In these times of health crisis, when telecommuting is the order of the day, using communication solutions to collaborate effectively at a distance is essential.
Whether you need to keep in touch with colleagues or customers, manage a team remotely or manage projects, a high-performance tool is essential.
Solutions such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom continue to develop, offering optimized services for remote collaboration.
If you’re still unsure which one to choose, we’d like to offer you a comparison of these two solutions.
Microsoft Teams, the tool for collaboration
Microsoft Teams is a global collaboration global collaboration.
Elle combine réunions, chats, appels et partage de fichiers avec la pile d’applications Office 365 pour rassembler tout le monde dans un espace de travail partagé.
A direct descendant of Skype Enterprise and Lync, Teams brings together all the elements needed for a successful remote meeting:
- audio and/or video conferencing for up to 250 people simultaneously, with sound and screen sharing
- screen sharing and remote control for rapid technical troubleshooting or training
- instant messaging space with 1 or more recipients, enabling the exchange of text, images and videos, as well as emojis and GIFs.
The benefits of Microsoft Teams
One of the advantages of Microsoft Teams is its team section.
It enables collaborative working outside of meeting times, without the need for numerous emails back and forth between several collaborators to track the progress of a project, for example.
Thanks to the team spaces you create within your organization, you can work together on the same project.
You benefit from :
- a dedicated chat area,
- shared file storage space
- embedded applications for editing documents directly from Teams
- a hub of project management applications, such as Microsoft Planner, with which you can create tasks, assign them to members, indicate their progress, deadlines, etc.
- dozens of third-party applications are available, including Wrike, Trello and SmartSheet.
The Teams app provides the same functionality on smartphone and tablet in a single application.
Finally, Microsoft Teams lets you organize videoconferences with up to 10,000 participants if you want to set up a webinar or other event.
Microsoft Teams offer
Microsoft Teams is not sold separately.
It is included in the packages offered by Microsoft.
A user can be a meeting or conference organizer inviting non-licensed participants.
Participants do not need to create an account to benefit from all the tool’s features, such as screen sharing or remote control.
Unlike Zoom, Microsoft’s offer is more comprehensive and integrated.
In addition to the collaborative tool, you have access to, among other things and depending on the package you subscribe to, :
- 1TB of secure storage and sharing space on OneDrive,
- Office suite (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) for installation on 5 fixed and 5 mobile workstations
- a 50 GB mailbox with a customizable domain name (votre_nom@votre_entreprise.fr)
- a suite of advanced security tools to prevent data theft and leakage, phishing, etc.
Find all packs and prices on this page dedicated to Office 365.
A decisive criterion for choice
Although it will depend considerably on your needs, Microsoft Teams remains THE real solution for setting up a virtual company and collaborating effectively from a distance.
Zoom: the communication tool
Zoom is the solution for the video communications industry.
By tackling unified communications, Zoom makes it possible to organize :
- remote Visio meetings (training, audioconferencing, technical assistance, etc.) for 2 or more users
- Video webinars for :
- insert registration forms for up to 1,000 participants
- broadcast on Facebook Live or YouTube Streaming
- live chat to answer participants’ questions
- replay management with post-registration.
It also manages instant messaging and telephony, for integration into a unified communications environment.
So be vigilant and anticipate the measures you need to take to better protect yourself.
Zoom offer
Unlike Microsoft Teams, Zoom is not included through an application.
Only the person inviting needs a license.
Participants do not need to create an account and can join the meeting free of charge.
The free version of Zoom is an interesting way to get started, but quickly becomes limited.
On the other hand, if you upgrade to the paid version, the price becomes higher per user.
A decisive criterion for choice
Easy-to-use software that lets you communicate with your employees or customers remotely, without necessarily having to collaborate with them.
The final choice
Obviously, we don’t have an answer for you, or a “winner”. Your final choice depends on your own organizational needs and requirements.
Keep in mind that if you just want to communicate, Zoom’s free offer may be enough for you at first.
You could even reduce Zoom’s scope of use to a circle of friends and family.
Indeed, at the time of writing, there are indications that the Zoom application is experiencing a number of security problems. According to cyber security experts, the application does not respect the security of its users’ data.
Since part of the tool is free, Zoom collects its users’ data in return.
To find out more about these risks, you can listen to Sébastien Fanti, Valais data protection officer, in an interview with RTS. Other online newspapers also warn Internet users to be vigilant when using Zoom.
Security tip: as far as possible, avoid installing Zoom software on a company PC.
And for use on a personal device, install an ios / Android smartphone app.
If you need to use a solution in a professional setting and want to continue managing your teams and moving forward in a high-performance way, Microsoft Teams is the tool for you.
Microsoft Teams is natively designed to effectively manage the team collaboration needs of remote professionals, while preserving the organization’s IT security.
If you don’t have any of these tools yet, and would like some help with your choice or installation, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
The entire Infologo team remains mobilized and ready to listen to you during this exceptional period.
