Work from Home Series: Top 5 Video Services

In Financial Services Technology by Matsco Engineering Team

When it comes to working from home or managing remote teams, it’s important to have the video conferencing solution best suited for your needs. It likely comes as no surprise that since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, some of these video solutions have experienced exponential growth.

With video conferencing tools vying for adoption from the same business users, you may wonder how they differ from one another. The following provides a review of the top video conferencing platforms currently available in the market.

Zoom

Zoom has built an incredible reputation in the Video Conferencing as a Service (VCaaS) industry since its launch in 2011. Developed by a former Cisco employee who was instrumental in the creation of WebEx Meetings, Zoom, currently valued at almost $50 billion, is trusted for offering a straightforward, simple and free video conferencing service. What really helps this service stand out?

Pros

  • The free version supports unlimited 1-on-1 calls and 40 minutes for group calls (of up to 100 participants)
  • Budget-friendly plans for all business sizes
  • Virtual background and touchup filters
  • HIPAA-compliant
  • Integrations and compliance with Smarsh and Global Relay (for compliance archiving)
  • Integrations with Salesforce
  • Seamless integration with other popular apps for improved collaboration
  • AES 256-bit GCM encryption
  • Auto-generated and searchable transcripts for recorded videos
  • Support for both cloud and on-premise deployment

Cons

  • Heavy on CPU usage
  • Videos may be blurry with average internet speeds
  • Recent privacy concerns that may have been addressed still plague the platform

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams was built for business video conferencing. This unified communication and collaboration platform was initially released in 2017 as it sent signals that Microsoft was shifting focus from Skype for businesses. Since its launch, Microsoft Teams has grown to become the ideal solution for workplace chat, video meetings, file storage, and application integration.

Microsoft Teams has also benefited from the recent surge in demand for video solutions. For instance, its user base grew by 894% between February 2020 to June 14, 2020. This makes it the top choice for video collaborations while working from home.

Pros

  • HIPAA and HITECH compliance for Healthcare providers
  • Supports up to 500k video participants
  • Data encryption at rest and in transit
  • Multi-factor authentication
  • Advanced Threat protection (ATP) is available and allows you to determine if content is malicious in nature
  • Microsoft 365 compliance center provides information for compliance areas, including communication compliance, retention policies, and Data Loss Protection (DLP)
  • Auditing availability through the Microsoft 365 compliance center
  • Supports the ability for users to make VoIP calls from Teams client to Teams client
  • Make, receive, and transfer calls to and from landlines and mobile phones
  • Share screen and edit files with colleagues in real-time
  • Seamless integration with more than 250 apps
  • 99.9% financially backed uptime guarantee
  • Customizable video backgrounds

Cons

  • HD video requires an internet speed of at least 4mbps
  • Frequent creation of teams can consume storage space
  • Can’t make permission settings more granular such as adding guest users to private channels or files

Google Meet

Formerly called Hangouts Meet, Google Meet was rebranded in 2019 to be a business-focused video conferencing tool. Backed by the tech giant, Google Meet currently supports over 100 million daily video meeting participants. This video solution has dedicated apps for all major platforms and is available from any modern browser.

With advanced security and anti-abuse features and full integration with G-Suite, Google Meet challenges other leading providers as the ideal solution for your video collaborations when working from home.

Pros

  • Intelligent noise cancellation
  • Low light mode
  • 24/7 standard support in multiple languages
  • Real-time translations
  • Only pay for active users each month
  • The free version supports unlimited meetings for up to 100 participants
  • Uses Google’s secure cloud servers
  • Supports external participants

Cons

  • Speech to text feature requires improvement
  • Heavy on CPU usage
  • No virtual backgrounds

Cisco WebEx Meetings

Since WebEx was acquired by Cisco in 2007, it has grown to become one of the most recognized and reliable video conferencing solutions for businesses. WebEx Meetings primarily aims to meet the video conferencing needs of businesses and is available either as a standalone product or as part of WebEx Teams.

In March 2020, Cisco reportedly recorded around 5.5 billion meeting minutes in the first 11 business days of the month.

Pros

  • The free version supports unlimited meetings for up to 100 participants
  • Integration with apps from competitors including Microsoft
  • File sharing and cloud storage
  • Dedicated VoIP and video calling devices
  • Cloud-based whiteboards
  • Record meetings with ease
  • Downloadable meeting video files
  • Remote support available

Cons

  • When sharing multiple screens, only the main screen usually gets successfully shared
  • Users may struggle to join meetings automatically from schedule reminders
  • Recurrent bandwidth issues
  • Relatively less user-friendly interface

GoToMeeting

Designed by LogMeIn, GoToMeeting provides an environment that combines business telephony, video conferencing, and instant messaging for seamless collaborations. This service has received numerous upgrades over the years to make it one of the most reliable video solutions today.

One of the standout benefits of using GoToMeeting is that its partnership with Microsoft allows users to collaborate with Teams users in video conferences simultaneously.

Pros

  • Detailed diagnostic reports
  • Cloud-based recording
  • Automatic transcripts for recorded meetings
  • Local call-in numbers available globally
  • User-friendly service
  • Automated transcripts
  • Unlimited recordings
  • HIPAA-compliance
  • Billing clients is easy with timekeeping and reporting of meeting attendees and manager
  • Share keyboards and mice
  • SSL and AES 256-Bit encryption

Cons

  • Uses a considerable amount of bandwidth
  • Chats are limited to meeting rooms

The bottom line

With enterprises as large as 10,000 employees asking their workforce to work from home, the Coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally changed how businesses will operate for a long time to come. One thing that’s here to stay is the use of video conferencing platforms for effective collaborations.

If you have questions about what solution would work best with your current environment, feel free to contact the Matsco Solutions team at info@matscosolutions.com.

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