With so many people working remotely right now, it’s no wonder you’re hearing about Microsoft Teams and Zoom more than ever. If you’re wondering which is better for you or your organization, I’ve compiled some of the key points to consider below.
Integration
Zoom
Zoom has add-ins available for Outlook, Google Calendar, Chrome, and more, but no built-in integration as Zoom is a standalone product. You can read more about their integration partners here.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams has integration with Outlook via two different plugins–one designed for meetings (automatically installed if you have both Teams and Outlook), and one designed for sharing emails with Teams. It’s also important to note that Microsoft Teams is a dedicated application that does so much more than meetings. Integration options are nearly endless for Microsoft users, allowing you to access everything from OneNote to Dynamics 365 to tons of third-party applications.
Security
Zoom
Zoom has recently had some high-profile security issues that have pushed them to release a multitude of security upgrades, such as enabling their waiting room on by default, updated host controls, and required complex meeting passwords. For more information on these security updates, see this blog post.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is unique in that it’s such a deep application with uses extending far beyond just meetings. With that in mind, however, the security features are extremely robust. Teams is compliant with HIPAA, GDPR, and FERPA, just to name a few. For meetings specifically, hosts specify who from outside your organization can join a meeting directly, and who must be enter a waiting room to be accepted into a meeting, much like Zoom. For more on Microsoft Teams security, check out this page as well as this Microsoft blog post from April addressing video conferencing security specifically.
Meeting Features
Zoom
- Edit video background
- Options for screensharing: view two monitors simultaneously or two users’ screens simultaneously
- Up to 100 audio participants and 49 video participants per page
A free version is available with the following limitations:
- 40-minute meeting time limit
- No Call-in option
- No meeting recording
For more features and pricing details, see this page.
Microsoft Teams
- Edit video background
- Options for screensharing: share desktop, a specific window, PowerPoint files, or meeting whiteboard (which can be saved).
- If continuing to work in Teams during a meeting, the meeting will pop out into a small window that you can move within the application—a great use case would be participating in a meeting and collaborating on a file within Teams simultaneously
- Up to 9 video participants* and 250 audio participants
*Microsoft is actively working to increase this
A free version is available with the following limitations:
- No call-in option
- No scheduled meetings (NOTE: Scheduled meeting is being rolled out for Free users beginning March 2020)
- No meeting recording (NOTE: Meeting recording is being rolled out for Free users beginning March 2020)
Note: for Enterprises, a six-month free trial of Office 365 E1 is currently available (as of 5/18/2020), which includes the full version of Teams. For small and medium-sized businesses, a free one-month trial of Microsoft 365 Business Standard is available (as of 5/18/2020), which includes the full version of Teams.
Bottom Line
Zoom is a great option for casual users wanting to meet with their friends and family during this time–especially with the recently rolled-out security features. The features (like 49 video streams per page!) are impressive for free accounts and stack up to the competition. In my opinion, however, there’s little debate for business users. Between the reliable security and extensive collaboration and integration features, Microsoft Teams is hands-down the better option for organizations.
Please note that Microsoft and Zoom are frequently rolling out new features for both the premium and free versions of their software—this is current as of 5/18/2020.
