Best video conferencing software in 2019

For SMBs, video conferencing solutions are proven ways to improve the productivity of mobile and remote teams, reduce business travel expenses, and run more generally effective meetings. The numbers speak for themselves.

Exploring the benefits of video conferencing

According to a Buffer study, more than one-fifth of remote employees cited communication, collaboration, or loneliness as the biggest challenges to how they work – more than any other cause. Video conferencing brings even far-flung teams closer together, while opening up new collaborative possibilities through face-to-face chat and real-time screen sharing.

Travel expenses represent a larger chunk of the typical budget for SMBs than for large enterprises, above 10% in some cases. Video calling eliminates the need for so much business travel, saving the company money and reducing its environmental impact.

Online meetings with high-definition video and crisp audio are more focused and productive than audio-only conferences. Almost 40% of all meetings don’t add any value for a company, due to in part to wasted time and difficulty even getting started. A streamlined video conference platform addresses these issues and keeps meetings on track.

Finally, video conferencing is a key component in a unified communication strategy that keeps modern workforces in touch, no matter where they are or what devices they use. Like VoIP and instant messaging, video conference solutions are widely compatible with desktop and mobile operating systems, allowing for seamless multi-device workflows.

That said, how do you choose the right video conferencing platform in 2019 and beyond? 

Evaluating the popular options for video conferencing

To answer this question, Info-Tech Research Group recently released a category report on web conferencing, in which it compared Cisco Webex Meetings with other major video conference solutions including Zoom, GoToMeeting, and Skype. 

Overall, Webex Meetings ranked in the upper-right quadrant of Info-Tech’s plot, indicating its place as “leader” based on product features and satisfaction along with vendor capabilities. At 9.0 out of a possible 10, it also had the highest composite score of any evaluated video conference system.

Let’s look at how it stacked up versus several other widely used solutions.

Webex Meetings vs. Zoom

In a head-to-head comparison, Webex Meetings outranked cloud-based conferencing provider Zoom 9.0 to 7.6, respectively, in net score. It enjoyed advantages across all major categories, including business value created, quality of features, vendor support, ease of IT administration, and net emotional footprint—a measure of positive user experience. 

Webex Meetings vs. GoToMeeting

Compared to LogMeIn’s web conferencing service GoToMeeting, Webex Meetings had a higher net score, 9.0 versus 8.1. The key factors on which it outranked GoToMeetings included business value created, ease of data integration, vendor support, ease of IT administration, and net emotional footprint.

Webex Meetings vs. Skype

A side-by-side evaluation of Webex Meetings and long-running unified communications solution Skype revealed a higher net score for Webex, 9.0 compared to 8.3 for Skype. The general categories assessed were vendor support, ease of IT administration, net emotional footprint, quality of features, and business valued added.

How to select the best video conferencing solution for your SMB

These comparisons provide some general guidance into what to look for in a video calling platform. While functionality and vendor support are both core considerations, they’re just two pieces in a larger puzzle that also includes integration into existing IT infrastructure and common workflows. 

The best way to begin your decision-making process is with a free trial, to see how the video conferencing solution works for your team. Try Webex Meetings free to get started!