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Microsoft Groups and Zoom are two of the highest video conferencing instruments we’ve got immediately.
They assist organizations talk and collaborate from wherever at any time, guaranteeing a seamless, uninterrupted workflow.
And as firms preserve transitioning into hybrid or distant work, it’s solely pure that the demand for instruments like Microsoft Groups and Zoom continues to develop.
However which app is finest for your enterprise?
On this article, we’ll examine Microsoft Groups vs Zoom by discussing their options, advantages, drawbacks, and pricing plans that can assist you select the appropriate one.
Desk of Contents
Let’s dive proper in!
Microsoft Groups vs Zoom: An in depth comparability
Microsoft Groups and Zoom have many related options, however they’ve some distinguished variations too.
Earlier than we dive into the variations, let’s try what these apps do:
What’s Microsoft Groups?
Microsoft Groups is a unified communications platform that mixes chats, voice calls, digital conferences, Workplace 365 instruments, file sharing, and many others., to create a shared workspace. Its cellular app permits customers to entry Groups and work from wherever.
Listed here are some key options of Microsoft Groups:
- Limitless group video calls with a time restrict of 60 minutes per session.
- Permits 100 assembly individuals per session.
- Straightforward file sharing by way of Microsoft apps akin to SharePoint, Workplace 365, and many others
- Entry to cloud storage.
- Custom-made digital backgrounds and whiteboards for video calls.
- Accessible on Android, iOS, Home windows, Mac, and Linux units.
Try our step-by-step information on the best way to use Microsoft Groups.
What’s Zoom?
Zoom is a cloud-based, dependable video conferencing software that lets arrange digital conferences, webinars, audio calls, and many others. It provides a easy person interface that anybody can simply navigate and use. It’s a preferred collaboration software for workspaces in addition to non-public customers.
Listed here are some necessary options of Zoom:
- Limitless group video requires 40-minutes per session.
- As much as 100 attendees per on-line assembly.
- Limitless 1:1 conferences with a 30-hour time restrict per session.
- Straightforward file sharing with third-party instruments like Dropbox, Google Drive, and many others.
- Entry to cloud storage.
- Helps Android, iOS, Home windows, Mac, and Linux working methods.
Discover ways to use Zoom with our easy step-by-step information.
Now that what these instruments are, let’s dive into Groups vs Zoom:
1. Video high quality
Each apps purpose to supply good video high quality for clean, uninterrupted conferences.
A. Microsoft Groups
Microsoft Groups supplies an AI-based video optimization that mechanically adjusts the video high quality to the person’s community high quality. It additionally provides full HD 1080p help and bandwidth constraints for high-quality video viewing.
B. Zoom
Zoom makes use of 720p by default for its video chat.
However if in case you have a Zoom Enterprise or Zoom Enterprise plan, you may change the default 720p to 1080p for higher video high quality.
Zoom additionally provides digital background, video filters, and many others., for a enjoyable digital assembly.
Fast recap
MS Groups supplies high-quality 1080p for many codecs apart from its stay occasions, whereas Zoom delivers the identical high quality solely in Zoom Enterprise and Zoom Enterprise plans.
2. Chat methods
A stable function is crucial to make sure simpler file sharing and collaboration between its customers.
Right here’s a take a look at their chat features:
A. Microsoft Groups
Groups provides a spread of chat functionalities, akin to:
- Particular person chats: For one-on-one messages.
- Group chat: In case you want to chat with your loved ones or mates, first search and add them to a gaggle. After naming your group, you can begin messaging immediately.
- Chat in a channel: In knowledgeable setting, you should use channels to work together together with your crew. Right here you can begin conversations utilizing the ‘put up’ tab. Your crew members can reply beneath the actual put up, which is able to start a threaded dialog.
- Chat in a gathering: You may also chat in real-time throughout a stay assembly. This fashion, you may add necessary assembly notes, share hyperlinks to docs, have conversations, and far more.
B. Zoom
Throughout a Zoom assembly, you may ship messages to all individuals like a gaggle chat or choose people.
The chat function lets you share recordsdata, notice the assembly minutes, and many others. You may also ship non-public messages to people throughout a gaggle video. Moreover, Zoom allows its hosts to manage the chat perform by disabling the whole chat or non-public chat throughout group conferences.
Nonetheless, the chat function in Zoom is just accessible throughout a video name. In case you want to chat together with your crew outdoors of a gathering, you’ll have to make use of one other Zoom platform known as Zoom Chat.
Fast recap
Microsoft Groups provides extra options like entry to chats out of conferences, particular person chats, chats inside a channel, and many others. throughout the software.
