Choosing the right platform for video conferencing may once have been an afterthought for businesses. But today, the collaborative tools you use are an undeniable necessity.
Companies require basic functionality for video calls from any major platform, but when it comes to more extensive features, businesses find it tedious to understand the benefits of choosing Zoom vs. Google Meet vs. Microsoft Teams.
We’ll examine these three leading collaboration platforms and help you have an easier time selecting the right one.
ZOOM
Zoom is a collaboration platform offering a friendly user interface (UI) and numerous video conferencing solutions, along with chat and VoIP.
Zoom is known for its seamless hardware compatibility, ease of use, and robust features, which include:
- Video conferencing with chat, screen share, annotations, and recording
- Webinar hosting
- Event hosting with company-branded registration, ticketing, and analytics
- Phones with routing, recording, and cloud systems that can be paired with preferred devices
- Zoom Rooms for collaborative conference room settings outfitted with compatible devices*
PRICES
Zoom One paid business plans range from $15.99–$25 monthly per user, with attendees numbering 100–300. Other features include:
- Calendar
- Whiteboard
- Cloud storage
- Apps
Zoom also has separate paid services:
- Cloud VoIP from $10–$20 monthly per user
- Zoom Spaces for conference room systems
- Zoom Events for hosting special events and webinars with larger audiences
- Zoom Contact Center for workforce engagement and virtual assistant technology
*Vivo Technologies provides solutions and support for companies hoping to benefit from the richest Zoom Room conferencing experience, including pre-configuration, technical assessment, training, and user adoption.
GOOGLE MEET
There’s no question Google is a technology giant. But, despite the vast expanse of its tools and features, Google is still a search engine at heart, which is also at the heart of Google Meet’s appeal. In addition to Meet’s straightforward ease of use, most users remain loyal to Google Meet because of their familiarity with the brand.
Users are introduced to Meet through the Gmail interface and search. With 96.46% of the entire global search market, Google has sheer volume in its court to answer why people sign up for Meet.
But, Meet also delivers a great product. It is a secure collaboration solution that underlines the following features:
- Easy meeting link creation and sharing
- Simple participant controls
- Scheduling and RSVP tools
- Seamless synchronization with Google Calendar
- Great hardware endpoint options
Meet works flawlessly with certified conference room solutions and innovative whiteboard products like Jamboard for iOS and Android.
Vivo assists with licensing Meet and helping you outfit your offices with compatible Meet hardware solutions featuring personalized assessment and recommendations, customized tutorials, and even our Buy & Try options.
MICROSOFT TEAMS
Microsoft Teams is part of Microsoft 365, a complete business platform with built-in collaboration solutions. Teams is optimized for companies that need more enterprise-level features over simplicity.
Teams is comprehensive for collaboration, productivity, and Office 365 integration. The wide range of compatible Teams hardware devices makes choosing the right installations for a global business easy.
Teams’ hardware integration includes:
- Device management
- Touch enhancements
- Mobile companion features
- Dual-screen support
- Whiteboard solutions
- Proximity detection
The takeaway for Teams is that businesses using Microsoft 365 Business have everything they need for collaboration solutions and aren’t likely to find a reason to look outside their platform for other features.
GOOGLE MEET VS. MICROSOFT TEAMS: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOGLE MEET AND MICROSOFT TEAMS? LET’S BREAK IT DOWN
Both of these video conferencing and collaboration solutions are part of corresponding business suite platforms. But, there are some differences both in purpose and features.
DEMOGRAPHICS AND PREFERENCES
Meet is designed for ease of use, making it more popular with individual users, small teams, and startups.
Google’s global brand recognition and free use of search and Gmail have done wonders for onboarding users to Meet. Additionally, Google is winning the generational competition. With their success in marketing inexpensive Chromebooks for K–12 education institutions, that familiarity and loyalty will continue to grow into higher ed and onward to new startups.
Teams is often used by large corporations in conjunction with the greater Microsoft 365 business platform. 365 offers more extensive features and add-on tools, including hundreds of apps just for Teams.
Microsoft wins on familiarity by having been in the software-solutions marketplace longer than any competing office platform with baked-in collaboration. Microsoft’s Office suites, now 365, have glued Microsoft to large corporations since their first days solving IBM’s software problems.
Teams has two market advantages they successfully play upon as well:
- Understanding the core needs of larger, more complex businesses
- Meeting the corporate need for enterprise-level add-ons, licensing plans, and upsells
In short: Microsoft is more robust yet challenging for non-industry experts because it is made for users that need a deeper set of solutions. And, because they have spent decades hand-in-hand with global enterprise, they know what companies are willing to pay for extras.
