In a recent article by iTechPost, Zoom allegedly leaked personal user data to Facebook and was sued for this happening. Even Apple Mac users have been compromised from this data leak by Zoom which begs the question, is it still reliable?
Zoom's competitor Google Hangouts Meets has also been a popular video call and videoconference call service provider. Google Hangouts Meet is a specific features program only available to those with a G Suite account.
The comparison of both companies
One of the key comparisons which is obvious to spot would be that for those who are not able to join via video, Google supports call-ins. Most video conferencing programs like Zoom are quite strict about this while Google Hangouts Meets does not necessarily require an additional add-on and does not charge additional fees for the participants to just call in.
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Another clear comparison would be that Meet's dashboard is quite messy compared to Zoom and is a bit harder to navigate around at first. A few of the tools are not placed in the most intuitive spot which takes a little getting used to.
For Google Hangouts Meets, you will be able to view everyone included in a grid along with the main speaker being highlighted as well as enlarged in the center of the screen. Another key difference is that Mac users have a more difficult time to stay connected in comparison with both Android and Windows users.
An advantage of Google Hangouts Meets is that it lets users share documents, images, and any files through chat and the option of uploading files from your desktop in order to share them directly from your Google Drive is also available. An option of sharing your screen to others in the chat is also available which makes presentations and demonstrations much easier during real-time meetings.
Price comparison of both service providers
The cost of the basic G Suite package is about $6 per month for a single person and this allows you to host meetings with about 100 people. 30GB of cloud storage is also allotted with this package.
Zoom's lowest costing package known as Zoom Pro costs $14 a month per person and includes the same basic feature of being able to host 100 participants but only 1GB of cloud storage is given to save MP4 or M4A recordings of the user's meetings.
The final breakdown
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) rampantly growing in numbers, people are advised to work from home during this period which is why it is absolutely necessary that only the best software are employed.
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According to an article by androidcentral, Google Hangouts Meets is more convenient to use since it already comes with every G Suite account which most businesses already have and are already familiar with using. It is also a much better addition if your participants need to call in rather than joining the video because Google waives the additional call-in fee. It is safe to say that Google is more cost-efficient.
As for Zoom, it is still the best option when it comes to video meetings because of its ability to allow more participants to join! There is also a free package available but the features are quite limited from how long you can host a call to not being able to save or record your meetings.
