Top Video Conferencing Software Best Fit Small Businesses

Over the last decade, the rise of video conferencing services has revolutionized the way we perceived business.

In the following article, we’ve compiled some of the best video conferencing software for SMEs that offer high-quality services and full-fledged collaboration tools.

The role of video conferencing software

Video Conferencing software has become the lifeline of remote work structure amid this global pandemic, where work-from-home is going to be a long-staying norm.

Especially these days, they are the need of the hour! From the Head-of-the-states to the country heads of big companies, everyone is relying on video-conferencing services for continuing official work during this lockdown situation.

Nowadays, enterprises, regardless of size, are seeking the best conferencing solutions that assist them manage their business needs. However, not every tool can provide a user-friendly experience while being adaptive to all devices.

Among a pool of choices, it’s hard to know which service best fits your business. Since you only have a limited number of people to interact with, not all video conferencing software is worth considering.

You must select the best video conferencing for SMEs that is easy to use, affordable yet secure for sharing insider information.

Let’s check these software solutions to help you choose the right one to stay connected:

Best Video Conferencing for Small Businesses Plus Zoom Alternatives

Mastering remote work is all about selecting the right tools to connect and share while maintaining the productivity of the whole team and securing the data of the company.

Here, we have tried collecting the best video conferencing for small businesses which can be used as an alternative to zooming as well as zoom along with a few other video conferencing services.

Specifically, we’re discussing tools suitable for small and medium-sized companies that need to ensure the smooth functioning of business without showing up in person at the office.

1. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams (often considered a successor to Lync and Skype for business) is a feature of Office 365, which reveal a lot about its design and features as per the suitability.

For starters, anyone can sign-up for its free version using a personal email address that supports 300 members with guest access.

Also, it provides one-on-one & group video/ audio calls with the added advantage of sharing files of up to 2GB/ user and 10 GB/ team. In addition to screen sharing, it also provides document coloration using online Office apps.

In its Enterprise/ Business version, it delivers a full-fledged video-conferencing solution to your business needs as per the changing requirements of the situation.

Here, the administrators have complete access to management, compliance tools and security features of the teams.

Furthermore, team members can share files up to 1TB/ user, schedule meetings from Outlook, and collaborate on projects using the desktop Office programs and SharePoint Online.

Also, meetings can be recorded in underpaid plans. Those paid plans also support online training sessions and webinars.

Safety for Privacy & Trust:

Microsoft classifies Office 365 into four basic compliance categories: A, B, C, & D. Teams fits into the “D” category, which enables security compliance services by default.

Additionally, Teams features two-factor authentication and encrypted data (in transit and at rest).

Microsoft Team is efficiently safe than others in the market as it fulfils all security and data privacy norms defined by internal and customer-driven requirements, rest assured that Microsoft Teams has stepped up its cybersecurity game quite well.

Nevertheless, no software can prevent all phishing attempts and malware/ ransomware attacks.

According to Microsoft, “Teams is built on the Office 365 hyper-scale, enterprise-grade cloud, delivering the advanced security and compliance capabilities our customers expect.”

Pros: Plugs into the Microsoft Ecosystem for embedded application access. Allows for super-organized channel management.

Cons: Looks exactly like Slack. Can only be used as part of Office 365.

Bottom Line: Microsoft Teams is an excellent collaboration service, with the large caveat that it’s only available to Office 365 users.

Overall Rating: 5/5
Ease of Use 5/5
Customer Service: 5/5
Features: 4/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Likelihood to Recommend: 9/10

2. Hangouts Meet

Google Hangouts meet is the business version of hangouts, enabling video meetings for G Suite subscribers. GSuite plans cost $6–25/ user/ month with additional security and management features than the free package.

Hangouts meet has revised its basic plan to support teams during this global emergency, it’s providing many of its advanced features at no extra cost until July 1, 2020. If your business is standardized on Google’s productivity and email tools, hangouts meet should be on your shortlist for your business.

