans. The ‘Basic’ plan is free. It includes up to 25 participants and 30 minutes per meeting. ‘Pro 50’ includes up to 50 participants, 24 hours per meeting, admin tools and PerfectCam. ‘Pro 100’ includes all ‘Pro 50’ has to offer plus up to 100 participants. The ‘Enterprise Features’ plan includes all the other tiers offerings plus meeting analysis, premium customer support and end-to-end encryption. Users need to contact sales for a quote.
‘PerfectCam’ is a most random feature. Users can add computer generated makeup to their faces with the company promising to ‘create a truly professional look’.
U Meeting is entirely web-based. This might put some users off but it can be an advantage as you will not need to download any additional software to use U Meeting. It also does not offer video recording or the ability to dial into meetings using VoIP systems.
For accessible cloud-powered conferencing
Positives
G-Suite integration
Accessible and simpel
Competitive pricing
Google Hangouts Meet is part of the G Suite office productivity platform, and aims to provide a first-class conferencing service. Developed specifically for business needs, it can cater for a large number of users at once, and also uses smart participation and a fast interface to reduce the need to wait.
As an improved version of the standard Google Hangouts, it aims to make it easier to work with external clients. It does this first by providing a web app experience, which means there is no software to download. Secondly, it also provides a dedicated dial-in number, which not only means that employees on the go can join in, but this also ensure that line quality is maintained and that there are no drop-outs.
As well as having dedicated apps available for mobile users in the Apple AppStore and Google Play store for Android, Google Hangouts Meet can also work with existing conferencing hardware. All that's required is that it follows SIP and H.323 standards for Skype for Business users. This also applies to Cisco, Lifesize, and Poly in particular, and by using Pexip Infinity can join in Hangouts meets.
Another key advantage is that by being within the G Suite platform it's easy to use data from other applications, not least Google Calendar, to not just plan meetings but also set up event information as required when users do sign in. The other big plus is that Hangouts itself doesn't come with the big monthly costs that other providers might charge.
Ultimately, Hangout Meets is a serious business-grade conferencing platform that doesn't require big up-front costs for hardware, making it especially accessible for businesses of any size.
Article By: Nate Drake & Brian Turner - TechRadar
Whilst our Solution Builder Tool provides you with great insights on the options for different rooms sizes, brand preferences, cloud video platforms and budgets, please feel free to contact us for more advice. If you know what you want then please contact us to be guided to a trusted reselling partner for a quote or demonstration.
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