{"id":100636,"date":"2020-05-01T07:55:41","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T11:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sjcivil.com\/?p=100636"},"modified":"2024-03-30T03:24:06","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T07:24:06","slug":"video-conferencing-softwares-a-quick-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sjcivil.com\/video-conferencing-softwares-a-quick-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Video Conferencing Softwares: a Quick Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Executive summary.\u00a0<\/strong>Many video conferencing softwares are in existence. Which one suits you best? Which ones are easiest to use? Here\u2019s one users\u2019 opinion.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/7H9KXEFIVWKvCJpWHB5vtj?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>What do these softwares do?\u00a0<\/strong>The concept is simple: hold a \u201cface-to-face\u201d meeting with colleagues from anywhere across town or around the world. And it works.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><\/div>\n<p>Participants are invited via an email link to a meeting and then utilize their laptop, phone, tablet, or desktop computer cameras and microphones to talk real time with each other. Some softwares even allow screen sharing.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t even have to attend via your computer. The invite usually comes with a phone number to allow call in (of course you will not have the benefit of sharing your face or seeing others).<\/p>\n<div class=\"eds-animate  \" data-eds-entry-animation=\"rotateIn\" data-eds-entry-delay=\"0\" data-eds-entry-duration=\"0.5\" data-eds-entry-timing=\"linear\" data-eds-exit-animation=\"\" data-eds-exit-delay=\"\" data-eds-exit-duration=\"\" data-eds-exit-timing=\"\" data-eds-repeat-count=\"1\" data-eds-keep=\"yes\" data-eds-animate-on=\"hover\" data-eds-scroll-offset=\"\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-101724 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/sjcivil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/man-in-gray-suit-jacket-holding-smartphone-3789215-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sjcivil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/man-in-gray-suit-jacket-holding-smartphone-3789215-980x653.jpg 980w, https:\/\/sjcivil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/man-in-gray-suit-jacket-holding-smartphone-3789215-480x320.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do they work?<\/strong>\u00a0Yes, they work pretty well. Sometimes the picture may be a bit blurry or delayed. Sometimes the audio is choppy. But, overall it works well.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What does it cost?<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s not very expensive, and often times free. It\u2019s free to those who are invited to a meeting. The limitations on the free products are number of people in a meeting and\/or the duration of time in a meeting. When the time, usually about 40 minutes, is up, the session just turns off.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can I use this technology for large meetings?<\/strong>\u00a0Yes. These softwares come with a chat box which allow participants to enter written messages to the entire group or to selected participants via a dropdown selection box. In a large meeting or seminar situation, it is best to have one facilitator who reads the chat messages and passes the comments or questions to the proper responder.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Which one should I use?<\/strong>\u00a0Just like buying a car, each product here has its own pros and cons. Here\u2019s my order of preference (we do not get any benefit if you sign-up for any of these):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meet.google.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Google Meet (opens in a new tab)\">Google Meet<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 it\u2019s free, or very inexpensive for a business license, and works easily with your Google calendar. It has screen sharing, but doesn\u2019t allow you to control your friend\u2019s computer.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/zoom.us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Zoom (opens in a new tab)\">Zoom<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 easy to use and about $15\/month for access. Even my elderly parents find it easy to use.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webex.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Webex (opens in a new tab)\">Webex<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Very popular with my larger clients.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gotomeeting.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"GotoMeeting (opens in a new tab)\">GotoMeeting<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 I\u2019m still trying to learn how to use this one. It has many features, but I still haven\u2019t conquered the basics of simply using my mic and my camera with confidence.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skype.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Skype (opens in a new tab)\">Skype<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 I used it in a 35-person meeting with great success. However, it embeds itself into your computer and getting it removed is a challenge. It sucks up resources on your computer and creates pop-ups I just don\u2019t need to see on daily basis. It\u2019s annoying.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>My story.<\/strong> I used it last week to walk a construction project with a guy 2,500 miles away. I needed help on how many feet per day we could install. It was great.<\/p>\n<p>With the arrival of COVID-19, I\u2019m on a video conference daily. I\u2019m even on Zoom every Saturday with my parents and family. My parents and uncle are in their 70s and they have even figured it out!<\/p>\n<p>Work safe!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-button-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sjcivil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2020.05.01-Video-Conferencing.pdf\" class=\"su-button su-button-style-flat\" style=\"color:#FFFFFF;background-color:#293a57;border-color:#212f46;border-radius:12px;-moz-border-radius:12px;-webkit-border-radius:12px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color:#FFFFFF;padding:0px 30px;font-size:22px;line-height:44px;border-color:#6a768a;border-radius:12px;-moz-border-radius:12px;-webkit-border-radius:12px;text-shadow:none;-moz-text-shadow:none;-webkit-text-shadow:none\"> Download The PDF<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Executive summary.\u00a0Many video conferencing softwares are in existence. Which one suits you best? Which ones are easiest to use? Here\u2019s one users\u2019 opinion. What do these softwares do?\u00a0The concept is simple: hold a \u201cface-to-face\u201d meeting with colleagues from anywhere across town or around the world. And it works. Participants are invited via an email link [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":104641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,38,266,417,389,547,603],"tags":[604,605,606,607,608,609,610,611,299,612,613],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Video Conferencing Software: a Quick Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0Many video conferencing softwares are in existence. Which one suits you best? Which ones are easiest to use? 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