The application works in sync with other Google applications. It also comes as a Chrome extension and can be used across all devices.

Obviously, the service is specially designed to work in the Google Chrome browser ( limited support for Internet Explorer 11 is also available), with mobile apps available on iOS and Android.

The exact feature set depends on your G Suite version; the number of participants, for example, is limited to 100 for G Suite Basic, 150 for Business, and 250 for Enterprise.

For live streaming (up to 100,000 audience members in a single domain) and the ability to record meetings and save them to Google Drive, you’ll need G Suite Enterprise. Also, it does have a dial-in option in its enterprise plan.

Safety for Privacy & Trust:

Security is in the form of 128-bit encryption, it provides secure deployment and access controls for admins and end-users.

Overall Rating: 4/5
Ease of Use 5/5
Customer Service: 5/5
Features: 4/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Likelihood to Recommend: 9/10

3. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is considered among the best video-conferencing for small businesses because of its free tiers for smaller teams, free-trials, user-friendly interface, strong-security and HIPAA compliance.

But this easy-to-use, rich-features software is one of the most popular video-conferencing with small and large businesses alike.

GoToMeeting was acquired by LogMeIn from Citrix in 2016 and revamped itself with new power-packed features in 2019.

This software works directly within your web browser, so you can avoid downloading too if you don’t wish to.

And apps are available for both desktop and mobile. The reworked user experience in LogMeIn’s GoToMeeting conferencing solution is consistent across platforms and integrates with calendar solutions and platforms from Office 365, G Suite, Salesforce, Zoho, and Slack.

For each call, you can take notes in real-time, which are embedded and saved in the meeting transcript. Besides the normal option to save video, you can also capture presentation slides from a meeting and share them in PDFs for later download.

Plan description:

Free:  After a 14-day free trial, which includes 3 participants for about 40-minute meetings, video and audio calls; you need to choose a paid plan to continue further with their services.

Paid tiers:  Paid tiers are always advisable to opt for because of no restrictions and increased security features and duration of the meetings. In addition, all paid plans give HD video, web audio, up to 25 video feeds and a dial-in conference line.

Here is their paid plan description- Pay between $12–16 per organizer per month for up to 250 participants, a dial-in conference line, unlimited meetings, a personal meeting room, transcription, and drawing tools, among other features. An Enterprise plan supports up to 3,000 participants.

Safety for Privacy & Trust:

This software uses SSL and 256-bit encryption protocols to ensure the security of your communications. 24/7 live-chat support is also available for any discrepancies faced.

GoToMeeting employs industry-standard end-to-end Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption using 128-bit keys to protect the data stream, chat messages and keyboard and mouse input.

Pros: Simple user interface, easy to schedule meetings, can use a custom URL to access conference room. Free plan available, commuter mode. Trial doesn’t require credit card, meeting transcription & 25 video feeds.

Cons: Lacks advanced meeting options such as polling. Webinar features require getting GoToWebinar.

Bottom Line: GoToMeeting is one of the easiest conferencing services to use, and its video conferencing feature keeps the app relevant in today’s competitive market.

Overall Rating: 4 /5
Ease of Use: 4/5
Customer Service: 4/5
Features: 4/5
Value for Money: 4 /5
Likelihood to Recommend: 8 /10

4. Cisco Webex Meetings

Webex is truly one of the stalwarts of the video conferencing software segment, founded way back in 1995 and acquired by Cisco in 2007.

Cisco Webex Meeting is already very popular video-conferencing software among remote workers of big and small-sized companies, but it’s likely to become even more popular in coming days.

This provider has set up a dedicated section of its website to combat Covid-19 crisis to help businesses make a quick transition to remote work.

