7 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Video Conferencing Platform
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Video conferencing platforms have become the cornerstone of remote work, long-distance seminars, online classes, and many other fundamental institutions. However, selecting an application you want to use for your clients, classes, or business can be difficult. There are many options, each with different canceling-out strengths and weaknesses.
While these video-conferencing platforms might vary, you should always look to have a wholesome look at your needs. Think short-term and long-term, then consider this our list of important factors.
1. Maximum Participant Limit
One of the most important things to consider is just how many people you may have at once on a video call. A university course group presentation team might never need to consider something like this. But, if you’re doing something like a seminar, a large online class, or having a company-wide meeting, this is the most important factor in choosing your video conferencing app.
Various popular video conferencing apps have a decently large maximum participant limit. For example, Zoom can let you have up to 500 people in a meeting at any one given time if you pay for its Enterprise plan. You can learn more about its pricing and participant tiers by reading our article onhow much Zoom costs.
However, don’t think this participant limit is the standard for competitors. Google Meet, for instance, has a maximum capacity of 250 participants at its highest tier plan, and Webex has 1000 participants at its Enterprise plan.
2. Video Call Length
This might not be as important as the maximum number of participants, since you’re not considering that anyone would get “excluded” from your video call. Still, it can be disruptive if you have to start a new meeting every hour, and it could look unprofessional.
Many free tiers of video conferencing apps cap their meeting lengths at 40 minutes or an hour. But some could let you go on for more than 24 hours if it’s a one-on-one meeting, like Microsoft Teams and Webex Meetings.
And if time is all you need, and you don’t mind being limited to only 25 participants, then an app like Discord can be helpful since it has no cap on how long you can remain on a video call.
Either way, once it’s no longer a free tier, you should have up to 30 hours of constant video streaming on most platforms. While it’s rare to need more than 30 hours, there are a few video conferencing platforms that could offer you that; you should read more on their pricing tiers before committing.
3. How Much It Costs
If you’re choosing a video conferencing application with a limited budget, the best thing you can do is thoroughly review all your options. While some video conferencing apps are just that, others enroll you in a suite of business features you might not need, but you will quite dearly pay for.
For example, Slack and Microsoft Teams will make you pay for every user you add to your plan. You won’t need that if you don’t want the entire virtual workspace packages that come with their deals.
Still, let’s say you do want all the online business productivity features that follow a Slack and Microsoft Teams subscription. A quick look at their pricing tables will reveal that Microsoft Teams is $1.49 cheaper per person. It’s one of thereasons why Microsoft Teams is better than Slack.
Generally, if you’re unsure what the prices are for the app you want, a good way to conduct your research is to type the product’s name and “prices” into Google. Click the best and most relevant result to find its pricing table. Do the same for all the apps you have in mind, and pick the one that works best for your budget.
4. Good Cross-Platform Availability
This is hardly a problem because most modern video conferencing apps are truly cross-platform. Take Zoom, for example, it has a web app, a Windows app, a macOS app, an Android app, and an iOS app, and there are Zoom clients on Linux distributions.
Most mainstream video-conferencing platforms also have this kind of cross-platform availability because that’s a strong selling point for a video-conferencing application.
However, some people might consider using a more informal route for video conferencing, like FaceTime. FaceTime works perfectly fine if you don’t need more than 32 participants. However, only Macs, iPads, and iPhones with Apple IDs can start a FaceTime meeting, even thoughAndroid and Windows users can now join FaceTime meetings.
That disqualifies FaceTime as a good option if you’re considering true cross-platform availability. You should get a video conferencing tool that anybody can access through a native app, no matter their OS.
5. UI and Accessibility
It could be a real pain to explain how to navigate a video conferencing app. It takes time out of the meeting, can frustrate the guests, and could kill momentum if the meeting is already going on.
That’s why you should test-run video-conferencing apps on their free tiers to see if they are easy to figure out. If you seem to struggle to mute a mic, add guests, or show a presentation, then you should pick something with a more intuitive UI.
The most important accessibility function you should find in your video conferencing app is live captions. They can help you transcribe audio and help people with hearing loss. Many apps (such as Zoom and Google Meet) have it as a free built-in function. Other apps (such as Webex) offer it in languages besides English on their paid plans.
6. Screen Recording and Screen Sharing
Most meetings, classes, and seminars involve presentations. And there’s no better way to share an online presentation than sharing your screen. Any video conferencing platform worth its salt has a screen-sharing function if you look hard enough. it’s possible to test it out to see how it performs before you choose.
On the other side of this coin is screen recording. Some people will miss meetings, and they will need to catch up with the rest once they get the chance. Instead of creating summarized minutes or hosting a new meeting altogether, as the host, you can record your screen and the meeting and share it with those absent.
These are two nifty features you should look out for. Even though you think you don’t need it, you most likely would down the line.
7. Premium Video and Audio Quality
Essentially, your video and audio quality will boil down to your hardware and lighting, but some video conferencing apps put a paywall before streaming HD video. Zoom and Google Meet, for instance, will let you stream your video in HD for free. However, Webex and Discord need you to fork out some dollars first.
In any case, some apps are better than others in optimizing sounds and improving visuals with software enhancers. But one of the best video results you may get in a video call is using an iPhone with FaceTime.
Choose the Best Video Conferencing Platform to Fit Your Needs
According to this list, many combinations of needs could demand different apps. It’s a good idea to make your own list of priorities and choose a video conferencing app based on which feature is most important to you.
Regardless, you can get started by looking through the best apps with a one-size-fits-all approach to their features.
Looking for the best video conferencing software for remote work collaboration and communication? Here are some options to consider.
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