The best video conferencing software for businesses and individuals.
The best video conferencing software makes it simple and easy to connect online with coworkers, friends, or family, using online video calls and meetings. Advances in technology means that reliable video conferencing has become accessible and affordable, and can easily serve the modern workplace. This has become especially important during the current pandemic. Video conferencing has also enabled many businesses to continue to operate by allowing employees to work from home, using conferencing solutions for meetings and updates, as well as general communications. Additionally, with increasing concerns about the carbon cost of travel to the environment, it makes sense for companies to seek to continue to communicate face-to-face online rather than indulge in the wasteful cost to the business and environment in having face-to-face meetings in a single location. However, we’ve also covered general consumer video conferencing platforms as well as business ones, and also linked through to reviews we’ve recently carried out across a wide range of video conferencing solutions. We’ve therefore listed the best video conferencing software solutions — both paid-for and free — according to our testing. Normal consumer offerings such as Apple’s Facetime, WhatsApp Video and Zoom have made video communications a normalized part of the conversation process, especially as the best alternatives to Skype. The expectation is that businesses will increasingly embrace conferencing and the best webinar software simply because it offers so many all-round benefits, especially when using the best conference phones to ensure good quality communications. Most of these video conferencing solutions also work with the best business phone services, and can be used anywhere such as from remote working to call centers. Getting an accessible and affordable tool is vital, so here is our round up of the best video conferencing services around today. We’ve also featured the best bluetooth headsets. We’ve also featured: GoToMeeting is the standalone webconferencing service provided by LogMeIn. As expected it provides audio and video conferencing, as well as screensharing. One of the features that sets GoToMeetings apart is its mobile friendliness — you can set up and start a conference from your smartphone, something some big brand software would struggle to do. There are also settings to maximise call and image quality, as well as one-tap invites to join meetings as well as chats. Mobile apps are provided separately for Android and iOS, and both have high positive review volumes, which again makes a change from some other providers who struggle to balance quality and usability with mobile use. In terms of pricing, almost all standard features are available with the most basic payment tier. Even the limit of 150 participants is generous, and for most businesses this is all that will be required. A Business plan tier is available which increases the number of participants to 250 and includes a few admin features plus drawing tools and mouse sharing. An Enterprise plan is available to accommodate up to 3,000 participants. However, while there are many good things to be said for GoToMeetings, if you’re looking for a business VoIP solution then GoToConnect offers a cloud-based phone system which integrates GoToMeetings as part of the package, and it may be more cost-effective to sign up for that instead. RingCentral Video offers the full range of industry-standard features across all of its plans. These include, among many others, video call scheduling and recording, screen sharing and annotation, and in-built chat functionalities. Undoubtedly, however, RingCentral’s greatest feature is its integration of Slack, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365. This means users can schedule and begin calls directly from these 3rd party platforms. Users are also able to integrate their calendar with the RingCentral platform, and easily visualize their schedule for the day. This cross-platform integration also makes RingCentral ideal for businesses that already use Slack, Google Workspace, or Microsoft 365 for digital collaboration. RingCentral’s analytics dashboard is another powerful feature enabling administrators to monitor the usage of the service, and pinpoint performance issues down to the exact location, ISP, network, and endpoint. Such in-depth analytical analysis is uncommon and makes RingCentral particularly appealing for organizations where video quality and performance is a priority. Overall, RingCentral Video is a solid performer that offers high-quality video conferencing software for businesses. It is loaded with features, offers a high degree of administrator control, and is optimized to work on web browsers, minimizing the need for additional applications and software. Within one application, Microsoft Teams enables users to schedule video or audio meetings with a single person or a team. Administrators can also organize webinars and large meetings with up to 10,000 participants. Full integration with Microsoft 365 means that calls can be easily scheduled and invites shared among the organization, while external guests can join from their web browser without downloading the application. Microsoft Teams also provides the full range of features expected from a leading video conferencing software provider, including screen sharing and call recording, live captions, background blur technology, and chat functionalities. Integration with Microsoft 365 makes the platform the market leader in video conferencing and digital workspace integration. The platform’s powerful video conferencing software is complemented by hardware options that enable users to join calls from almost anywhere. When you’re working alone or on the go, mobile devices, desktop computers, and Bluetooth conferencing headsets can power communication. Overall, Microsoft Teams is ideal for businesses who already use Microsoft 365, or who are looking to reinvent their organization’s digital communication and collaboration workspaces. Google Meet, formerly Google Hangouts Meet, is part of the Google Workspace office productivity platform (formerly known as G Suite). Having enjoyed a recent rebrand, Google Meet aims to provide a first-class conferencing service. Developed specifically for business needs, it can cater for a large number of users at once, and also uses smart participation and a fast interface to reduce the need to wait. As an improved version of the standard Google Hangouts, Google Meet aims to make it easier to work with external clients. It does this first by providing a web app experience, which means there is no software to download. Secondly, it also provides a dedicated dial-in number, which not only means that employees on the go can join in, but this also ensure that line quality is maintained and that there are no drop-outs. As well as having dedicated apps available for mobile users in the Apple AppStore and Google Play store for Android, Google Meet can also work with existing conferencing hardware.