Today, they are offering one of the most generous no-cost plans available for this pandemic situation by expanding their free offerings. Some of the key features of which are:

• Thorough support documentation for beginners
• Military-grade encryption
• Up to 25 HD streams
• Great selection of features

Free plan: The free tier plan is surprisingly full of great features, allows an unlimited number of meetings for unlimited length for 100 participants( just now increased from 3 users).

Also, one gets 1GB of cloud storage, up to 25 HD webcam feeds, HD video, screen sharing on desktop & mobile devices, calendar integration, call-in audio, polling, limited recording options and more.

Paid plan: To enjoy all the features of this wonderful video-conferencing software, 3 paid plans are available-

• Starter– Starter ($13.50 per host per month for 50 participants)
• Plus – Plus ($17.95 per month for 100 participants)
• Business– Business ($26.95 per month, with a five-license minimum, allowing up to 200 participants).

In addition, all paid plans offer up to 10 GB of cloud storage, recording transcriptions, MP4 meeting recordings, file sharing, the ability assign alternate hosts, customizable URL, an admin portal, analytics, 24/7 support, and several other useful features.

An interesting add-on, Call Me, allows you to start a meeting by receiving a phone call by paying extra costs for it wherein you’ll pay $4 per host per month for domestic calls and for international calls price going up to a $35.75 per month.

The lowest-paid tier will give you extra cloud storage, transcriptions, recordings, and file sharing, among other features. You can currently get one month free when signing up for a monthly plan and four months free on an annual subscription.

Enterprise plan: Enterprise plans are also available. Each step up includes additional cloud storage and management features; single sign-on and support for Exchange and Active Directory requires the Business plan.

Safety for Privacy & Trust:

Security is Military-grade encryption in the form of Transport Layer Security (TLS) and 256-bit encryption.

Pros: Free plan available. No credit card required for free trial.

Cons: Phone support not available with free plan, free trial is only 14 days long, desktop app displays very small text on higher-res screens.

Bottom Line: Cisco’s WebEx Meeting Center offers a generous free plan, paid plans offer plenty of features, which are relatively expensive.

Overall Rating: 4/5
Ease of Use 4/5
Customer Service: 5/5
Features: 4/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Likelihood to Recommend: 9/10

5. Zoho Meetings

Zoho boasts of 50 million users worldwide, is one of the efficient, widely trusted video-conferencing services for small and medium businesses.

It is a web-based suite of services & mobile apps, specially designed to put together sales, marketing, accounting and HR.

While Zoho Meeting doesn’t offer any big advantages over other software, but still it is a must-have suite of tools across small and medium businesses.

Zoho Meetings offers collaboration tools for live webinars, training sessions and online meetings, with plans starting at $10 per host per month (or $8 per month if you pay for a full year).

The price plan includes support for up to 100 participants, storage for 10 recorded meetings, scheduling, calendar integration, international dial-in, meeting recording, and few more barebone features.

Additionally, it offers a suite of 40 integrated apps ( all available for separate purchase as well, unlike Gsuite) for all business areas covering everything from CRM & IT, to HR, finance & management with an intuitive interface and a free 14-day trial.

For audio meetings, participants can dial in over the phone (toll-free numbers are an extra-cost option), and in-session chat is available as well, where meetings can be recorded from any endpoint.

On PCs and Macs, Zoho Meetings is a completely browser-based conferencing solution, with no downloads required, it can be accessed through a browser, a desktop plug-in, or mobile apps.

Safety for Privacy & Trust:

Zoho is secured using SSL and 256-bit encryption, its services are GDPR-compliant and is certified by Privacy Shield Frameworks, more granular privacy tools include the ability for moderators to lock meetings, mute or remove participants.

Zoho protects users in the following ways:

• Security: Zoho facilities are guarded 24/7, with security procedures like video monitoring,  fire/flood/theft monitoring systems, and biometric access. Additionally, the company’s network security system employs “the latest encryption and intrusion detection/prevention technologies.”
• EU Safe Harbor Compliance: Zoho complies fully with the EU Safe Harbor framework (as set forth by the US Department of Commerce).
• Two Factor Authentication (TFA): For extra precautionary measures, you can choose to enable Two-factor-authentication on your Zoho account.