In the meantime, Zoom customers have to make use of a special collaboration platform known as Zoom Chat to attach and ship messages to people, channels, and teams when not on Zoom calls.
3. Participant limits
It’s necessary to know what number of individuals a video conferencing app will allow you to add. That’ll provide help to select an appropriate app in line with your group’s dimension.
A. Microsoft Groups
A free model of the Microsoft Groups account lets you create a gaggle of 100 individuals. You may also add extra individuals with:
- Its fundamental paid plan that helps a session of 300 attendees.
- A Microsoft Workplace account that allows you to add 20,000 listen-only individuals.
- Stay occasions that help 10,000 individuals.
B. Zoom
The free Zoom plan helps 100 attendees per 40-minute group assembly.
In the meantime, you may add a most of 500 individuals with its Zoom Enterprise paid plan. If in case you have a bigger enterprise, you may all the time enhance the assembly individuals by buying an add-on.
Fast recap
Zoom helps 1000 attendees with its addon, whereas MS Groups customers can solely add 300 individuals per session.
4. Person interface
Person interface refers to how properly you should use an software or software program.
Right here’s an in depth comparability of the person interfaces of each apps:
A. Microsoft Groups
In MS Groups, customers should navigate throughout a stream of options akin to totally different channels, groups, the Microsoft Workplace ecosystem, and many others. So, it may take them a while to develop into aware of the app and its infinite collaboration options.
However on the plus facet, it opens up a complete new world of collaboration amongst your workers that’ll assist run your digital workplace seamlessly.
B. Zoom
Zoom’s person interface is understood for its simplicity and ease of use. It embeds all its extra options within the settings, leaving the house display screen with simply the important options.
The house display screen additionally makes use of a visible hierarchy in shade, dimension, and place, serving to customers simply discover what they want. This fashion, even individuals with the slightest technical information can begin utilizing Zoom instantly.
Fast recap
In its quest to supply its customers with a complete collaboration expertise, Groups needed to sacrifice a bit on ease of use. However, Zoom provides a simple, intuitive, and clear interface.
5. Room methods
A well-configured room system enhances your group’s collaboration by offering top-notch audio conferencing, video conferences, and productiveness options.
So, let’s try how properly the room methods of MS Groups and Zoom fare:
A. Microsoft Groups
In Microsoft Groups, you may each enter a room or create one simply with only a few clicks. You may also add a channel for every of your group’s departments, giving them an area of their very own to work individually and host unique group conferences.
Groups permits you to add round 300 individuals (paid account) for one session, and you may broadcast it to 10,000 individuals at a time.
You may also schedule particular person or group conferences on the calendar or maintain one at a second’s discover. All of your assembly recordings might be uploaded to your Onedrive or SharePoint account, and its hyperlinks will get added to the chat.
It additionally supplies extra options like whiteboards, display screen sharing, stay occasions, stay captions in 28 languages, webinars, and many others.
Microsoft Groups lets you could have just one assembly organizer for a room or video convention. Which means that nobody else can management the Microsoft Groups rooms of their absence. The host also can take part in a person breakout room and see their chat historical past.
B. Zoom
Just like Groups, you may assign a Zoom room to every digital crew in your group. Customers should wait in a ready room till they’re assigned a breakout room.
You’ll be able to schedule conferences in Zoom by integrating the software with default calendars like Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook. Hosts can document the Zoom assembly, and these assembly recordings might be saved both in Zoom portals or in your PC.
All Zoom invites will both have a hyperlink or a Zoom assembly ID and password that you should use to affix a gathering. You may also be part of with the telephone quantity given within the invite hyperlink.
Zoom additionally permits you to assign hosts and co-hosts, making it simpler to facilitate group conferences. Apart from, Zoom certifies each integrators and {hardware} suppliers to supply a top quality Zoom room expertise.
With Zoom, you too can share screens, conduct webinars, use whiteboards, and stay captions.
Fast recap
Microsoft Groups and Zoom share similarities of their room methods like breakout room, whiteboard, display screen sharing, webinars, and many others.
Nonetheless, Zoom supplies extra options akin to a number of hosts, safe login, licensed integrators, and {hardware} to make sure a top quality person expertise.
6. Integrations
Integrations throughout varied purposes provide help to carry your data collectively and centralize your work. In addition they allow you to incorporate totally different collaboration instruments, enhancing your productiveness.
Let’s examine integrations in Groups and Zoom:
A. Microsoft Groups
Groups provides integrations with the desktop variations of Microsoft Phrase, Excel, PowerPoint, and different Microsoft Workplace instruments akin to Microsoft SharePoint, OneDrive, Microsoft Stream, Skype, and many others. The essential Microsoft Workplace integrations can be found at no cost customers as properly.
