Top 5 Best Video Conferencing Systems in 2020
Whether you are coordinating with clients or holding meetings with remote colleagues, you need the best video conferencing system in 2020. Technologies like WhatsApp and Skype make it easy to communicate via video in our personal lives. Unfortunately, they don’t offer the features needed for all-encompassing video conferences.
There are hundreds of video conferencing systems available on the market but not all of them are right for your business.
The good news is that we’ve rounded the 5 best video conferencing systems in 2020 to take video conferencing to the next level.
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RingCentral Meetings
RingCentral is a VoIP business phone service and video conferencing platform. RingCentral Meetings is one of the most popular conference call services in the world and supports up to 100 participants. It offers essential features including HD video and audio, access from iOS & Android devices, as well as screen sharing.
The in-room chat feature allows participants to message one-on-one or as a group during conference calls to enhance collaboration. The software even makes it easy to log and track tasks through the task management feature. Other notable features include firm and user-level meeting setting, variety of host controls, personal meeting IDs and more.
This service is offered through RingCentral Rooms, and your existing hardware can be integrated into the platform. You can also opt for the small business unified communication system, which offers the ability to make video and audio calls, VoIP voice calls, internet fax, and team messaging.
RingCentral Meetings is available in different payment plans, including a free service plan. While it is great for businesses on a tight budget, the free plan limits call to 40 minutes. In addition, there is no access to cloud storage for recordings.
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Zoom Meetings
Zoom Meetings is a top-performance video conferencing service with plenty of features. It offers free and paid plans; all packed with great features such as recording and transcripts, streamlined calendaring, team chat and secure meetings.
Available for desktop and mobile devices, this platform is built for businesses that want to modernize their meetings. Users can leave the note-taking to the auto-generated, searchable scripts and focus on the meeting by clicking record. Touch Up My Appearance and Virtual Background ensure that you are always ready for meetings.
Zoom Meetings hosts 100+ interactive participants and up to 10,000 view-only members. It also supports 49 videos on screen. Participants can share screens and co-annotate for improved collaboration. Zoom offers end-to-end encryption for all meetings, password protection, role-based user security and waiting rooms.
Zoom Chat is an integrated messaging feature that boosts collaboration across participants. It allows desktop and mobile clients to start meeting, share and search files as well as create private and public groups.
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GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting is an online meeting, video conferencing and desktop sharing software package that is loaded with features. It is a great investment for businesses with several international locations or dealings with international professionals, clients, and contracts. The interface is user-friendly, simple and flexible. It supports dozens of applications including Microsoft Office 365, Podio, Zappier and Slack.
The platform offers HD quality video, personalized meeting URLs and screen sharing. It supports desktop and mobile device access. The whiteboard feature allows members to annotate and highlight the presenters, thus boosting collaboration.
Commuter Mode is a handy feature that allows people to video conference on the go and save data. You can start or join conferences using voice commands and take notes or record meetings on the GoToMeeting app. The system supports 250 participants and 25 active webcams. Other features include personal meeting rooms, meeting diagnostic reports, downloadable admin reports and meeting transcripts.
The international toll-free numbers and ability to translate control settings make it a top choice for international companies. Pro plans are relatively affordable, starting at $12/month. The free plan only supports 3 participants, 1-click meetings, web audio, and screen sharing.
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Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a business management solution offered by Microsoft. Designed to streamline internal communication within the company, this system boasts video conferencing, audio and chat capabilities. It supports groups of up to 10,000 depending on which plan you opt for. While available as a mobile app, the desktop and web versions are easier to navigate.
There are three plans i.e. Free, Office 365 Premium and Office 365 E3. The paid plans cost $12.50/month per user and $20/month per user respectively. Both paid plans offer more than 140 app integrations, administrative support, 1TB cloud storage, and scheduled meetings. The free plan only supports 300 participants while E3 is unlimited.
Microsoft Teams is best suited to small businesses that don’t host large-scale video conferences too often. This is because while affordable, it offers limited features compared to most video conference systems.
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Zoho Meeting
Zoho Meeting is a communications application that allows businesses with multiple teams to conduct meetings efficiently. It is also a popular choice for hosting webinars. Integrated features include audio conferencing, live attendee chat, webinar analytics and reports, and screen and application sharing. This system works with Linux, Mac and Windows operating systems. Being a fully web-based application, participants can access meetings with a single click.
Easy Online Meetings is a handy feature that allows users to conduct product demos and sales pitches from anywhere. You can enable Zoho Meetings in your business website as an online meeting portal, thus expanding your reach. The platform also supports customization based on the company’s logo and brand color scheme.
There are six plans including a free plan and free trial. Paid plans cost as low as $10/month per month. The free plan supports five members and offers limited features while paid plans support more than 100 participants. Additional features include calendar integration, email reminders, meeting recording, VoIP, integration with other apps and more.
Now that you know the best video conferencing systems at your disposal, you can take business meetings to the next level. Remember that you can always try out different applications when figuring out what works best for you. After all, that’s what free plans and free trials are for.