Remote working is the new normal. Many companies had begun moving towards remote work plans even before the pandemic. Whether it is working with a team of freelancers/ contractors or full-time employees on remote logins, managers began finding it challenging to communicate with their remote teams.
Thanks to the collaboration and online meeting platforms attending meetings, video conferencing, instant messaging, file sharing, and screen sharing have all been possible without hassles through VoIP and online video software.
While a quick call helped to stay in touch with the remote team previously, the recent remote teams posed severe challenges for daily project updates, data sharing, and recurring meetings. It was also a problem if you wanted to get things done instantly.
Not only for managers, but online meeting platforms also enable team members to collaborate and communicate effortlessly for their daily work schedule, scrum meetings, and much more.
Online meeting platforms can take in multiple attendees to attend and host video and audio meetings through the internet instantly. This software is also known as online meeting/video conferencing software.
Screen sharing, multi-device supporting, chat/ instant messaging, collaboration , meeting recording, and an excellent user interface are some of the online meeting platforms’ key features.
Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Go To Meeting, Loop Up, Blue Jeans, Go To Webinar, WebMeeting, Roundee, High Five, EZTalks, Join Me, and many other meeting platforms are capable of helping remote teams to manage work, communicate instantly, and collaborate with their team members.
Cost-effective is the first and foremost benefit of using an online meeting platform.
It might get super expensive with employees at multiple global locations to get them into a single physical location.
Online meeting platforms also enable businesses to hold a meeting with anyone whether it is their prospective and existing clients or a team member.
Training sessions can also be completed through the online meeting platforms, making it the most time saving, cost-effective software system.
Using online meeting platforms enables the business to cut down costs, make effective use of the employee's time. Share on XIt helps remote teams share real-time updates, provides flexibility, improves engagement between in-house and remote team members, and helps businesses remove any geographical barriers with the remote teams.
Recruitment, training, Better access to support teams like IT, conducting company meetings, an internal library for employees working from remote locations, and conduct one-on-one/ scrum meetings are some of the most creative uses of the online meeting platforms.
Recruitment – Companies spend billions of dollars on recruitment activities.
Thanks to the online meeting platforms, users can save time and cost tremendously with their use.
I really wonder what would we be doing without these online meeting platforms.
Most of the companies conducted telephonic discussions and brought the candidates for an in-person round of Discussions over the telephone both with recruiters.
The technical team comes with its challenges.
But they are using online meeting platforms for conducting the initial screening, and the first technical round has been cost-effective, hassle-free, and more efficient.
Many companies have now begun the onboarding process and team introduction instantly through online meeting platforms.
Training – Employee engagement, retention, skill improvement, and much more are all possible with training.
While conducting in-house training for the regular workforce is a great idea, that is not the same case with the remote team members.
Training can be imparted to remote team members through the online meeting platforms where you can host video as well as audio conferencing, making it a very cost-effective solution that might otherwise require all the remote teams to meet at a physical location.
Not to forget the multiple other costs that add to it.
Company meetings – All hands meet, and other company level meetings over a pizza sound great for a small business with limited team members.
However, large organizations with multiple remote teams find it challenging to bring all the remote working employees under the same roof for an organization level announcement or an all-hands meet.
The online meeting platforms enable remote workers to attend all the company meetings call and improve teamwork and help them stay connected and feel like a part of the company.
IT Help desk – Issues with logging in to one of the application systems or a problem with the laptop become a severe issue at times.
When we can’t thank the screen sharing, remote access features of the online meeting platforms make IT helpdesk challenge a breeze.
Internal library – Companies create tons of PowerPoint presentation templates and informative videos, helpful how-to-do for new joiners, and much more.
Making a trip to the office premises every time a meeting involves using those materials can get challenging.
A centralized internal “YouTube” library can be beneficial to all the potential users since it is accessible to anyone irrespective of the time zones.
Collaboration through exchanging ideas, generating ideas with the team, providing technical assistance to the remote teams/field staff, and closing deals with clients are other creative ways to use the online meeting platforms.
- What are the best online meeting platforms?
- What is the safest online meeting platform?
- What is a virtual meeting platform?
- What is an online meeting called?
- Best Online Meeting Platforms for 2023
- 1. Join.me
- 2. Easy Meeting
- 3. BlueJeans
- 4. Mikogo
- 5. MegaMeeting
- 6. Google Meet
- 7. Zoom
- 8. Workplace by Facebook
- 9. Amazon Chime
- 10. GoToMeeting
- Our experience:
- Questions asked while selecting online meeting platforms:
What are the best online meeting platforms?
