Microsoft Teams VS Zoom

Practising physical distancing is an essential step to staying safe and healthy. People now have to be able to count on technology to remain socially connected. Thanks to video conferencing, people can have face-to-face interactions regardless of location.

In business settings, apps like Microsoft Teams and Zoom are helpful in fostering collaboration among employees working remotely. These apps are also instrumental for companies that aim to strengthen their relationships with various business partners all over the world. Additionally, these platforms facilitate virtual meetings and live presentations, making them more meaningful and keeping employees and business associates more engaged—all despite the lack of physical interaction.

Two of the most popular video conferencing platforms today are Zoom and Microsoft Teams. More than 330,000 businesses are using the latter, making it clear that many organisations continue to trust the Microsoft brand. Along with access to Microsoft Teams training programs, there are several advantages to using Teams, including:

Better Integration with Microsoft 365 Apps

One of the best features of Microsoft Teams is that it can be easily integrated with other Microsoft 365 apps including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. This capability can enhance work productivity because you don’t need to switch apps or digital working environments. If you need to create a new Word, PowerPoint, or Excel document, you can do so in Teams.

Apart from allowing you to quickly communicate with the rest of the team through chat messaging and video conferencing, Microsoft Teams provides a virtual workspace where everyone can collaborate. You can immediately share and edit documents in real-time. This eliminates the need for you to look through various email threads and conversations just to find the latest version of a file or project.

Larger Meeting Room Capacities

When using Microsoft Teams, your organisation has the opportunity to communicate with a larger audience. The video conferencing platform can accommodate up to 1,000 people in one meeting room. All attendees can chat and actively participate. The capacity can expand to up to 20,000 participants for a view-only experience.

Live events, on the other hand, can have 10,000 attendees, but Microsoft has temporarily increased this limit to 20,000 until December 31, 2021. This capacity is far from Zoom’s 100–500 meeting participants, which still depends on the subscription plan.

If your business regularly addresses a large group of people, Microsoft Teams is the best option. You can use it for a number of business events like virtual conferences and town hall meetings.

More Affordable Monthly Starter Plans

For those looking to try out Microsoft Teams, you can use the free version. It allows unlimited chat messages and audio and video calls for groups and individuals. The duration for each meeting or call is up to 60 minutes and can have up to 100 participants. But if you want to upgrade your Microsoft Teams subscription, you can choose among these three options: Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, and Microsoft 365 Business Premium.

The Microsoft 365 Business Basic subscription allows you to schedule and record Teams meetings. It also provides a 1TB file storage capacity as well as additional security features. Microsoft 365 Business Standard comes with desktop versions of Microsoft productivity applications such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, among others. This package also lets you access business apps like Bookings and Invoicing. Lastly, the Microsoft 365 Business Premium has some hefty security and privacy features along with several device management options.

If you compare it with Zoom’s price range price per user, Microsoft Teams plans are more affordable. And once you consider the additional costs Zoom charges for webinar facilities and additional cloud recording storage, you get more value for money when you use Microsoft Teams.

Improved Security

Many people choose Microsoft Teams as it carries with it the security features that Microsoft is renowned for. Teams offer end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication, and Secure Real-time Transport Protocol technology for audio and video data. Numerous organisations will also benefit from Microsoft’s transparency when it comes to its privacy policies and how the company handles data, especially for businesses involved in industries that need to comply with transparency standards. This information can all be found on Microsoft’s Reports hub and official Teams security and compliance overview.

Even with physical distancing, video conferencing has provided an opportunity to make professional interactions more meaningful. While there are other video conferencing apps available today, Microsoft Teams remains to be a popular choice among businesses due to its numerous advantages compared to Zoom. By selecting Microsoft Teams, you are equipping your employees with a reliable collaboration and communication platform—an essential tool that can boost the growth and success of your company.

Learn how to use Microsoft Teams’ video conference tool, browse our Microsoft Courses today.