Top 7 Apps for Online Meeting

To run a business well, without considering national and international boundaries, the practice of online meetings has been significantly popular for a very long time and it goes without saying that it has become the need of the hour. The Coronavirus Pandemic has affected the business booming as the offices are locked down just like the other aspects of the world, and people are stuck to the idea of “Work From Home.”

Assets of Online Meeting

Online meetings are pretty serviceable as they provide a platform for continuous communication without considering any kind of disruption.

Online meeting is the best option especially when your stakeholders and shareholders are from different parts of the world. You all can connect for important meetings without traveling a mile as everybody can access this service at their fingertips.

By arranging up an online meeting, it saves plenty of time and money.

Top Apps for Online Meeting

With so many of us working from home, all that we are looking for is the best web conferencing application out there. Well, there are loads of them offering great services including file, application, screen sharing, slideshow presentation, video streaming, webinars, text chat, and whiteboard for public comments, quick diagrams, and instant explanations.

Our top picks are listed below.

• Skype

So, the first app on our list is the oldest one that started it all, Skype. This specific platform has been there since 2003 and continues to exist and works pretty well.

Skype is suitable for video conferencing for small teams of up to 50 people (including the host), free of charge. Anyone can join the meeting from a web browser on a computer or from a mobile device. All you have to do is to download the Skype app to participate.

Skype includes a valuable cloud-based call recording feature that any member of the call can trigger. This will notify other members that the call is being recorded, and allows users to save and share the recording for up to 30 days. The interface is user-friendly.

Limitation: There are some limitations, such as the lack of an integrated dial-in audio conference feature, and a lack of hardware support with online-only plans.

User fees start at $2 per user per month.

• Zoom

The next app on our list is the Zoom. It is the best video conferencing app for reliable, large video calls that can hold a conference for up to 100 people at a time.

It was introduced in 2011 but with the recent turn of events, it’s getting a lot of popularity. It’s a paid app but it offers a lot of free features. The connection quality is one of the best and there are too many wells and whistles that you might ever need them.

It is feature-rich, with various plans based on business size and needs.

Prices range from free for basic personal meetings to $19.99/month/host (with a minimum of 100 hosts) for large enterprises.

The features for the enterprise-level plan include up to 200 meeting participants, unlimited cloud storage, custom emails, a vanity meeting URL, and more.

Limitation:  It can hold a call for 40 minutes only. After a 40 minutes session, you need to reconnect or upgrade to Pro Plan. Plus, the interface is little tricky

• Google Hangout

Google-Hangouts was released in 2013 and is often considered to be an individual use service, not as feature-rich as other commercial and enterprise-ready services. It supports up to 10 participants for an endless duration.

Yet, for smaller businesses, or those that fully leverage G-Suite across their services, Hangouts can be an effective tool for video communication.

The cost can be low, depending on your team’s G-Suite subscriptions, which start as low as $6 per month per user.

Limitation: G-Suite subscription is a must for a host.

• Google Meet

Google Meet jumped into the market in 2017. It is an upgrade version of Google Hangouts Meet, offering more enhanced video conferencing features.

Google Meet is a serious business-grade conferencing platform that doesn’t require large up-front costs for hardware, making it particularly convenient for businesses of any size.

Google Meet is designed around scheduled video meetings among team members, with comparable features to Zoom like calendar syncing, conference room booking, and a more polished user interface.

Limitation: Google Meet offers a meeting limit of 60 minutes for free users. This means that you can’t hold a virtual meeting for more than 60 minutes if you’re using the free version.

• GoTo Meeting

The next app on our list is GoTo Meeting, released in 2004. It is the best video conferencing app for professional features.

GoTo Meeting has many useful features, including prompt meetings or meeting scheduling, meeting transcription assistance, and in-app meeting messaging between participants.

GoTo Meeting pricing starts at $14/month for groups of up to 10 meeting participants and costs $29/month for larger groups of 150 participants.

Limitation: No free plans

• Cisco WebEx

Cisco WebEx is one of the most popular video conferencing solutions for businesses, introduced in 2007. It is the best video conferencing app for virtual whiteboarding that supports up to 100 participants for an unlimited duration.

It is an industry-standard service, especially for those with a large number of team members or an unusually large enterprise, Cisco’s WebEx video conferencing service operates like a mash-up of web conferencing and voice calling services, as it allows joining meetings online or via the phone, depending on the participant’s location and ability at the time.

Pricing starts at $13.50/host/month.

Limitation: Occasional bandwidth issue

• Join.me

Last but not the least, is Join.me. It was released in 2010 and is the best video conferencing app for a lightweight choice

Join.me is easy to use, even for beginners, and its one-click functionality appears to be the urge behind the tools.

The one-click scheduling can be integrated with Google Calendar and Outlook to manage and design your invitations. Another peculiarity is the creation of a permanent meeting location. This lets clients save the address to stay in connection with the business. The online whiteboard feature grants an extra level of collaboration, screen sharing, and presentation.

Limitation: Plans are pricey for large teams. Plus, it limits how many people can share webcam videos.

Summing-up

You may get confused about how to choose the right video conferencing app for you. No worries, just know your priorities, for example, How many people will you be video calling, and how often? Do you need features such as call recording for exercise objectives, or is it more essential to have an app that’s easy for anyone to use on iPhone or Android devices? Price is another crucial factor- which option offers you the best cost efficiency? Consider what aspects are most important to you now, and which might come in apt over the next year or so, to concede for business growth.

Happy Working Remotely! 

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