If your organization is like most, it has embraced hybrid work, and employees are working flexibly across multiple locations – both remotely and in the office. Hybrid work can offer many benefits in terms of convenience, work-life balance, and savings for companies on business travel, but to make hybrid work as efficient and productive as possible, your organization needs to have the right tools.
Video conferencing has become standard practice for many employees, but it’s important that organizations choose the platform that suits their needs and price points best. In fact, 86% of workers regularly have online meetings, compared to 83% who have fully in-person meetings on a regular basis. Video conferencing platforms are becoming essential for effective collaboration, and there are numerous applications and platforms to choose from for video conferencing.
Some, such as Cisco WebEx, are industry standards but can be expensive. Other platforms are growing in popularity and may even be offered free or at a low cost. Here is a list of the top nine video conferencing platforms for enabling productive online meetings for your hybrid teams, at any price point. Each of these software options works well with the Meeting Owl suite, and helps hybrid teams feel more connected.
What is the best free video meeting app?
These video meeting apps are trusted teleconferencing platforms with options for organizations of any size. For teams who have found themselves adapting to an increasingly hybrid work environment, these user-friendly platforms will enable glitch-free, seamless communication. Many of these platforms offer free video conferencing and a range of tools and integrations to ensure your hybrid teams are getting the most out of their video chats.
The best video meeting apps for teams
1. Zoom
Zoom is one of the most popular video conferencing solutions for businesses. It is feature-rich, with various plans based on business size and needs. Prices range from their free plan for personal and team meetings, to $19.99/month/host (with a minimum of 100 hosts) for large enterprises. Millions of worldwide Zoom users happily use the free plan, but if you are looking for something more robust for your remote teams, the enterprise-level plan includes up to 300 meeting participants, scheduling, managed domains and customized branding among other features. Try the Meeting Owl + Zoom today.
2. Slack
An extremely popular collaboration tool used in organizations all over the globe, Slack has integrated video conferencing features. If your organization is not using Slack, adopting it for video conferencing probably doesn't make much sense. But, if you are already utilizing Slack, it is an easy way to make quick calls.
Video conferencing is an add-on to the functionality of Slack and can be a great tool for integrating hybrid teams. One-on-one video chat is part of Slack's free account offerings. Monthly pricing for small teams starts at $8.75 per month, and the business plan is $15 a month, both of which include Slack huddle videos for up to 50 people. Additional capabilities require a customized quote for enterprise pricing.
3. Microsoft Teams
Teams integrates with the rest of the Microsoft suite, making it a useful tool for organizations that already use other Microsoft products for email and scheduling.
Teams includes screen sharing capabilities, audio and video recording, and other standard video conferencing features for business in addition to workspaces, chat features and direct calling within the platform.
Pricing for business use of Teams for enterprise can be bundled with monthly subscriptions that also include Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook. For companies under 300 employees, pricing ranges from $6 to $22 per user per month depending on the plan. For enterprise, Microsoft Teams can be purchased as a standalone addition for $5.25/user/month.
Looking for hardware that seamlessly works with Microsoft Teams? Check out the Meeting Owl 3 - it's Microsoft Teams certified!
4. BigBlueButton
The open-source BigBlueButton features whiteboard capability for meeting productivity and was created specifically for education and online learning. As a free open source tool, there are many add-ons and integrations through third-party developers that allow for customized web conferencing experiences, including an integration with Learning Management Systems (LMS) that will make for a seamless student and teacher experience.
Some of the free features of BigBlueButton include:
- Audio and video screen sharing
- Breakout rooms
- Collaboration tools such as whiteboard, shared notes, and polling
5. Whereby
This video chat service is ideal for small organizations that want a simple method for connecting team members. It features quick service due to its streamlined nature. Whereby doesn't require an app download or login. Instead, users simply share their meeting link and anyone can join in-browser. For hybrid companies, there’s a colocation feature for hybrid meetings that allows all in-room participants to join on their laptops with audio on without echo. Whereby starts free, but teams will want to pay $11.99/month for the business plan, which will allow multiple users and admins.
6. GoToMeeting
GoTo Meeting pricing starts at $14/month for a professional plan covering up to 150 employees and $19 a month for a business plan for 250 employees, with custom enterprise plans available for up to 250 employees.
This teleconference tool, formerly known as GoToMeeting, is worth the cost, which includes features such as:
- Screen sharing on desktops, tablet, or smartphone
- HD video conferencing
- A Smart Meeting Assistant that allows you to generate an automated transcription as you record a meeting
- Business messaging that can transition from a chat box to a video call with the click of a button
7. Cisco WebEx
An industry-standard service, especially for those with a large number of team members or an exceptionally large enterprise, Cisco's WebEx video conferencing service operates as a combination of web conferencing and voice calling services, as it enables joining meetings online or by phone, depending on the participant's location and ability at the time.
Pricing starts at $12/user/month for Webex Meet, with pans including Meet and Call functionalities costing more. Companies can also choose to add on live translation in meetings for an additional fee.
8. Google Meet
Created for enterprise customers, the Google conference call software is Google Meet. Google Meet is designed around scheduled video meetings among team members, with similar features to Zoom like calendar syncing, conference room booking, and a more polished user interface.
The Business Plus plan allows for 5 TB of pooled storage, custom business emails, and meetings of up to 500 users for $18 per user per month, but there are less costly plans for smaller organizations and, on the other end of the spectrum, enterprise plans allowing for up to 1,000-person meetings available with pricing upon request.
9. Blackboard Collaborate
Zoho offers secure online audio and video conferencing. The Zoho Meeting suite supports webinars, live streaming, standard conference needs like screen sharing and session recording at an accessible price point, The free plan supports meetings of up to 100 people for up to 60 minutes. If you need additional time or people in your meeting, Zoho’s professional plan is $3 per host per month, while enterprise webinar capabilities will run you $66 per organizer per month.
