When most businesspeople think of videoconferencing software, the first thing that comes to mind is probably Microsoft Teams or Zoom, but there are many other choices, each with its own strengths. Sometimes the choice of what tool to use comes down to what’s standard corporate issue — more often than not, that’s Teams — but it’s not uncommon for businesses to use a mix of tools.
“Some organizations don’t want to be reliant on Microsoft for everything, or sometimes an executive likes another tool better,” says Will McKeon-White, senior analyst for unified communications and conversational AI at Forrester Research.
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In this buyer’s guide
- Videoconferencing software: What it is, why enterprises need it
- Current trends in videoconferencing software
- What to look for in videoconferencing software
- Before you shop: Key questions to ask yourself and your stakeholders
- Key questions to ask videoconferencing vendors
- 14 videoconferencing tools to consider
- Essential reading
Videoconferencing software: What it is, why enterprises need it
Videoconferencing services enable users to conduct online video meetings with one or more people who may join the call from their computers, phones, tablets, and room conferencing systems. They integrate with calendaring software for scheduling purposes, and usually include an audio call-in option, screen-sharing capabilities, and nonverbal communication features such as text chat, whiteboarding, and the ability to add reaction emojis.
Business-grade tools also allow for administrative controls that restrict who can join and what can be shared, and offer enhanced security features such as multifactor authentication (MFA), bring your own key (BYOK) end-to-end encryption, and single sign-on (SSO). Many videoconferencing systems integrate with conference room video hardware from the same vendor and/or third-party vendors.
Videoconferencing software has long been a useful tool for remote employees who needed to engage with their teams, and it was a nice-to-have for communicating with customers and partners when face-to-face meetings were impractical. Then, in 2020, everything changed. Videoconferencing rose to critical infrastructure status when, during the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all office employees suddenly found themselves working from home. Licensing of videoconferencing software and services soared — Zoom nearly doubled its revenue in 2021 — and innovation increased as vendors competed for a piece of a much larger pie. The software saw rapid improvements as vendors raced to add new features, including better audio and video quality and enhanced security.
Nearly five years later, large numbers of employees have returned to the office, but many still telecommute one or more days per week. Videoconferencing software remains an essential part of business communications.
Current trends in videoconferencing software
Nowadays, videoconferencing software may seem like a well-defined, mature product space, but change is still afoot. “The weird thing about the videoconferencing software market is that it’s being subsumed into unified communications [UC],” says McKeon-White.
IDC’s term for this software category is unified communications and collaboration (UC&C), which the research firm describes as “an advanced telephony solution integrated with messaging (i.e., email, voice, and fax), instant messaging (IM) or chat, presence, and conferencing platforms for web conferencing, audioconferencing, and/or videoconferencing.” Many UC&C suites include additional collaboration features such as file sharing and virtual whiteboards. And while chat sessions in traditional, standalone videoconferencing systems typically end when the call terminates, vendor-hosted UC as a service (UCaaS) systems often include persistent chat functions that continue even after a videoconferencing session ends.
Like Forrester, IDC says most standalone videoconferencing software is being folded into larger UC&C suites. Videoconferencing apps are also found in productivity app suites such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, which is one reason why Microsoft Teams has dominated the space. It has a 44.7% share of the $69 billion UC&C software market, according to IDC, while Zoom, its nearest competitor, sits at 6.4%.
That domination was also driven by the fact that, until this year, Microsoft bundled Teams with most Microsoft 365 licenses. “That got pushback from regulators,” Forrester’s McKeon-White says, so now new enterprise customers must pay $5.25 per user per month for Teams as an add-on. “But most companies already have Teams now and can purchase it through existing licenses,” he adds.
Innovative AI-based features such as real-time transcription, text insertion, and multiparty translation have also changed the user experience, according to McKeon-White. With some products, “each user can see a translation of what’s said in their native language through captioning. That’s happening now,” he says.
Another feature, image upscaling, sends lower-resolution audio and video to other participants’ devices, which can then “upscale” the quality. “It’s much easier now to have a smooth experience over poor connections,” McKeon-White says.
Finally, emerging AI features are “closing the loop between what users say in a videoconferencing session and action items,” he says. For example, if a participant needs to look up an account record in the CRM system to determine its status, “a bot says, ‘Would you like me to do that for you?’ or it identifies that it needs to be done and pulls the record right into the conversation.” It can do so by rendering the CRM interface right into a chat window or by extracting the information and presenting it.