Pros: Robust free option, easy to use and website meeting embeds available.

Cons: No camera functionality, desktop-based app.

Bottom Line: Zoho Meeting is an ideal screen sharing and presentation tool. However, if you’re looking for a more comprehensive video conferencing tool that has whiteboarding, recording, and social sharing options, you’ll have to look out for another solution.

Overall Rating: 3/5
Ease of Use 4/5
Customer Service: 3 /5
Features: 3/5
Value for Money: 3/5
Likelihood to Recommend: 7/10

6. ClickMeeting

ClickMeeting is one of the top pick for best video-conferencing for small businesses because of its versatile, easy- to use features and affordability.

ClickMeeting is compatible with PCs and Macs alike with all the major browsers- Internet Explorer 8 (to access the meeting room) or 9 (32-bit only, to use the account panel), Mozilla FireFox3 or higher; Google chrome and Apple Safari 4 or 5.

All the participants can enable audio, webcam and raise their hand, post icons indicating agreement or disagreement. Chat is available to all in several languages and participants can’t request desktop control of other attendees or share their screen.

Free plan: A 30-day free trial is also available. To sign up, you first choose a page name, which will be part of your custom URL for meetings, and then you provide your name and email address.

You can activate your account via email or by pairing your account with Facebook, which seems odd considering this is business-focused software. The Welcome email includes instructions to get up and running; you can also sign up for a Get Started webinar.

Paid plan: ClickMeeting begins at $25 per month (when billed annually for its MyWebinars tier), and focuses most of its product development on webinars, though it can serve as a general video-conferencing solution.

ClickMeeting offers several plans, starting at $25 per month for two presenters and 25 participants, going up to $165 per month for four presenters and 5,000 participants.

By taking an annual subscription of any plan at one go, you can save up to 20 percent of the total cost.

The webinar focus actually lends some additional quality to the video conferencing by boosting your audio-visual experience and incorporating a lot of meeting controls for the host.

It’s slightly costlier than Cisco WebEx Meetings, even though that solution provides a whole business (VoIP) calling suite while ClickMeeting focuses mostly on webinars.

Still, for smalll business entrepreneurs seeking solely a video conferencing solution, ClickMeeting is one of the best choices to use.

Safety for privacy and trust:

ClickMeeting provides a secure, compliant, and reliable meeting infrastructure.

Pros: Very user-friendly, free trials, no credit card required.

Cons: No phone support, toll-free conference lines not available.

Bottom Line: ClickMeeting is affordable, easy-to-use, versatile, and top pick for video conferencing services for small businesses.

Overall Rating: 5 /5
Ease of Use 4/5
Customer Service: 5 /5
Features: 4/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Likelihood to Recommend: 10/10

7. LifeSize

Lifesize recently merged with Serenova( a cloud contact center company), which means that it is particularly suitable for businesses who are looking for a contact center solution.

Since all face-to-face interactions have been restricted due to the COVID-19, such facilities are more than encouraged.

Lifesize is renowned for being the first to offer HD video communication in the video- conferencing software.

It can be used within a web browser or via desktop and mobile apps and allows for third-party integration with Slack, Google Calendar, and other applications.

One of the key selling points of this software is that it allows 4K video conferencing with some of its paid plans which almost feel like you’re in the same room as your colleagues.

Free plan: Unlimited meetings(24 hrs long) up to 25 participants and a personal meeting room. Lifesize is offering a robust plan that’s free for up to six months.

Paid plans:  Paid plans come with a 14-day free trial. Cost $12.95–16.95 per host per month for up to 300 participants or 1,000 live stream viewers, a centralized management console, live-chat and phone support, unlimited recordings, and other options

Safety for Privacy & Trust:

Security features include 128-bit encryption which isn’t as secure as 256-bit but is still highly secure) and TLS (which is an upgraded version of SSL).

