We all thought that a couple of weeks at home due to Covid-19 might mean that we could get away with some 'FaceTime' on our Smartphones, or a conference call on one of the free calling services. But now it looks like we are going to be spending a lot more time 'Sheltering in Place' and/or in 'Self-isolation', and that means that we may have an even bigger need for something a lot more 'beefy' when it comes to working with our colleagues.
One of the best ways to do that is with a 'video conferencing' solution and here is a brief look at some of the popular ones, along with my opinion in the form of a 0 to 5 score on each of them. By the way, these are listed in 'alphabetical order', not by score. I have a lot more experience with some of these more than others, so you might be interested in knowing that my favorites tend to be some of the newer ones I have worked with.
BlueJeans - MurphScore = 5
You may be familiar with this one if you ever participate in any conferences with Intuit. They tend to use it a lot, especially for smaller sized meeting groups. If you need to have small to medium meetings that give users the ability to share their screen or a common whiteboard, then this is an excellent option. It also provides better audio than some other video conferencing solutions because it has a Dolby-powered experience designed to give users more of a surround level of participation (offering 'surround-sound') if you are set-up that way.
I like 'BlueJeans' Video Conferencing almost as much as 'bluejeans' themselves, it's a toss-up between this and Zoom for my favorite.
BlueJeans
In this time when we are ‘social distancing’ but needing to ‘come together’ for work, this solution gives you a sense of "pullin’ on your favorite pair of jeans, pullin-up you bean-bag, and just chattin' with your best buds." The starting price for BlueJeans is $16.65/user/month. So even though I am not going on and on about it, it's really a toss-up between BlueJeans and one more as my favorite and earned a MurphScore of 5 (Best) rated. Details at BlueJeans
Cisco WebexMeetings - MurphScore = 3
Once again, if you have been working with Intuit long, you will remember ‘Webex’. In fact at one time Intuit included some Webex software in QuickBooks Desktop, but they also used, and still do on occasion, WebexMeetings by Cisco for some webinar offerings. There is both a limited capability ‘free’ plan and a more capable ‘paid’ plan, but it still is not as functional (for example it has a limitation of 25 feeds at one time if video is connected) as some other products. Still, for only $13.50/user/month it might be what you are looking for, just try it out before you sign-up. While I am a big fan of Cisco equipment, and I use to be a big fan of Webex, I am not so much anymore, that's why this only got a MurphScore of 3 (Average). Details at WebexMeetings
GoToMeeting - MurphScore = 4
Most of our readers are familiar with their companion service ‘GoToWebinar’ because that’s what we have used here at Insightful Accountant for most of our hosted webinars. GoToMeeting is an extremely easy-to-use conferencing service with high-quality video capabilities. They offer some custom features, but if you want a ‘lot of attendees’ (because there is a maximum of 25 video feeds available) or need ‘polling’, then you need to look to their webinar product. They offer both ‘paid’ and ‘free’ products and a free (no credit-card required) trial. Price per month is $14.00/organizer ($12.00 if paid annually).
Stability, long-term solution, can be coupled with their GoToWebinar product.
GoToMeet
This is really one of the 'old reliables'. It isn't necessarily the slickest new kid on the block, but it would get the job done if you were going to 'go with their overall group of products'. That's why I gave them a MurphScore of 4 (Above Average). Details at GoToMeeting
Join.me - MurphScore = 3
For very small groups Join.me maybe a good solution because it’s free (yes, free) but it’s limited to 5 participants and no video streams. They also offer a couple of paid plans that offer more features and capabilities. If you do decide to step-up then $20/month/user gets you their ProPlan with up 50 participants and 10 video-streams. The $30/month/user gives you up to 250 participants and essentially unlimited video stream/chat plus webcasting, and numerous other goodies. By the way, their ‘whiteboard’ feature is only available to iOS users, another reason why I didn’t rate them too highly. While they offer a free plan, you really have to pay (quite a bit) to get what you need, and then not everything will work in every environment, that's why I only gave this a 3 (Average) score. Details at Join.me
Microsoft Teams - MurphScore = 4
I have used ‘Teams’ off and on in about 3 or 4 different capacities. We used it for awhile at Insightful Accountant and also at Woodard, well actually I believe they both still use it, but I stopped ‘participating’ because since I was using it in my own business I kept having problems with ‘multiple accounts’ interfering with one another. At no time during all of that did we ever use it for ‘video conferencing’.