Early experiments with AI didn’t go well because the AI didn’t comprehend exactly what people were asking in conversation, but the technology has seen “massive improvements” of late, McKeon-White says. While vendors are still experimenting with this function, you can expect to see more and better capabilities like this going forward, he says.
What to look for in videoconferencing software
Every vendor offers similar features, but the user experience can vary significantly. Consider both user familiarity with a given tool and whether the user experience is “good enough.” If it doesn’t meet expectations, some users may turn to more familiar, easy-to-use options such as Zoom.
“I see standardization on Teams,” McKeon-White says, but sometimes an exception is better for the business, such as when communicating with people in external organizations who use different software.
While a company standard is good to have, there’s no reason to force everyone to use one videoconferencing service exclusively, says Jitesh Gera, research manager for UC&C at IDC. It’s OK to opt for different tool choices that meet the needs of each kind of user, such as for sales, customer service, developers, or IT.
Consider whether a given tool is the dominant one in your industry. For example, Zoom has a big footprint in healthcare and financial services, for Cisco it’s government, GoTo is the preference for IT teams because of its advanced screen-share capabilities, and Microsoft is virtually everywhere, says McKeon-White. And some tools offer Slack integration that lets users keep an audio or video line open while working on their own screens. That “more Discord-like experience” is a plus for software development teams, he says.
Also, consider how well a product fits in with your UC&C suite, and what new and innovative AI-based features may be available or planned.
Finally, the videoconferencing software you choose needs to integrate well with your existing meeting room conferencing systems. “Companies have started to prioritize AI meeting room videoconferencing capabilities such as adaptive speaker framing [which zooms in on the participant who’s talking], multiple camera layouts, and virtual meeting zones,” which are the top three factors when choosing a UC&C system, says Gera.
Before you shop: Key questions to ask yourself and your stakeholders
- Do you already have software that you can use for videoconferencing? For example, is there a videoconferencing component in your UC&C suite?
- Are there needs that aren’t being met by your current solution? Is the tool currently in use easy to use, or do users dislike the user experience so much that they turn to other videoconferencing options?
- What types of communication needs does your organization have? Do they include internal only or also internal-to-external partners and customers? Are there specific needs for certain groups, such as sales, finance, IT, or software engineering?
- What types of room conferencing system hardware do you have and what are the compatibility options for videoconferencing software?
- What’s your budget?
Key questions to ask videoconferencing vendors
- How effective is the videoconferencing software at enhancing productivity and collaboration? Do you have any metrics?
- In what ways is the experience better than the product(s) my organization already has?
- Is the software easy to use? How many clicks does it take to start a meeting?
- Does it support screen sharing?
- Is there a whiteboard function?
- Are there browser, desktop, and mobile app options?
- Does it integrate with my organization’s calendaring system and other key systems, such as our project management software?
- Does it integrate seamlessly with our room conferencing system hardware?
- How do you secure it for enterprise use? Does it support SSO MFA? LDAP? Watermarking for shared documents? What type of encryption is offered? Does it support BYOK encryption?
- What administrative and data access controls does the software offer? For example, does it offer data sensitivity labeling, and can we restrict user or group access to specific documents?
- What regulatory compliance standards does it meet?
- What session quality enhancements does it support (image blurring, noise suppression, image upscaling, etc.)?
- Does it support session recording and retention policies?
- What is the vendor’s feature road map and plan for AI evolution? “Are they too dependent on external providers for AI? If so, they may not be very innovative,” says Gera.
- Does the software have features specifically tailored to my industry vertical?
- Where is data associated with videoconferencing sessions routed and hosted geographically? “We’ve seen instances where traffic was routed through countries that were less than desirable,” says McKeon-White.
- What are the uptime and reliability guarantees?
- Does the software support hybrid on-premises/cloud deployments for high availability? For example, Microsoft offers the Survivability Branch Appliance for Teams that can keep sessions going when the cloud-based service is unavailable.
- What are my pricing options?