Pros: 4K video with premium plans, solid free plan, ample security, 14-day free trial on paid plans

Cons: Only free for up to six months

Bottom line: Lifesize is good for HD video communications and for bigger video-conferencing needs on premium plans.

Overall Rating: 4/5
Ease of Use 4 /5
Customer Service: 4/5
Features: 5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Likelihood to Recommend: 8/10

8. BlueJeans

This video conferencing software is suitable for small and medium-sized businesses is often billed as the ” the meeting platform of modern workplaces”.

This video conferencing solution focuses on instant connection through a mobile or desktop app or directly from a browser (with no download required).

It allows for up to 100 people to meet up online, share their screens, chat privately or publicly, and record meetings for later use. This is a great video-conferencing service but is one of the more expensive too. .

The technology( powered by Dolby Voice), includes background noise cancellation and integrates with hardware-based conference room systems as well as enterprise applications like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Facebook Workplace.

A full array of whiteboard and screen sharing tools add collaboration capabilities to any meeting.

Note: For live streams and large-scale web-based presentations, you’ll need a separate product called BlueJeans Events.

Free plan: It does offer a free 14-day trial of its Meetings tool, but there’s no free tier

Paid plan: After 14-day initial free trial, BlueJeans Meetings requires one of three following plans to choose from (which can be billed monthly or annually)-

• The Me plan– It is designed for individuals and small businesses, costs $16.65 per meeting host per month or $149.90 per year. Supports up to 50 attendees and doesn’t include advanced features like cloud recording or integration with messaging apps.
• The My Team plan– At $19.99 per host per month or $199.90 per year, this plan supports up to 75 attendees and includes 10 hours of cloud recordings per host.
• My Company plan– With unlimited cloud recordings and an assortment of enterprise-focused tools this plan supports up to 150 attendees and requires a custom quote.

The lowest-priced package enables you to host meetings with up to 50 attendees and allows dial-in including free phone audio in 40 countries.

Safety for Privacy & Trust:

BlueJeans provide a stable & secure environment to its users.

Pros: Directional audio for Dolby Sound-enabled rooms and hardware, quality and feedback statistics and supports browser, desktop, and mobile platforms.

Cons: No file sharing capabilities, no free-tiers, no recording for the Me plan, lacks common webinar features.

Bottom Line: BlueJeans Meetings is an excellent service for people who just need to meet, whiteboard, and screen share. Its Dolby-powered directional audio experience is unique and gives you a greater feeling of presence.

Overall Rating: 4/5
Ease of Use 4/5
Customer Service: 4 /5
Features: 4/5
Value for Money: 4 /5
Likelihood to Recommend: 8 /10

9. Join.me

Join.me is another feather in the cap of LogMeIn suite of services, after GoToMeeting’s roaring success. Join.me has carved a niche identity for itself because of being scalable and allowing to add services as your business needs change, especially among the small businesses on a tight budget.

But recently they have discontinued their free offerings and replaced it with a steep hike in their plans, although they still give a 14-day free trial service.

And it works across devices, operating systems and web browsers, which means that you won’t have to make any special arrangements to get everyone together.

The main plus for this video-conferencing software is it’s easy to use and a fun vibe that may appeal to many users. Join.me comes with plenty of features including screen sharing, a collaborative whiteboard, and the option to create a permanent meeting location.

There are a lot of great services out there, but when it comes to dependability, flexibility, customer service and cost, Join.me rose to the occasion.

Free plan: Join.me has discontinued its free offerings, now they only give a 14-day free trial service. Still, they have a free audio call with screen sharing for 3 participants.

Paid plan: Join.me only has paid plans now that cost $10–30 per user per month. It gives unlimited meetings, include up to 250 participants, unlimited toll and internet calls, 10 webcam streams, up to 1 TB of cloud storage, recordings, scheduling, and many other options.

