We have tested various solutions and, although nothing can replace face to face contact, we have repeatedly met with clients on Skype, via Hangout or Microsoft Teams. The last two months have led us to try new solutions, some of which we have been positively surprised by, while others have disappointed us somewhat. Below is a brief description of the video conferencing tools with our recommendation.
ZOOM
Our absolute favourite. Zoom is easy to use, available on both computers and mobile devices. The free Basic plan allows up to 100 users to be connected, with a maximum meeting time of 40 minutes. Direct connections between two users have no time limit. After initial security problems due to the sudden popularity and great interest coming from all over the world, most bugs have been fixed. Zoom has the best connection quality in terms of both video and audio. The ability to share a selected portion of the screen during a presentation or training session is also a huge plus. Zoom also offers the possibility to record the course of a meeting, blur the background or virtually suck up your hand.
SKYPE
This is probably one of the best known and oldest video conferencing software. We have used it for smaller business meetings, but it has not worked well for online training. It lacks regular updates, plus we have to have the programme downloaded and an account set up, which is a purely technical problem for some people. Professionals also report security and safety problems. During the pandemic, the quality of connections decreased significantly. The limit of people to a meeting is four participants.
GOOGLE HANGOUT & GOOGLE MEET
Two separate programmes from Google, actually three because Google still has GOOGLE DUO. Hangout is designed for private and less professional conversations. It is accessible to all, easy to use, and offers screen sharing. Unfortunately, the quality of the calls is not the best, frequent image quality problems and a limitation of 10 participants meant that it was not our first choice.
At the end of April, Google started to make a professional version of its video conferencing software, Google Meet, available to all users in batches. In the free version we have a meeting time limit of up to 60 minutes, but this has been lifted until 30 September. Anyone with an active Google account can set up a meeting. This is also a requirement for meeting participants. Up to 250 people can join a meeting. We rate the quality of the calls via Google Meet highly – both video and audio. It’s not Zoom level, but for meetings or training it’s perfectly adequate.
FACEBOOK MEETING ROOMS
In terms of solutions for businesses, Facebook was lagging far behind. Video calls via Messenger were of noticeably lower quality, stuttered and were only intended for people who had a profile. It was only in April that the portal unveiled a new solution – Facebook Meeting Rooms – designed specifically for video conferencing. A link to the meeting can be generated by a person who has a Messenger or FB account, but participants do not have to be Facebook users. This is a big plus, especially for people who avoid having a social media presence. The meeting can be joined by 50 people at a time, and we also have a screen sharing option. And that, unfortunately, is the end of the pluses of this solution.
In the first week, the quality of the connections was very poor, not to say tragic. This is something that Facebook is working on and there is already a marked improvement in connections at the moment. Unfortunately, there are still a number of errors related to users connecting. Some rooms expire on their own, some rooms cannot be accessed by all invited users. We look forward to improvements and keep our fingers crossed, as the potential is considerable.
MICROSOFT TEAMS
The programme is designed exclusively for business users with Microsoft 365 extended with Teams. By creating an account we get a free month to test this solution. In our opinion, Teams is unfortunately not very intuitive to use and struggles with numerous bugs. Unfortunately, during the pandemic, the increased interest in the programme has meant that the quality of connections has dropped.
One of the most popular instant messengers in the world. Unfortunately, it is mainly designed for private conversations. We can invite up to 250 people to the text version, but video calls have a limit of four people. We like it mainly for the speed and quality of uploads.
Karolina Dziwak-Filosek
Social Media Manager