Find the best Video Conferencing Software

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TrainerCentral

TrainerCentral is a cloud-based learning management system that helps educational institutes create and deliver online courses. Educators can build their websites, publish online courses and collect payments. Key features include ...Read more about TrainerCentral

Frameable MultiShare

Frameable MultiShare is a cloud-based tool that helps organizations reimagine remote collaboration. With Frameable MultiShare, users can embrace a more dynamic and efficient way of working together. One of its standout features i...Read more about Frameable MultiShare

4.6 (5 reviews)

Ant Media Server

Ant Media provides ready-to-use, highly scalable real-time video streaming (0.5 seconds latency) solutions for live video streaming needs. Based on customer requirements and preferences, it enables a live video streaming solution ...Read more about Ant Media Server

4.5 (6 reviews)

GlobalMeet Webcast

GlobalMeet is the leading webcasting solution for flawlessly executing polished, versatile communications at scale. From small teams to corporate giants, GlobalMeet is highly trusted by Fortune 500 companies around the world. 50%...Read more about GlobalMeet Webcast

Phone.com

Phone.com is a cloud-based PBX business phone solution that caters to small businesses in industries such as retail, technology, services, lifestyle, health and education. It offers users SIP trunking service together with PBX ser...Read more about Phone.com

Callbridge

Callbridge is an online meeting software. Meeting transcriptions are powered by AI. Callbridge can automatically record your meetings and create transcriptions. Its complex algorithms identify different speakers and is able to giv...Read more about Callbridge

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Draw.Chat

Draw.Chat is a cloud-based virtual classroom and video conferencing solution that assists businesses of all sizes with a drawing board, real-time image editing and file sharing. Its key features include chat room creation, instant...Read more about Draw.Chat

4.7 (6 reviews)

PeekTime

PeekTime is a cloud-based video conferencing solution used for video, voice, chat, desktop sharing and whiteboards. Key features include meeting dashboard, invitation emails, directory and public chat. It suitable for teams workin...Read more about PeekTime

4.7 (6 reviews)

eyeson

eyeson is a cloud-based video conferencing software that is suitable for businesses of all sizes. The solution is suitable for business teams that operate mainly through online communication as. eyeson provides features such ...Read more about eyeson

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TeamViewer Remote

TeamViewer is an online meeting and video conferencing solution that connects any PC, mobile, and server to each other globally. The solution is available in nearly all countries and supports over 30 languages. TeamViewer is suita...Read more about TeamViewer Remote

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Webinato

Webinato is a cloud-based video conferencing solution that allows businesses to create webinars for training, sales, and marketing. The solution allows businesses to conduct live or pre-recorded webinar sessions and engage audienc...Read more about Webinato

WebinarJam

WebinarJam is a cutting-edge webinar hosting software that empowers businesses, educational institutions, and individual entrepreneurs to conduct large-scale, interactive, and engaging online events. It is engineered to provide a ...Read more about WebinarJam

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RingCentral MVP

RingCentral MVP is a cloud-based business communications solution that offers tools for Messaging, Video and Phone. Core features of the solution include conferencing, auto-recording and unlimited long-distance and local calling. ...Read more about RingCentral MVP

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Livestorm

Livestorm enables powerful, yet pain-free video engagements at scale. Our end-to-end video engagement platform enables organizations to create professional video engagements that can be easily managed in one place. Livestorm is a...Read more about Livestorm

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TurboMeeting

TurboMeeting is a collaboration solution that provides real-time applications including web conferencing, remote support, audio conferencing, video conferencing, remote access and webinar support. The tool supports webcams for ind...Read more about TurboMeeting

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BlueJeans Meetings

BlueJeans is a cloud-based video conferencing solution that helps mid to large size businesses with text chat, content sharing, multiple participants and meeting recording. Blue Jeans delivers services through products including B...Read more about BlueJeans Meetings

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Zoom

Zoom Meetings is a cloud-based video conferencing software solution that allows organizations in the educational, financial, health care, and government sectors to conduct virtual meetings and collaborate in real-time using integr...Read more about Zoom

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FreeConferenceCall.com

FreeConferenceCall.com is a conferencing platform with over 800,000 business users, including 500 well-known companies. It caters to users around the globe, offering screen sharing, high-definition audio conferencing and video con...Read more about FreeConferenceCall.com

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GoTo Meeting

An industry leader in online video conferencing for companies around the world, GoTo Meeting now comes as part of GoTo Connect, the all-in-one communications software built for SMBs. The Meeting solution, available to buy standalo...Read more about GoTo Meeting

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Proficonf

Proficonf is a web-based video conferencing solution that helps small to large organizations manage multiple participants, HD video streaming and recordings. Its key features include digital whiteboards, screen sharing, cryptograp...Read more about Proficonf

4.8 (4 reviews)

Buyers Guide

Last Updated: January 10, 2024

More companies are employing remote workers than ever before. According to a 2017 Gallup poll, from 2012 to 2016 the number of employees working remotely rose from 39% to 43%.