These are the paid plan options-

• Lite – Lite plan includes $10 per host per month for 5 meeting participants( Can call using VoIP or phone from countries across the globe ) and without any time limits. It supports screen and window sharing with no webcam streams.
• Upgrading to Pro – This plan includes ($20 per month) increases the number of meeting participants to 250 and adds 50 GB of cloud storage plus recording options, webcam streams and scheduling.
• Business plan- Go to $30/ month business plan for 1 TB of storage, single sign-on support and Salesforce integration.

Safety for Privacy & Trust :

Meetings in join.me can’t be password-protected, but one can lock meetings, requiring attendees to “knock” to request access. This is the default behavior so that there are no intrusions from party crashers.

Pros: Generous free plan, cost-effective, scalable options and displays up to 10 video streams at once.

Cons: No toll-free conferencing, some issues with desktop app in testing, whiteboard feature only available on the iPad. Free product discontinued.

Bottom Line: A top video-conferencing pick for small businesses, Join.Me has a modern interface that’s very easy to use and plenty of features to enhance your online meetings.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Ease of Use 4/5
Customer Service: 4 /5
Features: 3.5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Likelihood to Recommend: 8/10

10. Zoom

After a successful IPO in 2019, Zoom has secured the top slot in the video conferencing industry, although recent security and privacy breach have tarnished its reputation somewhat. Still, nobody can deny the infinite benefits of this video-conferencing software.

Also, Zoom is working on new encryption algorithm to secure its services by coming with the latest version Zoom 5.0.

The latest update to this video-conferencing app is that they are planning to come now with the most advanced security enhancements with support for AES 256-bit GCM encryption.

This encryption algorithm will provide extra protection to data and greater resistance to tampering.

The software is compatible with desktop and mobile devices, is rich-in-features, beginner-friendly, with reliable performance and free-tiers plans.

It appears to be the tool of the season for many companies and educational entities which are being forced to move to a remote work structure.

The software provides an intuitive interface, depending on which plan you opt for, you can take advantage of its rich pool of features.

Its conferencing software allows simple one-on-one chat sessions, that can extend into group calls, training sessions/ webinars for internal and external audiences, and global video meetings for 1000 attendees and as many as 49 HD videos on-screen simultaneously.

Free plan: The free plan lets you involve up to 100 participants in a single meeting. Additionally, you can have an unlimited number of meetings/ one-on-one meetings for unlimited length.

However, for 2 participants there is a time limit for only up to 40 minutes.

Other free features include HD video and voice, online support, screen sharing, private and group chat, breakout rooms, co-annotation, whiteboarding, a call-in option and unlimited number of meetings.

Paid plan: Paid plans start from $15 per month per host( specially focusing in for smaller businesses) and scale up to full-featured Business and Enterprise plans for up to 1000 attendees.

It doesn’t allow any more participants but it does give unlimited meeting length for calls up to 100 participants. Also, one gets additional admin controls and dashboard, custom personal meeting id, 1GB of cloud recording, reporting and user management features.

Zoom sessions can start from a web browser or in dedicated client apps for every desktop and mobile platform, with end-to-end encryption, role-based user security (including HIPAA compliance), and easy-to-use screen sharing and collaboration tools.

Meeting invitations integrates smoothly with popular calendaring systems, and meetings can be recorded as local or cloud-based files, with searchable transcripts.

Safety for Privacy & Trust:

Calls are protected with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and 256-bit encryption. Also end-to-end encryption with HIPAA compliance.

AES 256-bit GCM encryption: Zoom 5.0 will support the current encryption as well as GCM encryption with effect from May 30, 2020.

A new encryption shield will appear in the left of the zoom meeting window, indicating a much secured & encrypted meeting. After 30 May 2020, the shield will be green( denoting enhanced safety measures, GCM encryption).

Pros: Generous free account, competitively priced paid plans, stellar performance, rich features for hosts and participants and ease to use.