Zoom is one of the best online meeting software available to host for different price plans that include various exciting features. It could be used by anyone and everyone without hassle.
Google hangout is another product by Google that is one of the best video conferencing tools that are easy to host for small businesses or anyone else. It makes the complete process of online meetings a breeze.
Video meetings, conferencing solutions, video calls, and much more is all available for free that makes it even better. Google meet is an updated version of google hangouts with features like conference room booking, excellent user interface, and calendar syncing.
Go To meeting is another online conferencing software with some of the best features like instant messaging, meeting scheduling, meeting transcription, and in-app meeting messaging between all the attendees.
Skype is another among the best video conferencing software to host meetings and offers some of the best features. It allows hundreds of attendees to participate in online meetings. A great way to not only teach but also learn while sitting anywhere in the world.
What is the safest online meeting platform?
Online meeting platform users face security issues since conference calls use confidential information regarding the users and the project/ company involved. Suppose you are looking to use a secure conferencing solution to host.
In that case, Group FaceTime, Microsoft’s skype & Microsoft teams, Cisco Webex Meetings, Team Viewer, and GoToMeeting are some of the safest online meeting platforms.
These video conferencing software products are secure and offer some of the best features to its users to host online meetings, video meetings, screen sharing, instant messaging, and mobile apps to make calls on the go.
What is a virtual meeting platform?
Communication with the remote audience has been made easy with the help of virtual meeting platforms. These products help bring in engagement as well as allow them to record important meetings for future references.
Physical meetings in a conference room with PowerPoint presentations on the laptop for the available audiences and filling in the information offline to the unavailable attendees is the thing of the past.
In 2023, virtual meeting involves media sharing, presenters, recording the session, platform, and a few other factors are vital.
The number of video conferencing participants is an essential factor to consider while conducting a virtual meeting.
A virtual meeting involves roles like administrator, presenter, and attendees . It has not just one feature but several others to simulate the environment of the conference rooms.
Scheduling meetings, inviting people, and distributing the meeting material post-completion are some of the administrator’s tasks—coordination between presenters in an online discussion for issues like Who presents which slide is vital.
Participants usually use the plugins and are asked to log in and attend the meeting.
What is an online meeting called?
Multiple users connecting online through a single platform can be called an online Meeting. Anybody wanting to conduct a virtual meeting can host it.
These tools are completely web based making it an easy-to-use option.
Video calls, audio conference calls, video meetings, webinars, virtual meetings, web conferencing, and remote meetings are made possible with Microsoft teams, skype for business, google hangouts, and a few other online meetings/conference software systems.
These online meeting platforms enable multiple remote teams to conduct video meetings/ video conferencing, web conferences, screen sharing, instant messaging, coll and much more.
The conference solution is easy to use, setup, communicate, collaborate, exchange inputs in real-time, save time, and stay connected with the team on the go through their mobile app.
We can discuss the features, use cases, clients, and pricing plans of some of the best online meeting platforms in detail:
Best Online Meeting Platforms for 2023
1. Join.me
Join.me is a virtual and cloud-based online meeting platform that is easy to use and is an excellent fit for startups and not so big companies.
Integrations with contact management, email systems, and many other platforms are some of the distinctive advantages of join.me.
Features
- Screen sharing, data transfer, internet calling, share control, and unlimited conferencing solution for international audio and video calls are essential features.
- Recording, meeting tools, meeting scheduler with MS, and outlook and Google Calendar are advanced features.
- Integration with Salesforce, reporting, stand-along audio, authentication with single sign-on, and customization are other advanced features.
Use cases
- E-learning
- Computer software
- Information technology
Customers
- CoderDojo
- MeltWater
Pricing:
A free trial is available.
The Lite subscription costs $10 per month. It covers unlimited time, five participants per meeting, an unlimited number of meetings, mouse control, screen sharing, meeting lock, instant chat, user management, reporting, and premium customer care.
The Pro subscription costs $20 per month for businesses and $13 per month for nonprofit organizations. All the features in the lite subscription are a part of this plan.
Up to ten webcam streams, recording, two hundred and fifty attendees per meeting, scheduling, fifty GB cloud storage, toll-free numbers, and annotation are also a part of this plan.
The Business subscription costs $30 per month for businesses and $20 per month for nonprofit organizations.
All features in the Pro plan are inclusive in this plan. Up to two hundred and fifty attendees per meeting, bulk user import, feature permissions, one TB cloud storage, Single sign-on authentication, and integration with salesforce.com are a few other features covered in this subscription.