Teams has improved significantly over the past few years...still the same, it's not on the top of my list.
Microsoft_Teams
Recently I participated in a number of video conferences using Teams and I was pleasantly surprised by the noticeable changes like the ease with which I could get the host’s attention, and how even though I was just using the App in a downloaded instance with a simple click it could read my Outlook and see my calendar. It was easy to share the Whiteboard feature so that everyone could contribute to the ideas we were sketching out, and to post notes. You can sign-up for Teams which is included free with a Microsoft Office 365 Business or Enterprise account, or you can alternatively sign-up by creating any Microsoft Account. Either way you can invite up to 299 participants, but each participant must have or create a Microsoft account. As much as I would like to give Teams a 5, I simply am not putting it at the very top of my list and since I am not giving 1/2 points either, I must score it a 4 (Above Average), but very above. Details at Microsoft Teams
Zoho Meeting - MurphScore = 3
This is a pretty basic video conferencing tool that is limited in capabilities. It doesn’t offer things like whiteboard or conference recording. If really all you are after is the ability to ‘meet together over a video feed’ then you can do that with this easy to use conferencing platform for only $8.00 per user per month billed annually or $12.00/monthly for up to 100 participants (they say) but I am not sure about that. They also offer a variety of add-on options like a toll-free call-in number for $20, and webinar hosting for an extra $19. Seems to me by the time you add-on the add-ons you get up there with a lot of the more expensive packages that have more features and are perhaps more reliable to being with. While Zoho does a lot of things well, I just don’t see this in my favorite list because to get a lot of what comes with other offerings you have to pay for extra add-ons so I am only giving it a 3 (Average). Details at Zoho Meeting
Zoom - MurphScore = 5
Perhaps they should be called Zooooooooom because they are one of the best, if not the best, performing of this group. More and more people are using Zoom, especially with everyone working from home as a result of Covid-19, so my only concern is ‘can they handle the sudden increase in demand’? Zoom’s core product is called ‘Zoom Meeting’ and it offer high definition video and high qualify audio (I would call it ‘high fidelity’, but then you would think me ‘old school’). They even have the ability to give you a transcript of recorded videos from your meetings… how cool is that? And for all of you that are so concerned about ‘how you look’ for your meeting, they even have a variety of ‘touch me up filters’ to enhance your appearance, hide the background of where you are at, post an imaginary image behind you (as if you had a ‘green screen’), etc.
You can see that Zoom is feature rich, just everything you want in a Video Conference tool is here.
Zoom
They offer a ‘free plan’ for individuals, and a $14.99/month/host plan for small businesses with some extra features. The one being ‘no, no’ is that they do not offer a toll-free call-in number for conferencing in the USA (can you say a big loud ‘what the heck’)! Zoom has mobile Apps for Android, iOS, Windows and Mac. I am hard pressed to decide if I like Zoom over BlueJeans or BlueJeans over Zoom... it probably boils down to a 'flip of the coin', either way Zoom is also a 5 (Best) rated. Details at Zoom
I am certain that we may have left some applications 'out of' our feature. To that I would simply say, there is nothing that prevents us from including them in a 'round two' feature.
Lastly, sorry if my rankings are offensive to anyone (vendors or users) that is not my intent. I don't typically 'rate' these kinds of reviews, but when I don't I get readers writing in asking me "why I don't", and with so many people asking me in the last 2-weeks what I recommend I thought I should at least toss out some recommendations in the form of ratings. So if you disagree, go ahead and submit your comments (politely) and I will post them so long as they are not offensive either.
Editor's Note: Prices reflected herein were as of the time that I researched these, and not necessarily as of the publication date of this article. Readers should not rely upon the prices cited in this article for current pricing information contact the vendor for specific pricing information.
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