Cons: No toll-free dial-in numbers for the US or the UK.

Bottom Line: Zoom Meeting’s claim to fame is top-notch performance but that’s hardly the only reason to choose this feature-rich and competitively priced video conferencing service.

Overall Rating: 5/5
Ease of Use 5/5
Customer Service: 4/5
Features: 4/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Likelihood to Recommend: 9/10

11. Amazon Chime

Amazon has entered the world of video conferencing with Amazon Chime and it’s a solid contender for a service that is easy to use and won’t take up a lot of your time. In fact, you don’t even have to send meeting invitations yourself.

Chime is compatible with Alexa for Business, so you can use Alexa to set up meetings, dial into scheduled video conferences, and automatically dial into online meetings. It’s almost like getting a personal assistant.

Amazon Chime is a communications service that lets you meet, chat, and place business calls inside and outside your organization, all using a single application.

Developers can use the same communications infrastructure and services that power Amazon Chime, and add audio calling, video calling, and screen sharing capabilities directly to their applications using the Amazon Chime SDK.

Amazon Chime Voice Connector is a service that enables enterprises to migrate their telephony workloads to AWS. IT professionals can use Voice Connector for low-cost SIP trunking from on-premises or cloud-based phone systems.

Voice Connector supports inbound calling, outbound calling, or both. Developers can also use Voice Connector to build PSTN calling in their own applications using the Amazon Chime SDK or stream audio for phone call analytics and machine learning.

Some of the key features of chime are:

1. Pay only for what you use:

Amazon Chime offers pay-per-use pricing which lets you pay for features you use, on the days that you use them. With pay-per-use pricing, there’s no upfront investment or long-term contracts.

2. One app for all communications:

Amazon Chime lets you meet, chat, and place business phone calls with a single, secure application. You don’t need to switch between applications to collaborate and can instantly go from a chat to a call, share your screen, and even invite more people to join your meeting.

When it’s time for your meeting, Amazon Chime will call you on all your devices to ensure you are never late and your meetings start on time.

3. Choose how you communicate:

Amazon Chime lets you choose the communication options that are best suited for your business. You have the option to choose from meetings, chat, and business calling or use Voice Connector to direct your voice traffic over the internet.

With Chime, you have the flexibility to choose the communication option that fits with your business needs, and the freedom to scale up or down as needed.

Free plan: You can switch between basic features that don’t include a charge and Pro features which are paid.

Paid plan: Pro features include a charge. You can use the right features for your business without worrying about overspending as Amazon lets you pay for only that much services which you use.

Safety for Privacy & Trust :

Chime is secure, and there’s nothing to deploy or manage, which means you can focus on running and growing your business instead of trying to figure out safety precautions.

Pros: Pay only for what you use, one app for all communications, choose how you communicate

Cons: No such specific cons, its very good overall!

Bottom line: Easy to use video-conferencing service without taking much of your time. A Single application to chat, meet and place business calls (inside & outside organization).

Overall Rating: 4/5
Ease of Use 5/5
Customer Service: 5/5
Features: 4/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Likelihood to Recommend: 9/10

Equipment Required for Video Conferencing

In this communication technique, several different types of equipment are required to let video conferencing happen. Mainly, we require a webcam, a microphone and a computer.

Some computer systems have in-built video-conferencing abilities, whereas others require additional devices setup in order to create an appropriate structure.

There are several different types of Internet-based video conferencing programs that can be downloaded and used for free.

But it is always recommended to purchase video conferencing software when special features and services are required.

Most commonly used equipment for video-conferencing services are:

• Computer or Video-Conferencing Machine
• Webcam/ Camera
• Monitor
• External Microphone
• Broadband Connection

Are these Video-Conferencing Services Safe to Use?

Understanding the threat matrix and security measure of your video-conferencing service is the first step in preventing the intrusions.

