Video Conferencing 101

Some of the more popular video conferencing apps are Zoom, Skype, and Google Hangouts Meet. All of these programs come with great recommendations and I’m here to break down the pro’s and con’s for you all!.

Zoom

Zoom’s pros

You can host live video calls.
Zoom has meeting analytics, such as top users by meeting minutes.
It’s simple to screen-share during a call.
There is a recording feature to save and document your calls.
You can hold team brainstorming sessions with an on-screen whiteboard feature.
Zoom has great customer support, such as live help, online chat, phone support, FAQs, help articles, and video tutorials.
Start using for free, as Zoom's free plan lets you host up to 100 participants in a video call.
Zoom also has a webinar service, this feature uses a custom registration URL and you can invite all attendees to your webinar in Zoom. Webinars can be recorded so you can save your webinar and reuse it.

However, during my research I have found Zoom isn't the unicorn of the video conferencing world. If you're thinking of using Zoom, there are a couple of things that you should consider.

Zoom's cons

It can become expensive to use zoom as you pay by the host. The cost varies depending on what package you use, so if you're a larger team the price can be as much as $19.99 (USD) per month per host.
Some reviews of Zoom show issues with connectivity, audio, and video quality with the picture becoming delayed and pixilated.

I believe some of these complaints may be individual cases related to internet connection and what not, but still something to keep in mind when thinking about this app. Overall, Zoom has many features that allow you to communicate effectively with a large team on a day to day basis. You can present slides, videos and pitches as well as screen sharing. Zoom comes highly recommended for teams that hold a lot of video calls. I think this app has a lot going for it and is definitely well worth considering.

Skype

If your company is already using Microsoft products, Skype can be easily integrated as an excellent communication tool with some great features!.

Skype's pros

You can instant message, video call, and make local and international calls.
Screen and document sharing capability.
White-board, polls, and Q&A features.
The free version works well for small teams.

Skype's Cons

Much like the comments above about Zooms technical issues Skype seems to get the same complaints that prevent it from reaching its full potential (but that's just technology right!?).
With Skype it's difficult to get help or support.

I believe Skype is still one of the better tools out there, and for people new to the video conferencing world Skype would cover all the bases.

Hangouts Meet Pro

If you use G Suite and its apps for your business it seems Hangout Meets is an easily integrated platform for video conferencing.

Hangouts Pros

You can,

Host up to 250 meeting participants depending on your plan.
Join a video meeting through browser and mobile app, Google Calendar, meeting link URL or code, and dial in by phone.
Send chat messages in video meetings via both web and mobile app.
Present your entire screen or a specific window in a meeting.
Give video meeting access to any external participant using a single shared link.
View presentations on mobile.

Hangouts cons

There is no free option.
To record calls you need G Suite Enterprise.
As well as the same complaints about video quality and what not!.

It's worth mentioning that during my research I have found that due to COVID-19 Google has begun rolling out free access to advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities to all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers globally including: Larger meetings, for up to 250 participants per call Live streaming for up to 100,000 viewers within a domain The ability to record meetings and save them to Google Drive These features are typically available in the Enterprise edition of G Suite and in G Suite Enterprise for Education, and will be available at no additional cost to all customers until July 1, 2020. Here at EPIC Westport we are available to answer any questions you may have and we will do our best to help set you up online should you need it. We have a team of handy technology minded folks on stand by ready to help!.