14 videoconferencing tools to consider
The top four videoconferencing software products by market share are Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Cisco Webex, and Google Meet, according to IDC and Forrester. Some tools are available only as part of broader UC&C offerings. Here’s a brief summary of products from 14 vendors, listed alphabetically, that have offerings in the videoconferencing services space.
8×8 Communications Platform
8×8’s videoconferencing software is just one feature of its 8×8 Communications Platform, a UC&C offering tailored to the needs of contact centers. It includes a 99.999% service level agreement with 24×7 technical support; can live stream meetings on YouTube; includes its own mobile, desktop, and web apps; and integrates with Teams as well as major CRM and service and support applications. The 8×8 Communications Platform supports polls and virtual break-out rooms for meetings; includes an intelligent assistant; and offers administrative controls, analytics, and reporting.
Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Rainbow
Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, the French telecommunications hardware and software company, describes its Rainbow offering as “a secure ‘à-la-carte’ cloud-based communications and collaboration platform.” It supports meetings of up to 120 participants and 12 simultaneous video streams; is compliant with ISO 27001, GDPR, and CCPA; and can be deployed in on-premises or hybrid configurations. It offers integrations for Microsoft Teams as well as on-premises telephone systems. Other options include a system designed for use in conference rooms and another designed for virtual classrooms.
Avaya Spaces
Avaya Spaces, Avaya’s UC&C platform, includes “one-click” voice and videoconference calling as well as text chat, and supports meetings with up to 1,000 people. It’s compatible with Google, Microsoft 365, Teams, Salesforce, and Slack and offers an API for custom integrations. Spaces can record meetings, has retention policy controls, is HIPAA and GDPR compliant, and offers single sign-on and encryption for data in transit and at rest.
AI-driven features include background noise cancellation, meeting transcription, and closed captioning. Users can connect via browser, desktop, or mobile app, with user interface versions available in 26 languages.
Cisco Webex Meetings
Webex Meetings is part of Cisco’s comprehensive UC&C suite that also includes calling, event management, whiteboards, polling, messaging, webinar support, and other features. The software integrates with a wide array of general-business and vertical-specific enterprise apps.
A free version supports meeting durations of up to 40 minutes. The entry-level paid version includes an AI assistant that can translate conversations through closed captions, write messages, and summarize meetings and messages. All versions offer end-to-end encryption and HIPAA/BAA compliance; the enterprise version is FedRAMP authorized and offers bring your own key end-to-end encryption and watermarking. Cisco also sells several Webex-compatible desktop and meeting room video hardware devices.
Dialpad
Dialpad’s videoconferencing service includes enterprise, small business, and free versions, with UC&C editions designed for general business, sales, and contact centers. “Dialpad is strong in chat intelligence…business analytics…international support and real-time user insights,” according to Forrester. It integrates with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, and several CRM tools, and includes AI-driven meeting and call transcription, screen and meeting recording, data retention policies, and analytics and reporting functions.
Dialpad adjusts video resolution to available bandwidth for each connection to reduce video freeze-ups. It can support up to 150 participants through browser, desktop, and mobile apps. A meeting room version is also available. Session encryption and single sign-on are supported, and Dialpad is HIPAA compliant.
Google Meet
Google’s cloud-based Google Meet videoconferencing software includes a free version that supports meetings up to one hour long. The Google One Premium version includes call recording, noise cancellation, and the ability to live stream meetings on YouTube. Chat is a separate app.
The business version, bundled into the Google Workspace collaboration suite, supports longer meetings, offers higher-quality video and includes meeting recording with transcripts. It works with Google’s Gemini AI assistant (which requires a separate subscription) for real-time translation and generating meeting summaries. The enterprise version of Meet includes more advanced security features such as bring your own key end-to-end encryption.
GoTo Meeting
GoTo Meeting (formerly LogMeIn), available in business and enterprise editions, is one element in a collaboration suite of UC&C offerings that also includes GoTo Webinars and GoTo Training. The GoTo UC&C offerings fall into three categories: business communications, contact centers, and IT management and support. The vendor promotes its security and privacy features (single sign-on, end-to-end encryption, HIPAA compliance, one-time meeting passwords, meeting locking) and 99.9999% uptime SLA.