Groups additionally combine with non-Microsoft instruments akin to:
- Adobe Artistic Cloud.
- Mail Clark.
- Zapier.
- ClickUp.
- GitHub.
- Google instruments (Google Meet, Google Drive, Google Workspace, and many others.)
B. Zoom
Zoom provides 1000+ integrations within the Zoom Apps Market, obtainable to free and paid customers.
A number of the integrations Zoom provides embody:
Fast recap
Groups is a perfect choice in case you use the Microsoft Workplace ecosystem because it supplies tons of collaboration options with its personal apps. Nonetheless, Zoom nonetheless provides extra integrations than Microsoft Groups.
7. Safety
As your work shifts on-line, it’s necessary to make sure that your whole organizations’ delicate data and knowledge are well-protected.
Right here’s how Microsoft Groups and Zoom defend their customers’ knowledge:
A. Microsoft Groups
Microsoft Groups assures you a safe collaboration platform constructed on Microsoft 365’s enterprise grade cloud. For added security measures, you may all the time take the assistance of third-party cloud safety instruments.
It additionally provides crew and organization-wide two issue authentication, knowledge encryption, and single sign-on by means of Lively Listing. Moreover, Microsoft Groups supplies superior risk safety (ATP) for Groups and content material shared throughout all built-in apps.
For instance, if a file you acquired is malicious, ATP helps you detect if it’s malicious and blocks customers’ entry to this content material.
B. Zoom
After a number of safety scares previously, Zoom has diligently labored on its safety – aiming to supply the most effective for its customers.
It encrypts all voice calls, video chat, and display screen sharing with a 256-bit Superior Encryption Customary. You may also select to activate finish to finish encryption for every video assembly. This assures that no third celebration, together with Zoom, can entry your classes.
Your chats in Zoom are additionally subjected to Superior Chat Encryption in order that solely the meant recipient receives the message.
Fast recap
Zoom continues to reinforce its security measures, whereas Microsoft has already established itself as a dependable, safe platform.
8. Pricing
Let’s take a look at the pricing plans of those service suppliers:
A. Microsoft Groups
Microsoft Groups provides a free model with restricted options, and its paid plans embody each private in addition to enterprise plans.
The private plans for a single person are priced at $6.99 and at $9.99 for six individuals.
Whereas Groups enterprise plans are as follows:
Free Plan:
- 60-minute video name classes.
- Helps 100 members per session.
- Chat and collaboration for 500k members.
- And extra.
Microsoft 365 Enterprise Fundamental ($6 person/month)
- Conferences of 300 attendees
- Internet and cellular variations of Workplace apps
- Cloud storage of 1TB
- And extra.
Microsoft 365 Enterprise Customary ($12.50 person/month)
- Webinars.
- Premium desktop variations of Workplace 365.
- Attendee registration and reporting instruments.
- And extra.
Microsoft 365 Premium ($22 person/ month)
- Superior safety.
- Cyber risk safety.
- Superior gadget administration choices
- And extra.
Microsoft Groups additionally provides a 30-day free trial.
B. Zoom
Zoom provides the next pricing plans:
Free plan:
- Limitless 1:1 calls.
- 100 individuals per assembly.
- 40-minute group conferences.
- And extra.
Zoom Professional ($12.49 person/month)
- Limitless whiteboards.
- 30-hour group conferences.
- Giant Assembly add-on permits you to add 1000 members for $50 a month.
- And extra.
Zoom Enterprise ($18.32 person/month)
- 300 individuals per session.
- Managed domains
- Firm branding.
- And extra.
Zoom Enterprise (Contact gross sales)
- All options of Enterprise and Professional plans
- Helps 1000 individuals.
- And extra.
Fast recap
Microsoft Groups’ paid plans begin as little as $6/month, providing fundamental options which might be a giant assist for small companies. It additionally supplies a 30-day free trial for its paid plans.
However, Zoom’s paid plans are barely costly, ranging from $12.49. But it surely provides fascinating options like add-ons so as to add extra individuals. It additionally supplies a vast free plan with fundamental options.
Closing verdict
Each Microsoft Groups and Zoom have their strengths and weaknesses.
Microsoft Groups can be the most suitable choice for individuals already utilizing Workplace 365 and small companies in search of a less expensive premium plan.
In the meantime, Zoom provides a user-friendly interface, extra integrations, and a better participant restrict.
And whereas each perform as standalone apps, you too can combine them with different apps for optimum performance. You should use Groups for inside communication whereas utilizing Zoom for exterior conferences with purchasers.
Finally, the most effective video conferencing app is the one which meets your corporation wants. So use our detailed comparability of Microsoft Groups vs Zoom to make the appropriate alternative to your firm!
