What are the best meeting apps for business

Meeting apps and their types

There are many different types of meeting platforms available, and it can be challenging to decide which one is best for your business. In general, there are three main types of meeting software: traditional conference calling, video conferencing, and collaborative apps.

Conference calling. This type of software provides an easy way for people to participate in meetings without having to be in the same room. Participants usually connect either through their phones over a landline connection or through a cloud-based service. Some good examples are Skype and GoToMeeting.

Video conferencing. It allows people to meet face-to-face by sharing video and audio feeds of each other. This type of communication is great when you want to see and talk to everyone who is in the meeting. Some good examples are Zoom and Google Meet.

Collaborative apps. They allow two or more people to work together on a project or task. This can be done through real-time sharing of documents, chat features, audio, and video meetings, or by directly editing the same file. These apps can be very helpful for tasks that require input from multiple people, such as creating a presentation, designing a website, or writing an article. Some good examples are Slack and Asana.

Why choose video conferencing software?

In a business world that is increasingly global, the tools we use to communicate with each other are more important than ever. And video conferencing has become a prevailing one. Why so?

A study by Lifesize found that 94% of businesses notice that video conferencing increases the productivity of their teams. And that's not the only benefit.

Video conferences have introduced a highly convenient and close-to-real-life way to keep in touch with colleagues, customers, and partners all around the world. There are many reasons to choose it over other types of virtual communication software:

• Cost savings
• Time savings
• Improved collaboration
• "Visible" communication
• Better customer service

In addition, a reliable video conferencing app can help your company build its brand by creating a more personal connection with clients and partners

Essential components of the best meeting app

When it comes to meetings, there are many different aspects to consider in order to have a productive and well-organized meeting. It's crucial to choose an app that fully meets the needs of your business. This means it should be able to help with everything from scheduling to note-taking and even voting.

Here are the essential components of reliable video conferencing software:

• Powerful communication tools, such as high-quality video and audio, live chat, file and screen sharing
• Ability to schedule meetings quickly and easily
• Robust annotation and recording
• Tools for real-time collaboration, such as whiteboarding, hand-raising, Q&A, and polling
• Integration with other business platforms
• High-end web security

That's not a final list. You can add as many components as your team requires. Just remember: more features don't always mean higher quality.

6 best video conferencing platforms for business

Our team has picked up six platforms that are definitely worth your attention. Some of them are well-known, while some are quite new. New solutions always bring creative ideas, don't they?

1) Google Meet

Let's start our list with a famous Google-based app - Meet. You may have heard about Google Hangouts. Well, Meet is its direct descendant, but for teams.

We all know Google's passion for suddenly closing old (or just launched) applications and launching new ones. That's the reason why in 2021 the company decided to transition all Hangouts users to its other video chat apps, Meet and Chat.

If you have a Google Workspace subscription, you have access to Meet. This app is created for enterprise clients and designed around scheduled video meetings within a business team. Inside the application has a large set of interactive features for productive remote communication work: high-quality video and audio conferencing, various beautification tools, like virtual backgrounds, file and screen sharing, meeting chat, and more.

Pricing:

Google Meet	$0
Google Workspace Individual	$9.99/month
Google Workspace Enterprise	Custom
Business Starter	$6/user/month
Business Standard	$12/user/month
Business Plus	$18/user/month
Enterprise	Custom

Major features:

• HD video meetings with intelligent noise cancellation
• Breakout rooms
• Customizable layouts
• Easy scheduling synced with your calendar
• Screen sharing
• Dial-in calling
• In-domain live streaming
• Cloud storage for meeting recordings
• Available from your browser, desktop, and mobile
• End-to-end encryption, 2-step verification, and host controls

Meet in numbers:

• Up to 500 participants
• 24-hour meeting duration
• Up to 100,000 viewers
• 24/7 online support
• >5TB cloud storage

2) Webex

Webex is the creation of Cisco, a leading manufacturer of hardware for communication. This app is praised for its high video quality, which is essential for business meetings. Moreover, Webex software includes several solutions for companies: Webex App for small businesses, Webex Suite for enterprises, Customer Experience for customer support departments, and Management for administrative departments.