Key features include recordings and transcriptions for meetings with up to 250 participants, background noise suppression, screen sharing, drawing tools, and virtual breakout rooms. GoTo Meeting also works with H.323-enabled room conferencing systems. A14-day free trial version of GoTo Meeting Business is available.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft’s Teams dominates in the enterprise videoconferencing space because it’s tightly integrated with Microsoft 365, the office productivity suite that many large organizations already use. Teams offers VoIP calling, webinar hosting, a whiteboard, and integration with PowerPoint, and it’s compatible with a wide range of room conferencing systems. Calls, meetings, chat sessions, and files can be encrypted.
Another element, Microsoft Mesh, creates “immersive 3D spaces” where participant avatars can interact in a virtual meeting room. The optional Microsoft 365 Copilot AI assistant can summarize, suggest action items, and provide real-time translation for videoconference and chat sessions.
Microsoft is “increasingly dictating the direction of the UCaaS market,” with many other vendors offering Teams integration, Forrester reports, although it adds that “licensing is needlessly complicated.” A basic version of Teams is available for free.
Mitel MiCollab
Videoconferencing is one element of the Mitel MiCollab UC&C suite, which includes voice, video, chat messaging, SMS messaging, web conferencing, and team collaboration tools. It can run on-site or over virtualized public or private cloud infrastructure. It integrates with the company’s business phone system offerings as well as Microsoft 365, Teams, and the Zoom Workplace Platform. MiCollab apps are available for Windows, macOS, and mobile devices.
Ooma Meetings
VoIP phone system provider Ooma offers Ooma Meetings as part of its Ooma Office Pro and Ooma Office Pro Plus collaboration and small business phone system services. It offers client software for macOS and Windows desktops as well as browser-based access. Features include a dashboard for scheduling meetings with up to 100 meeting participants, background noise cancellation, screen sharing, whiteboarding, chat, meeting recording (stored for three months), and integration with Microsoft and Google calendars.
RingCentral Video
UC&C platform vendor RingCentral offers a standalone enterprise edition of its videoconferencing offering, RingCentral Video Pro+, as well as a more limited, free version. Video Pro+ supports meetings of up to 200 participants for up to 24 hours’ duration. Features include a whiteboard, content sharing, meeting recording, a collaborative notes space, and background noise cancellation.
An AI assistant creates real-time closed captions, transcriptions, and meeting summaries. Security and administration features include end-to-end encryption, single sign-on, data retention policy controls, and usage and performance analytics. Versions for conference rooms and webinars are available as add-ons.
Vonage Meetings
Part of the Vonage Business Communications (VBC) software suite, Vonage Meetings supports meetings with up to 200 participants; includes chat, whiteboard, and recording features; integrates with both Google and Outlook calendars; and has desktop and mobile clients for macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. Security and privacy features include support for SSO, MFA, and encryption. VBC is HIPAA and GDPR compliant.
Zoho Meeting
Zoho Meeting supports both videoconference meetings with up to 250 participants and webinars with up to 5,000 attendees for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices. It integrates with the Zoho Workplace calendar and offers chat, digital whiteboards, screen sharing, session recording, virtual breakout rooms, live polls, and AI-generated meeting transcriptions and summaries.
Sessions can be streamed live on YouTube, and a version for meeting rooms is available as an add-on. It also offers session encryption and analytics for administrators. A feature-limited, free version supports up to 100 users per session for up to 60 minutes.
Zoom
Zoom, which rose to fame during the pandemic for its easy-to-use interface, remains a major player in the videoconferencing software space — Forrester says it offers a “best-in-class video experience.” Like its competitors, Zoom has expanded beyond video meetings, now offering a UC&C suite called Zoom Workplace that includes include chat, a whiteboard, meeting recording, email, a calendaring system for scheduling, and Zoom Docs, a built-in document creation tool.
While consumers may gravitate to the basic, free version, the business versions allow for longer meetings and provide an AI assistant, Zoom AI Companion, that can summarize meetings (including a catch-up summary if a user comes into a meeting late), draft messages, and provide real-time translation. Zoom Phone, the company’s VoIP telephony offering, is included with enterprise Zoom Workplace subscriptions and available as an add-on for small-business plans.
A one-year subscription to Essential Apps, a set of third-party add-ons with functions ranging from meeting summarization to gamification to virtual breakout rooms, is also included with enterprise licenses, except for organizations in government, education, and healthcare. Bring-your-own-key end-to-end encryption is a standard feature.