You may have noticed that businesses in virtually all industries are turning to web conferencing solutions to continue operating due to the rise of remote work. Team meetings, Doctor’s visits, fitness classes, online schooling, car sales, and webinars are all utilizing this technology.
Remote work is expected to increase by 77% from 2019 to 2022 and chances are your business is being affected. This has led to many businesses fearing decreased communication and collaboration.
Thanks to web conferencing software, it is still possible to have a high level of team communication and collaboration when working remotely, but there are so many different choices when it comes to web conferencing; how do you pick the right option for your business?
There are several key components that you should be considering when choosing the right solution for your business:
· Ease of Use
· Cost
· Security
· Features/ Integrations
The bigbyte.cc research and development team has researched how the top web conferencing software companies compare in these four categories in an effort to help make your decision easier.
Cost
Cost is always an important factor in any business decision. If you are a smaller business, you may be worried about the cost of having to purchase a new software. Luckily there are many that are available to use for free!
One of the most popular free to use web conferencing software is Zoom. With the Basic Plan on Zoom, you are able to host an unlimited number of up to 40 minute meetings.
Microsoft Teams, Webex, and GoToMeeting also provide great free plans. Microsoft Teams is unique in the fact that it does not include a duration cap which is great for longer conferencing needs like classes.
Ease of Use
Another extremely important factor to consider is ease of use.
Zoom is the clear leader in growth in 2020 and this is largely due to its ease of use.
Zoom allows anyone to enter a meeting that a link is sent to. This is great if you are working with clients or individuals outside of your company.
Security
Security is important for any business and you want to make sure your company’s and client’s information is secure. It is important to remember that many security concerns can be controlled by paying attention to the settings used for your meetings.
All of these web conferencing companies employ industry standard end-to-end Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) using 128-bit keys but this is not consistent across all plan levels.
This is definitely one area that Zoom is lacking in currently. With the Basic Plan on Zoom, meetings do not have end-to-end encryption. Only with the paid version will your information be encrypted.
Both Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex offers data encryption at rest and in transit for their free version and Cisco Webex offers an optional enforced multi-factor authentication with the paid version. All plans with GoToMeeting and BlueJeans offer end-to-end encryption.
Here are a few tips from National Cyber Security Centre on using Video Conferencing Securely:
Features/Integrations
It is easy to get distracted by how many or few integrations and features that web conferencing services offer, but it is best to look out for ones that you already use or are looking into using.
Microsoft Teams is the most diverse option when it comes to integrations. In total there are currently 534 integration options. The quality of these integrations do not seem to match the numbers when considering the customer satisfaction of these products.
Webex has a diverse set of features and is the most popular with its users according to Software Review’s Data Quadrant. It offers document, application and desktop sharing, meeting recording, polls and surveys, and the ability to view and control desktops.
Virtual Meeting Etiquette
Here are a few tips to keep in mind for remote work and virtual meetings.
Have Fun!
Make the most out of your new virtual office and make calls fun and engaging for teams.
Create and add fun virtual backgrounds like the one we created below on Canva for free. Add logos, a call topic or question, set a theme for the meeting for everyone to participate in like a luau, or simply add a background of a beach.
Incorporate a game of Conference Call Bingo. You can borrow the bigbyte.cc version of Virtual Office Bingo for your next call.
