The importance of video conferencing has become clear in recent years. With more companies adopting hybrid and fully remote work models, video conferencing plays a critical role in organizational strategy and success. New developers are releasing products while well-established developers continue to improve upon their existing solutions.
Two of the most popular video conferencing tools are Google Meet and Zoom. On the surface, these solutions are quite similar. These virtual meeting platforms both offer breakout rooms, meeting recordings, and closed captioning. However, these can differ based on the plan and pricing for each software.
Google Meet and Zoom calls have distinct differences. Both are top-notch video conferencing solutions and offer free and paid plans. But Poised wants you to have the information necessary to decide which platform your team will use.
That's why we've compared Google Meet and Zoom side-by-side:
What Is Google Meet?
Google Hangouts, a popular communication platform in its own right, was rebranded to Google Meet in 2017. Alongside Google Chat, they make up Google's standard office software suite called Workspace (formerly G Suite). The Google Suite includes Drive, Docs, Calendar, and more.
During the rebranding, Google described Google Meet as an enterprise-friendly Hangouts that ran on Android, iOS, and popular web browsers. Early on, Google Meet allowed 30 participants per meeting. Since then, Google has raised the number to 100 non-G-Suite users and 500 for organizations.
Google Meet is an excellent choice for business and workplace video calls and meetings. But many people use it to catch up with friends and family members too.
Google Meet’s Features Explained
Google Meet comes with plenty of features to appeal to organizations and individuals alike. For example, a digital whiteboarding integration allows teams to brainstorm and collaborate. You can also stay on a single call for as long as 24 hours, and a regularly updated Q&A feature can answer common questions while in meetings.
There’s also a Polls feature that provides speakers with valuable feedback for engaging the audience, and all Google Workspace users can receive a report of the polls after each meeting. And if you've ever used a video conferencing platform before, you may have noticed how difficult it is to get high-quality video in low-light environments.
Google Meet intelligently adapts to lighting conditions to ensure all participants can clearly see one another. Plus, you can enact background blur to hide messy surroundings and minimize distractions.
The platform can also filter out irritating background noise to keep everyone engaged and in a good mood! One of the most convenient Google Meet features is the ability to quickly jump to a video meeting from your Gmail account.
What Are the Perks of Using Google Meet?
As long as you are a Google user, you can use Google meet for free. The free version lets you host meetings with 100 participants for up to 60 minutes. It’s especially easy to begin using the platform if you have an existing Google account.
Users get a lot of features with the free plan, but not surprisingly, the Business Plan and Enterprise Plan load up on helpful video conferencing tools and capabilities. Google Meet will also integrate with the world's most popular productivity tools. It works seamlessly with other Google apps and programs.
Looking for storage options? 15 GB of storage for the free version (30 GB to unlimited cloud storage on Google Drive for paid accounts).
One of the most attractive qualities of Google Meet is that it's incredibly straightforward and has a clean user interface (UI), making for a top-notch user experience (UX). The overall performance, video and audio quality, and security are exceptional. Not to mention, many enjoy the live streaming option as well.
What Are the Drawbacks of Google Meet?
We discussed how Google Meet offers several features to help individuals and organizations hold productive video meetings. But when compared to some other platforms on the market, it doesn't provide the most features.
Also, quite a few of the additional features available for the platform require you to install third-party Google Chrome extensions. And since there isn't a native or dedicated desktop app, Google Meet can be hard on your hardware and system resources.
Can You Use Poised With Google Meet?
Poise integrates seamlessly With Google Meet. If you would like real-time coaching and performance analysis of your video calls on Google Meet, Poised is the software for you.
It's easy to get started, and you can sync your coaching software with Google Calendar to ensure it automatically starts at the beginning of each scheduled meeting.
What Is Zoom?
Zoom has a little longer history; it was launched in 2013. The platform had already become a unicorn company (meaning it had made $1 billion in revenue) by the time Google Meet came on the scene. Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing platform that's compatible with all major operating systems and devices, including Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.
During the pandemic, Zoom hit its peak, serving around 300 million users each day. Perhaps ill-prepared for the meteoric rise of video conferencing, the company dealt with costly security issues that brought heavy criticism.
