With the majority of the planet being kept indoors for the foreseeable future you may be struggling to hold that Monday morning meeting with your co workers or complete face to face interviews etc, this is where remote conferencing tools come into play. The good news is that there are dozens out there with myriad of features. Here is our breakdown of our top few choices.
Video calling is a given but you also might want to share documents / send messages and create meeting rooms plus much more.
Number One – Microsoft Teams
It may not be as simple to use as some of the other remote conferencing options available and you will need a Microsoft Account to set Teams up but crucially its FREE – Head over to their website for full details
In short you get the following out of the box with Teams:
- Free video calling to other Teams users – If they don’t have teams you can send them a link to set Teams up
- Add co workers to ‘groups’ so you can send group chats
- Easy drag and drop of shared documents and files within groups and individual chat sessions
- Integration into Microsoft One Drive cloud storage
- Easily install Teams onto iOS and Android devices for seamless integration (accept video calls etc on the move)
Number Two – Zoom
Zoom has become so popular that even HM Government use it as their go to remote conferencing and collaboration tool
Zoom is ideal if you are looking to video chat with a lot of people – If you have a board meeting with 30 people for example this will be a good choice. They also offer a free service however you are limited to 40 mins max per group call with the free option but unlimited 1-1 calls.
You can also do voice recording as well as screen sharing – This might be ideal for teachers or training.
- Ideal for large groups
- Screen sharing
- Chat
- Screen recording and call recording – ideal for training
- Free plan includes 40 min max group chats and unlimited 1-1 chats
Check it out here
Number Three – Whats App
Ah good old Whats App! Most people use this on their smartphones but did you know that you can use a desktop version of Whats App allowing you to continue or start chats from your office computer?
It does not have quite the same features remote conferencing features as Zoom or Teams and its geared more towards simple messaging and calling but you can still share files (up to 100 MB) and video or voice call safe in the knowledge that Whats App encryption is end to end so your calls and chats are very secure.
As a bonus if you invite someone to join a chat its a safe bet that they already have Whats App installed so no need to get them to install software first.
As always if you need assistance setting up remote collaboration or conferencing then give us a call
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