It is quite common for companies and businesses to have team members spread out in several locations serving customers while striving to meet the organizations’ outlined goals and objectives. Although remote working has its share of benefits, there is always a real risk of workers feeling isolated, and this can impact their productivity. An excellent tool for holding virtual team meetings, increasing productivity, and fostering team collaboration is video conferencing. We will look at the various applications and platforms for video conferencing and collaborations.
Zoom
Zoom is arguably the best choice for many people looking for an ideal web conferencing tool for enterprise video communications. The cloud-based platform is also a number one tool for giants like HubSpot, whose teams use it to conduct regular video conferencing, webinars, and audio conferencing. There are several benefits that this platform offers:
- Broad compatibility: Zoom works well with several platforms, including; laptops, desktops, and mobile phones. This makes accessibility easy, fast, and convenient.
- User-friendly– Zoom features easy to use, intuitive functionalities, including instant messaging, call recording, screen sharing, and whiteboarding.
- Free version: Zoom has a free version that you can use to make up to 40 minutes of video calling at a time. Once you exhaust the allotted time, the cost will be charged per user.
- Additionally, the additional webinar hosting functionality is quite useful. It allows you to bring in multiple teams from across regions for conference calls.
Slack
Slack is a messaging platform that allows users to create channels for primary communications needs. This exceptional tool also comes with additional audio and video features that enable you to hold team meetings and conduct calls seamlessly. It is one of the best choices for people working with teams as it allows for smooth, well-organized conversations, sharing of files among teams, annotating of notes during a video call. It also makes team presentations easy, fast, and convenient. Some of the outstanding features of slack include:
- Ample storage capacity that can hold more than 10,000 messages
- Features for holding one on one call with an option to invite an entire channel to join a call.
Skype for Business
Skype for Business is a popular Microsoft, enterprise-ready conferencing tool, which offers simple ways for teams to make important conference video calls over their computers, smartphones, or tablets. It has a myriad of useful features, including:
- Allows for up to 250 attendees in a meeting
- Seamless connection with other Skype users and virtual whiteboarding capabilities
- A free version of the platform ideal for smaller teams of less than 10
- Compatible for use with laptops, desktops, smartphones, and other devices
BlueJeans
BlueJeans is a fully functional web conferencing app that integrates well with many other collaboration tools. This app is the best option if you are looking for a great, simple, and modern tool for team video meetings from any location. Some of the great features of this tool include:
- No software is required, and you can launch meetings from the browser.
- Easy viewing of all video conference activity within your company
- Affordable plans that start at 416.65/month/host for enterprise teams
Whereby
If you are a small organization looking for a simple way to connect team members, Whereby will offer much value. It comes with streamlined features that guarantee fast services. It also allows for multiple users and admins simultaneously. The benefits of this tool include:
- Doesn’t require app download or login
- Allows for users to share meeting link, and everyone else can join in-browser
- Whereby starts free, but you can pay 459.99/month to get premium services.
Go ToMeeting
Go ToMeeting is another top choice for virtual teams looking for better collaborations. The tool is designed uniquely to enable remote meetings through audio, video calls, and screen sharing. The software is also designed to collaborate well with Google calendar, Chrome, and other tools. Teams can also use Go ToMeeting to hold live Q&A sessions that touch on various topics with their audience. Some of the specific benefits of this tool include:
- No need for complicated software installations as the tool is browser-based. All it takes to get started on your meetings is code.
- It features a whiteboarding and screen recording functionality.
- The platform fulfills HIPAA compliance as it incorporates HIPAA Security Standards.
- Allows for integrations with third-party tools including chrome, Google Calendar, Zapier
Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is a cost-effective tool that enables teams to hold voice and video conversations. The tool will save a lot of communication costs when making unlimited calls and sending offline text messages as you will only incur internet charges. It is also an ideal tool to conduct team training remotely. Other benefits of Google Hangouts include:
- Integrates well with other platforms such as Gmail, Chrome, and other Google products
- Allows for up to 10 people in a call simultaneously
- Allows for multitasking, including sending messages, texts, holding group chats, and placement of video calls.
- No need for complicated software installations. All it takes to get started with your free conference meetings is to sign up, and download.
Google Meet
Google Meet is a very effective upgraded version of Google Hangouts and is designed for enterprise customers looking for ideal call software for big teams. It is designed around scheduled video meetings with unique features such as calendar syncing, intuitive interface, and conference room booking. Some of the specific benefits that this tool offers are:
- Unlimited meetings of up to 300 hours long
- Allows for bigger attendees of up to 250 persons per meeting
- Ability to live stream to over 100K viewers
- Around the clock support
Key Takeaway
Each of your distributed teams needs an ideal platform that helps keep communication flowing. The apps we have featured boast of cutting edge technology and enables virtual teams to carry out non-interrupted day to day collaborative operations, including scheduling and conducting meetings and fostering collaboration. Depending on your needs, any of the seven apps will be an excellent fit for your team. If you need help managing your virtual team, contact Zirtual.