Webex is mostly aimed at large hybrid and remote teams and enterprises, offering a wide range of features for hosting large-scale online events from all-staff meetings to webinars.

Another useful tool that the app offers is integration. By connecting Webex to your calendar, you can schedule meetings right from the app or get reminders from other services you regularly use at work.

Pricing:

Meet Plan	$15/user/month
Call Plan	$17/user/month
Webex Suite Basic	$0
Webex Suite Business	$25/user/month
Enterprise plan	Custom

Major features:

• High-quality video and audio conferencing
• Smart Webex Assistant: captions and after-meeting transcription, gesture recognition, voice commands
• Multiple-host calls
• Dial-in calling, hold and transfer, call forwarding
• Live streaming from Facebook
• Real-time polls, hand-raising. and Q&A sessions
• Breakout rooms
• Customizable presenter view
• Compatibility with iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and wearable devices
• Whiteboarding and screen sharing
• Unlimited messaging and file sharing
• Powerful security: encrypted meetings and recording, host controls, TLS, HIPAA/BAA compliance, and more

Webex in numbers:

• 24-hour meeting duration
• >10GB cloud storage
• >200 participants
• Real-time translation to >100 languages
• 95% of Fortune 500 companies trust Webex

3) Microsoft Teams

Everyone is familiar with Microsoft. It seems it's been with us since the internet just appeared. But did you know that it offers specialized software for businesses?

Microsoft Teams is an enterprise-level video meeting platform that enables companies and business professionals to host online meetings, collaborate on projects, and share ideas with colleagues. It was launched to replace Skype for Business and since then has earned the trust of a large number of business users.

Another benefit of Teams is that it offers a free version to test out the basic features: collaboration tools, instant messaging, voice and video calls, and file sharing.

Pricing:

Microsoft Teams	$0
Microsoft Teams Essentials	$4/user/month
Microsoft 365 Business Basic	$6/user/month
Microsoft 365 Business Standard	$12.50/user/month

Major features:

• Cloud-based audio, video, and web-based conference calls
• Video call recordings with transcripts
• One-on-one and group messaging with mentions, emojis, and inline translations
• Breakout rooms
• Control dashboard for hosts
• Whiteboarding, polls, and Q&A
• Integration with Microsoft products: Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, Yammer, and Office apps
• Customizable participant layouts: Gallery/Presentation/Compact/Speaker View
• Broadcasting and webinars
• Teams Connect for guest access

Teams in numbers:

• Up to 300 meeting participants
• 30-hour meeting duration
• 1TB of file attachments
• 1TB of cloud storage
• Live Events with up to 1,000 attendees

4) BlueJeans

At first, BlueJeans may seem like a rather simple video chat app. But it's worth using it for a while, holding a few business meetings, and you'll realize what a quality solution it offers for business owners.

All in all, BlueJeans includes three video conference apps: Meetings, Events, and Rooms. Each of them is aimed at certain kinds of web-based events: online meetings, webinars, and virtual conferences. This kind of decision makes BlueJeans an all-in-one solution for small businesses and large enterprises.

What makes this app even more convenient is that no software is required to host or join a video meeting. BlueJeans is available from any web browser.