While there are many reasons behind this trend, there's only one thing that made it all possible in the first place—technology. From email to cloud software (including online collaboration platforms), modern IT provides the collection of tools that has allowed so many companies to expand their workforces beyond their physical location.

Video conferencing software is one of the most important, and most relied upon, tools making remote work possible. Companies with multiple offices also rely on video conferencing software to hold meetings and communicate with geographically distant coworkers and employees. In this guide, we'll cover the following:

What Is Video Conferencing Software?

Common Features of Video Conferencing Software

Benefits and Potential Issues

Market Trends to Understand

What Is Video Conferencing Software?

Video conferencing software provides a platform with which organizations can hold meetings with participants that are in multiple separate locations. Skype, for example, is one of the most popular video conferencing solutions used regularly by small and midsize businesses.

Video conferencing software is similar to several other types of software. While there are no hard and fast rules defining them, we can point out some of the general differences to help you in your search for the right product. For example:

  • Business phone systems sometimes include conferencing functionality, and some even include video conferencing functionality. These can be either on-premise or cloud-based systems, but the video conferencing applications are generally secondary to—and rarely as robust as—the applications for voice calls.

  • Online meeting software typically contains a wider range of functionality than dedicated video conferencing software. For example, it might include tools for polling meeting attendees, apps for setting up persistent online meeting rooms and tools for moderating attendee participation.

  • Telepresence solutions aim to provide very high-definition video and audio feeds, with the aim of providing a more immersive experience. They often use different codecs (formulas for compressing audio and video streams) and many require the installation of dedicated hardware, such as HD video screens, cameras, and microphones. Telepresence solutions are most common among large enterprises.

Common Features of Video Conferencing Software

Screen-sharing

Allows a user to view another user's screen and activity in real time. Included in most stand-alone video conferencing solutions and some VoIP phone systems, this application is particularly valuable for remote workers.

Virtual whiteboard

Provides a simple space on the screen where meeting participants can write notes or draw simple diagrams to share with other meeting attendees. These are typically viewable by all meeting participants.

Recording

Allows participants in a conference to record audio and video for later review. Some solutions also allow users to broadcast pre-recorded content or automatically play messages for attendees.

In-app chat

Provides an integrated text chat functionality so meeting participants can chat with the group. Private in-app chat lets users chat one-on-one or with select members of the group.

Calendar integration

Streamlines the process of organizing a video conference by letting invitation recipients automatically add the event to their work calendars. Most major calendar applications are typically supported (e.g., Outlook).

Quality of Service (QoS)

QoS functions help prioritize the video conferencing traffic on local networks (and through local hardware such as routers and firewalls) to ensure audio and video quality isn't degraded by network bandwidth constraints.

SIP compatibility

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) compatibility helps ensure your video conferencing software solution will work seamlessly with your company's SIP-compatible desk phones.

Moderation

Allows conference hosts to do things such as add, drop and mute participants. While more common in solutions marketed as "online meeting" solutions, moderation tools are also included in some video conferencing platforms.

Benefits and Potential Issues

Some of the benefits of video conferencing software include:

Improved collaboration. Video conferencing allows for more effective collaboration than email and phone calls alone. Companies find great value in having face-to-face meetings, even when they're done virtually via a video conferencing solution.

Cost savings. Video conferences can be used to save time and travel costs of going to remote locations for meetings. Additionally, some platforms can be used to produce and stream webcasts whenever the content needs to be rebroadcast (for example, as part of an employee onboarding process).

Smaller carbon footprint. Reducing the number of flights employees take to travel for meetings can greatly reduce a company's carbon footprint. According to the New York Times, a single round-trip flight between New York and California accounts for about 1/5th of the carbon emitted by a car over an entire year.

Some potential issues to be aware of:

Network bandwidth. The bandwidth needed for video conferencing can be significant. This can add to a company's ISP expenses and in some cases can necessitate upgrades to a company's internal networking hardware.

IT security. Video conferencing platforms can introduce complexities from an IT security standpoint. For example, companies that rely on VPN services for securing remote access, may find they need to investigate other solutions if their VPN provider is incompatible with their conferencing solution.

Market Trends to Understand

The primary trend, mentioned in the introduction above, is the increasing use of remote working arrangements. Not only are more companies hiring full-time remote employees, but those employees who split time between remote and on-site work are spending an increasing proportion of their time working remotely. The trend towards remote work is growing and growing on several fronts.

Another trend worth considering is employee use of personal devices for work purposes. This trend is occurring both officially— in the context of Bring Your Own Device policies— and unofficially, in contexts that lack any official policy either forbidding or allowing the practice. In any event, if your company's staff uses personal devices for work, then any video conferencing solution should be evaluated for its compatibility with that wider variety of devices.