Because of the recent intrusions in many remote tools, The US National Security Agency (NSA) published a security assessment report of today’s most popular video conferencing, text chatting, and collaboration tools to help military entity, government organizations, work-from-home community and private sectors.

The NSA’s guide for choosing a safe text chat and video conferencing service contains a list of security criteria that the NSA hopes companies take into consideration when selecting which telework tool/ service they want to deploy in their environments.

Hence forth, one must verify the video-conferencing services on following criteria as answered in detailed NSA reports:

1. Whether your service implement strong end-to-end (E2E) encryption/ testable encryption standards?
2. Can users control who connects to collaboration sessions?/ And are the users allowed to securely delete data from the services and its repositories as needed on both clients as well as server-side?
3. Is the service FedRAMP approved for official US government use?
4. Does the tool’s vendor share data with third parties or affiliates?/ Is the tool’s source code public (e.g. open-source)?
5. Is multi-factor authentication available?

All these are the best measures(rather a verification points to analyse) to undertake to ensure the safety of your business.

The image below depicts all the assessments of NSA’s findings about these services-

This detailed report chart thoroughly analyses all the remote working tools features and video-conferencing services to avoid any wrong decision making by IT community.

What to consider when Choosing a Video Conferencing Service

Video conferencing services offer more than just face-to-face interactions, most best-in-class video conferencing services let its users share their screens, access one another’s desktops remotely, chat via text messages, exchange files, communicate via digital whiteboards and broadcast conferences to larger groups of audiences.

In addition to all this, video-conferencing services are a useful marketing tool for holding webinars and other online events.

So, one must very carefully analyze all pros & cons before landing on a decision while choosing video-conferencing software for their businesses.

Here are some of the things to consider when choosing a video conferencing service:

Requirement: If you’re a sole proprietor communicating with your sales representatives, your CA or your manufacturer, you may get through with a free version of any of these video-conferencing services.

But for a bigger group working around the country or globe, you need an enterprise version or business version as per your daily requirements to hold conference calls.

Audio-Video Quality: No system is perfect, so you won’t mind the occasional lag or disconnect during conference calls. Still, you need a robust service with high-definition video for better quality experience and to showcase the quality of your business.

Real-Time Private Chat: For a more personalized experience, or a private confidential discussion with a team member, a more real-time private built-in chat in your conferencing service is a must-have.

File sharing capacity: A best video-conferencing service is that which allow you to share documents via computer screens with a group.

Suppose you have a training session requirement to share documents with other participants, so you must carefully select a service that supports such features uninterrupted.

Ability to Record & Archive Conferences: Very few video-conferencing services allow you to keep a record of the conference call. So, select a service that allows you to archive conferences if it is essential for your business.

Usability across Operating Systems: Not all services are available across all operating systems (or web browsers, for that matter), so if you’ll want to ensure access–regardless of whether a client is using an Android phone or a PC–you’ll need to look for a service that can meet your needs.

Customer Service: Make sure your video-conferencing software provides you with the best customer service you need, if and when there’s a disruption in your services.

Cost: Carefully evaluate all the associated costs of video-conferencing services, so that you don’t feel cheated or confused.

Security of Data: Be very alert and cautious while selecting the best video-conferencing service to ensure that it successfully passes through all encryption algorithms.

Final Words

As businesses are spread across many geographic locations, video conferencing services can deliver serious boost to any business by cutting costs and overcoming the complex business challenges amid this pandemic situation.

During COVID-19 and beyond, protect your data, keep innovating, make your tools helpful, secure, and safe by making the right choice for your company!

About InApps Technology

InApps is a leading Technology company and Offshore development center. With years of experience working in the industry, we’ve cultivated valuable insights and are proud to say we’re masters in what we’re doing.

We provide business solutions in terms of Website and Mobile app development and UX/UI design.

More than 60 clients worldwide have chosen us for their projects. It’s your turn. Don’t hesitate to connect with us now!