If you have a small business and are trying to stay in touch with your customers and employees, holding virtual meetings through some videoconferencing software is a must. Over the past year, videoconferencing software has grown rapidly in popularity. Finding the best software can be a bit of a chore, so we've rounded up some of the best options for small and medium-sized businesses.
Zoom
Zoom offers a wide range of plans for businesses. With Zoom, users can sign up for monthly or annual subscriptions with prices ranging from free to $200 (165 euros) per year. The free plan allows users to hold meetings with up to 100 participants. However, group meetings are limited to 40 minutes, while 1:1 meetings are unlimited in time.
For small groups, Zoom offers a business plan, which unlocks the 30-hour time limit on group meetings, but is still limited to 100 participants. Users can also share their meetings on social media and get access to 1GB of cloud per license, with up to nine licenses per account.
Zoom also offers a plan specifically for small businesses, priced at $20 per month per license or €165 per year per license. This plan allows hosting up to 300 participants.
Many small businesses are probably covered by Zoom’s free membership if they mostly do 1:1 meetings. Another great feature that Zoom offers for all plans is the ability to share your screen with other viewers during a meeting. This allows the host and participants to share information about the meeting and makes video conferencing very efficient.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a great platform for businesses that are investing in Microsoft software products. Microsoft offers a free Teams subscription that offers meetings for up to 300 people, as well as screen sharing and custom backgrounds. Another advantage of using the free version of Teams is the use of web versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.
Small businesses that want to record their meetings can upgrade to Microsoft 365 Business Basic for $5 per user per month. Microsoft 365 users have access to the meeting and calling features in Microsoft Teams, but with additional features available to Microsoft 365 subscribers.
If your business needs a simple video conferencing program, then Microsoft Teams is an option that has you covered.
Skype
Skype is another videoconferencing client from Microsoft that has been around for many years. Skype’s free subscription supports up to 50 participants for unlimited time. Skype has a call recording feature that can be activated by any participant. When activated, it will notify all participants in the call that the call is being recorded and the recordings are available for storage and sharing for up to 30 days.
Cisco Webex
Cisco has had a very good business strategy for years, and with Webex, it helps businesses with an easy-to-use video conferencing platform. Like many platforms, Cisco offers free and paid plans for users.
The free version of Webex offers many features, such as meetings of up to 100 users for up to 50 minutes, screen sharing, interactive tools, saving recordings to computer , etc. For small to medium businesses that don't do meetings involving many people, Webex could be beneficial.
Additionally, for businesses looking to record their meetings and extend meeting times, Cisco offers a starter plan for $14 per month. With the starter plan, users can access 5GB of recording storage and unlocks the duration of each meeting to 24 hours.
With so many options, finding the best video conferencing software is possible for any small to medium business. Some software has additional features that can benefit you beyond videoconferencing.
