Situations like the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented way for learning. Classes have been moved online and a lot of schools have since turned to software to aid in running the courses.
Online Meeting Made Easy with high-end conferencing technology
Depending on the objective of a class, there is an app for every activity. Whether it is an online quiz, a forum or an e-lecture, developers have created a platform for them. But with so many choices, what would be most suitable? Lecture classes would most suitably use video conferencing platforms as it allows the teacher to view the students during these sessions while running through a presentation.
Zoom and Skype most popular
The 2 most popular names that have surfaced for video conferencing applications would be Zoom and Microsoft’s Skype. While Skype has been around for many years now, Zoom has also been making a lot of inroads by offering some cool features even for its basic version.
- Zoom and Skype can both be used for large video group chats. However, Zoom has better capabilities to handle large groups.
- Zoom’s free Basic account can accommodate up to 100 people in a single chat room. Skype can handle up to 50 people in a single call. However, Skype for Business allows you to host up to 250 participants.
- Both apps have the recording function so that any details can be captured during the session.
- Skype’s Meet Now function allow you to create a video meeting without the need to sign up for an account. And you can do this through the browser, which means you do not need to download the mobile app.
The alternatives besides Zoom and Skype
While Zoom and Skype have dominated this segment, there are actually several others that are very capable and useful. We compare them below:
Cyberlink U Meeting
Cyberlink’s U Meeting is a great tool to use if you do not require a large group of participants. For the basic, free version, it is very much a sampling platform. You can have a meeting with up to 25 people and a maximum of 50 minutes for every session. If you decide to pay, you can choose either the Pro 50 or Pro 100 package where you can have sessions with up to 50 or 100 participants respectively. The paid versions give you more functions and administrative controls.
Jitsi Meet – Free and easy
This app is an open-source platform and is one of the easiest ones to use around. You can record the session which will be saved to Dropbox and allow up to 75 participants per session. The cool thing about Jitsi is that it integrates very well with known platforms such as Google Calendar, Office 365 and such.
Microsoft Team Meetings
Since it comes from Microsoft, you can be assured that they will have integrated this with the host of Microsoft applications. In a Team Live event, you can have up to 10,000 attendees for up to 4 hours per event. As for Video calling meetings, you can have up to 250 people at any time, similar to that of Skype for Business. If you are using Microsoft Office 365, Team is part of the package and that is what makes it so affordable.
Adobe Connect Meeting Rooms
The Adobe Connect Meeting Rooms are designed to offer a rich and comprehensive presentation experience. There are a host and a presenter in each room. There can be up to 1,000 participants for each host, who must be the license holder.
Slack Calls from Slack
Slack Calls is a built-in conferencing feature provided by the Slack app. While Slack is known to be an app designed for collaborative work in groups or teams, its conferencing feature is slightly more limited as compared to the others. To use this feature, you need to use the paid version which only allows a group call of up to 15 people at any time. For groups larger than 15 people, it needs to integrate with an external platform like Zoom or Skype.
Google Hangouts Meet
Google Hangouts Meet is part of the G-Suite plan by Google. Originally, you need to use a paid plan in order to use this function that allows up to 100 participants. Google has however waived the paid version until September 2020 where you can now host up to 250 participants in every session.
Cisco Webex Meeting
The name Cisco is perhaps one of the most synonymous when it comes to networking. This app has actually been around for more than 20 years and has been growing ever since. Its free version allows meetings for up to 100 people and no limit on the duration of the meeting (previously 40 minutes).
What about the others?
Besides those that are mentioned above, there are of course other video chatting apps or functions that come with WhatsApp and Whatsapp Business, FB Messenger and such which are suitable for collaboration and other types of activities. Other video conference apps that could also be considered include:
- StarLeaf – Previously targeted only for large companies, it now has a basic version that is free that allows 45-minute meetings for up to 20 people.
- Whereby – This app can work with YouTube and provides the screen-sharing function. It might not be the best platform if you are going to run a class but it is great if you want to have one-to-one tutorials. Very useful for calculation or numerical subjects.