USER INTERFACE
Ease of use extends to the logic in the user interface (UI). Google’s UI is more straightforward and easy to navigate; Microsoft’s UI has a more vast and sophisticated feature set—not to mention a higher learning curve.
COSTS
Both platforms have tiered subscriptions with price points that offer slightly different options. Instinct would tell us that many companies will choose one plan over another based on the best cost benefits, but the truth is Teams and Meet are both competitively priced for the same base level of features.
Microsoft Teams’ business plan tiers range from $4–$12.50 per month, and Google Meet comes with the Google Workspace suite business plans starting at $6–$18, with higher-cost options for their Enterprise tier.
FEATURES
Every tier for both Meet and Teams comes with a different range of features. Tiers will impact the number of people in a meeting, the maximum length a meeting can last, and other unique features.
In every scenario, an important element in your satisfaction is choosing the right hardware to match the platform that’s right for you. That’s why Vivo practices a customer-focused, brand-agnostic approach to services—so you know you’re using the best communication infrastructure for your business.
WHICH PLATFORM IS BEST FOR YOUR COMPANY?
We hope we’ve helped make it less daunting to navigate Zoom vs. Google Meet vs. Microsoft Teams. Consider these last points when deciding which platform is the right fit for your operations.
DO YOU NEED SIMPLICITY OVER FEATURES?
If yes, you’ll likely feel the same way about Google Meet as most individuals, small businesses, and startups. Regardless of your preferred platform, if simplicity is the priority, you may also find Vivo’s straightforward Instant AV solution a great fit, where you get consultation and onsite installation with no fuss and no pressure for fancy upgrades or add-ons.
If that answer is no, and what you need is the most comprehensive solutions you can use to scale any operation (and you don’t mind the possibility of taking a little time to train your workforce to tap into all of the great features), Microsoft Teams is unmatched.
ARE YOU ALREADY LOYAL TO YOUR OFFICE SOLUTIONS BRAND?
Most businesses either fall into the Google or Microsoft camp for sharing documents, calendars, and other connectivity solutions. You’ll probably find that staying with that platform for collaboration is a good fit due to familiarity and the simple fact you’re already within the tiered subscription that includes collaboration.
The good news is that cost doesn’t need to weigh in on your decision because every collaborative platform is competitively priced. You also aren’t limited to one platform over the other as you decide what hardware solutions are right for your business since there are plentiful options for interfacing to serve every need and price point.
SHOULD I ADD ZOOM?
The real question for Google and Microsoft users is this: Are the superior feature options, easy UI, and global familiarity of Zoom’s platform worth paying for one of Zoom’s plans on top of your native Google or Microsoft platform?
Many will say “yes,” in which case you may find that talking to a Vivo expert is a huge help to understand where the line between yes and no is drawn and what hardware solutions manage multiple platform solutions.
Vivo Technologies offers support, assessment, and even onsite installation to make sure you can set up your conferencing solutions with the absolute best clarity of decision and maximum functionality.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The following are other questions businesses ask when deciding on the best collaboration platform.
CAN I USE MICROSOFT TEAMS FOR GOOGLE MEET MEETINGS?
Microsoft Teams is designed to be used on its own or as part of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. The same is true for Google Meet: Google’s collaboration and communication tools are integrated as part of the greater Google Workspace platform.
Teams and Meet aren’t designed to integrate or provide unified access privileges, but there is the possibility that a third-party extension tool could bridge certain features from one platform to the other. Additionally, using one platform with another through communication tools is easy.
For instance, you can add a link to your Teams meeting on your Google Calendar without any complex interconnection between platforms.
DOES GOOGLE MEET HAVE A TIME LIMIT?
Yes. Google Meet offers up to 60 minutes for their free plan. With one of their tiered Workspace licenses, meetings can last up to 24 hours.
WHY DO COMPANIES USE MICROSOFT TEAMS INSTEAD OF ZOOM?
Companies that opt for using Teams in place of Zoom for their collaborative conferencing needs do so for two main reasons: familiarity and interoperability.
Most large corporations have used Microsoft’s suite of business platform tools, like the 365 platform, for a long time. They are familiar with the integrated programs and functions, and that extends to the video conferencing features built-in.
Because Microsoft is the most feature-rich platform compared to Zoom and Google, it continues to be the preferred choice for enterprise-level office solutions and not just collaboration.
WHY DO COMPANIES USE ZOOM INSTEAD OF GOOGLE MEET?
When comparing Zoom and Google Meet, companies will use Zoom mainly for its ease of use. Google Meet offers quality conferencing, but its features are less extensive than Zoom’s. Since both platforms are user-friendly, most companies will use Zoom when they don’t need the additional office-platform features found in Meet or Microsoft 365.