Including one amazing one you may not have heard of!
I have used the main three online meeting options (Meet, Zoom and Teams) a lot this year and some are most definitely better than others. For context, I give online digital marketing consultancy sessions to people of all technical levels and also deliver training and webinars on digital marketing. I have also canvassed our staff and between all of the team we have run over 1,000 online meetings/training sessions this year.
1. Google Meet – Wins hands down. Easy access. Doesn’t require sign up or download. Caught up with the others in terms of backgrounds and features. Syncs nicely with Google Calendar. Screen sharing is straightforward and most importantly I find that even a newbie can get it easily. Works well with Calendly for online bookings – see https://www.insynch.co.uk/1-2-1-team/ . Recently introduced breakout rooms which is a nice feature.
2. Zoom – I use only if the client insists. Did well due to the government use and press coverage but to be honest is not as good as Meet. Nice background options and got there first with those but others have caught up. The whole thing about changing hosts to share a screen & the interface hovering over my shared screen is annoying. When delivering Webinars it is easy to miss chats that come in or Q and As. Chats are often made to panellists only Of any platform I find people talk over each other more & voice quality is sometimes poor. It is a shame so many people and organisations turn to this first as the solution to online meetings.
3. Teams – I only use this when forced to do so which fortunately is not often! Clunky to use & buggy. I get more people on meetings having issues with sound than others. I have often been waiting outside a meeting for 15 mins (host wasn’t notified) & people complaining about presentations not moving along with the presenter. Used most by people who have bought heavily into the whole Microsoft world but really falls short of even Zoom but definitely far worse than Google Meet.
Webinars – ClickMeeting – This is my Webinar platform of choice. More options than Zoom or Meet. Much slicker. More control, better chat with moderation. Embedding videos, drawing on screen &slick reminders & follow ups built in. Makes Zoom webinars look amateurish in comparison.