It has poured a lot of resources into correcting flaws and boosting security features since then so that users can maintain their privacy. In particular, “Zoombombing” plagued group meetings. Now, more participants rely on waiting rooms to secure meeting access.
This platform is probably the most popular online meeting solution in the world. In some circles, the word "zoom" is synonymous with "video meeting.”
Zoom’s Features Explained
Zoom is renowned for providing an all-around high-quality virtual meeting room platform. However, the company is careful to add necessary, innovative features occasionally without entirely transforming the platform and confusing users.
Chief Product Officer Nitasha Walia implied in 2019 that usability was more important than features. She suggested that it doesn't matter how many features a video conferencing solution offers. Walia said that if users cannot easily access the program, they will go elsewhere, meaning they won't be around to try the fancy features anyway.
For the most part, Zoom provides all the in-meeting features the typical organization needs for video conferencing, and they’re really easy to find on the app. They’re also reliable and user-friendly.
The meeting host can mute and unmute participants, rename individuals after they have joined the Zoom meeting, disable screen sharing for attendees, and more. For increased privacy, Zoom lets users share individual desktop windows in lieu of an all-encompassing screen share.
There are also lots of appealing features for non-hosts. Users love the nifty chat window for sharing messages and a "raise hand" button that alerts the host if a muted participant wants to comment, and a whiteboard for collaboration. Moreover, attendees can silently demonstrate their engagement by sending one of two basic emojis.
Zoom even offers a "touch up my appearance" feature to make skin appear smoother and enhance an individual’s overall look. And, of course, a lot of the users love the platform's custom virtual background image feature.
Does Zoom Have Unique Perks?
Unlike other platforms, Zoom supports up to 1,000 participants per meeting. It also lets you transfer files to other participants during a webinar or meeting via the chat function — unlike Google Meet, which requires you to attach files before calls.
Furthermore, Zoom allows you to send direct messages to individual attendees if you wish to say something that you don't want others to hear. The platform’s paid plans offer automatically enabled cloud recording, including video, chat, and audio transcripts.
Free users can record calls as well, but you need a paid version to save recordings to the cloud. Additionally, the Pro Plan offers longer meeting times.
Zoom for Conference Calls: The Cons
One drawback of Zoom is that many of its services require you to purchase additional subscriptions with multiple tiers, depending on the number of attendees.
You also must pay for HD video quality (1080p), which comes standard on most other video conferencing software. Moreover, some users don't feel like Zoom provides enough comment control since it doesn't allow you to delete inappropriate comments during meetings.
Can You Use Poised With Zoom?
As with Google Meet, you can quickly integrate the Poised AI-powered communication coach with Zoom video conferencing software. You might be surprised by how much you grow as a communicator with the one-two punch of these tools working together!
3 Ways To Improve Your Video Calls
Lastly, let’s touch on three practical strategies you can implement to become an impactful, respected communicator in your upcoming video meetings:
1. Check Your Non-Verbal Communication
Verbal communication is vital, but it's often what we don't say that makes the most impact. Make sure you maintain good posture and demonstrate attentiveness while others speak in video conferences. Keeping consistent eye contact and showing genuine interest in others' ideas will make anyone a beloved coworker and employee.
2. Eliminating Filler Words
Everyone uses filler words, but you want to reduce your usage as much as possible. Fillers during video meetings typically indicate nervousness, a lack of preparation, or poor communication skills altogether.
Be mindful of the meaningless words you are using to fill the gaps in your thoughts, take a beat when you don't know what to say, and deliver your message confidently.
3. Add Poised To Your Conference Call Software
The quickest way to improve as a virtual communicator is to integrate Poised with your video conferencing software. Our AI-powered communication coaching tool is free, and it can provide valuable analysis and feedback to help you improve in the short term and long term.
The Bottom Line
Video meetings and presentations are the future, and it's essential as a company (or a professional) to have a platform that helps you excel. The truth is, both Google Meet and Zoom are excellent solutions for large and small businesses.
Take the time to list out your needs, and go with the video conferencing software that checks the most boxes and fits within your budget.
Sources:
Google Workspace: Is G Suite’s Successor Just Rebranding or More? | TechGenix
How SaaS Vendors Are Designing Software for the ‘Best of Breed’ World | Computerworld