Pricing:

BlueJeans Standard	$14.99/host/month
BlueJeans Pro	$20.99/host/month
BlueJeans Enterprise	$23.99/host/month
BlueJeans Enterprise Plus	Custom
BlueJeans Video Webinars / Events	$60/month
Large-Scale Video Events	Custom

Major features:

• Unlimited group and one-on-one meetings
• Cloud meeting recording
• Command Center Live
• HD video and Dolby audio
• Interactive meeting dashboard
• Customizable presenter modes: Active Speaker/Gallery View
• Smart meeting highlights
• Collaboration tools: whiteboarding, breakout sessions, group and private chats
• Advanced host controls
• Android and iOS screen sharing
• Powerful security: randomized meeting IDs, room locking, AES encryption

BlueJeans in numbers:

• Up to 200 meeting participants
• ∞ meeting recordings
• Up to 50 hosts
• Up to 150,000 viewers
• 24/7 support

5) Zoom

Zoom is probably the most popular app in the business world. According to recent data, this app has 191,000 enterprise customers as of February 2022. Isn't it huge?

So what is the secret to this popularity? The answer is quite simple: it just does what it promises. Yes, there have been some security problems, but the company has assured everyone that they have been overcome.

Zoom has various plans designed to fit the needs of a company of any size and type: Meetings, Phone, Events & Webinar, Rooms, United, and Contact Center.

Moreover, it's really easy to use. You can create a virtual conference room, share a link to it, and be sure everyone will be able to enter it. Even without having a Zoom account.

Pricing:

Zoom Basic	$0
Zoom Pro	$14.99/license/month
Zoom Business	$19.99/license/month
Zoom Enterprise	$19.99/license/month
Zoom Webinar	$79 - $6,490/license/month
Zoom Events	$99 - $8,440/license/month
Zoom Rooms Licenses	$49/room/month
Zoom Rooms Enterprise	$49/room/month

Major features:

• HD video and audio conferencing
• Screen sharing with different modes and annotations
• Dial-in phone calls
• Breakout and waiting rooms
• Virtual backgrounds
• Private and group messaging
• Live streaming to YouTube, Facebook, or any third-party platform
• Powerful security tools: AES-256 encryption, host controls, SSO
• Remote mouse and keyboard control
• 3+ interactive whiteboards

Zoom in numbers:

• Up to 1,000 meeting participants
• 50+ licenses
• 30-hour group meetings
• ∞ local and cloud recording
• 10,000+ attendees

6) Whoosh

Whoosh is exactly that newcomer to the video conferencing industry we talked about at the beginning. This app is going to transform the way businesses host video meetings. How? By turning this sometimes uncomfortable experience into a relaxing and enjoyable activity.

Stanford University has recently conducted a study regarding "Zoom fatigue". Of the 10,322 people questioned, around 1 in 7 women (13.8%) reported feeling "very" to "extremely" fatigued after Zoom calls, compared to around 1 in 20 men (5.5%).

If this problem sounds familiar to you, Whoosh is just what you need in your company. It introduces a bunch of powerful AI-driven video conferencing features that are going to minimize all negative effects video calls may cause. Plus, Whoosh will help you cut down on background noise and distraction so that you can focus on what's important.

Pricing:

Whoosh Standard	$0
Whoosh Pro	$14.99/user/month
Whoosh Enterprise	Custom

Major features:

• Full-HD video and audio group meetings
• Mementos - AI-powered cloud recordings
• Various screen sharing modes: classic, picture-in-picture, weatherman-style
• AI-driven touch-up features
• Photorealistic avatars
• 3D, animated, and classic virtual backgrounds
• Gesture recognition
• Audio stream separation
• Background noise cancellation
• 100% free video conferencing plan available for everyone

Whoosh in numbers:

• Up to 500 meeting participants
• ∞ cloud storage
• 1 year of cloud recording retention
• >100 AR masks and filters

To wrap things up

There are many different types of meeting apps that can be useful for businesses. Conference calling and video calling services allow for people in different locations to meet virtually, which can be very helpful for businesses with remote employees. Other platforms, like Asana and Slack, are great for creating and organizing meeting agendas, taking meeting notes, and communicating with other team members.

The best meeting app for a business depends on its specific needs. Some companies may find that a combination of different platforms works best for them, while others may find that one app is more than enough. That's why it’s so important to experiment until you discover the perfect solution.