2. Easy Meeting
The EasyMeeting is an excellent video conferencing software provider that suits individual freelancers and small, medium, and large business organizations.
Video conferencing, virtual meetings, mobile apps for on the go meetings, and much more enables users to communicate, share a revolutionary idea with their managers , collaborate with peers, and managers to stay connected with their remote teams.
Features
- Optimization with desktop and mobile app
- Integrated design
- Interoperation with multiple video conferencing software
- Dual display support
- Simplified menu
Use cases
- Sales
- Internet
- IT Software
Customers
- BRIAND consulting
- Artspace.org
- QSAC
Pricing
The easy meeting platform offers a free trial.
The easy meeting license plan costs $19 per month. It covers all the features along with Easymeeting Chat Support, one cloud-based personal virtual meeting room, and up to twelve participants per meeting.
Easy meeting Team plan costs $199 per month. It covers all the features and Easymeeting Live support, camera feature, ten cloud-based private meeting room (virtual), and up to twelve attendees per meeting.
The Easymeeting enterprise plan has customized pricing and covers all the features with customized branding, hardware integration, recording, streaming, up to fifty cloud-based virtual meeting rooms, and more than twelve participants per meeting.
3. BlueJeans
BlueJeans is an online video conferencing software platform enables businesses to conduct online meetings (video and audio), with features like recording, text chat, content sharing, and multiple participants.
The mobile app is available with Android and iOS devices, making it possible for users to attend video conferencing on the go.
BlueJeans platform offers meetings, events, and Rooms functionalities enabling users to be available for video conferencing from anywhere at any time.
Features
- Unlimited Cloud meeting recording
- Customized interface branding
- Live meeting monitoring
- Historical analytics of meetings
- Connect with platforms like Skype, HipChat, and Slack are a part of the available features.
Use cases
- Education
- Client Services
Customers
- Zillow
- NORDSTROM
- BUZZ FEED
- Clark Construction
Pricing
A free trial is available.
The ME plan costs $12.49 per month and allows access to fifty participants in a meeting.
Dial-in number, integration with office 365, outlook, Google Calendar, HD video, single sign-on, control through remote mouse/ keyboard, workplace/ Facebook streaming, and connect through a mobile app like Android and iOS.
The MY TEAM plan costs $16.66 per host per month and covers all the ME plan features. Up to seventy-five participants, historical analytics, cloud meeting recording, and integrations.
My company plan is fully customizable. Companies can submit a quote to the vendor for a customized plan.
4. Mikogo
Mikogo is an excellent app for screen sharing with a secure solution for webinars, sales calls, web conferencing, and online meetings. Connect with your audience in anywhere int he world.
Real-time screen sharing with the meeting participants. AES encryption enables security.
Features
Screen sharing with multiple participants | Profile manager |
Participant emoticons | Recording and playback |
HTML viewer | Whiteboard |
Meeting Scheduler | Usage reports |
Pause transmission | Speed/ quality adjustment settings |
Use cases
- Meetings
- Training
- Presentations
- Remote support
Customers
- The Home Depot
- Aldi
- Intel
Pricing
- A free trial is available.
- The free plan covers a single user, all the standard features, and one participant per session.
- The professional plan costs $16 per month and covers all the standard & premium features with a single user and twenty-five participants per session.
5. MegaMeeting
Video conferencing solutions and screen sharing features offered by MegaMeeting is an excellent fit for businesses of all sizes.
MegaMeeting provides some of the best features that are easy to use and the latest in technology. Webinars and video conferencing on a single platform with a simple interface.
Features
- Collaboration features like screen sharing, whiteboard, live chat, and Hand Raise.
- Meeting coordination features like Scheduling, Participant permissions, and one-click join.
Use cases
- A one-to-one conversation like interviews (recruiting)
- Product tutorials
- Marketing
- E-learning
Customers
- Genentech
- HR Pro Online
- Boston University
Pricing
The starter plan costs $19 per month per host, and a free trial is available. The plan allows up to twenty participants per meeting.
Audio conferencing, screen sharing, waiting room, video player, breakout rooms, file sharing, chat, host control, reporting, secure meeting links, and 24/7 technical support are some of the features available in this plan.
The Pro plan costs $29 per month per host, and a free trial is available. Up to twenty participants per meeting and a hundred participants per webinar.
The recording feature, along with all the features available in the starter plan.
The Enterprise plan costs $79 per month per host, and a free trial is available. Up to twenty participants per meeting and two hundred participants per webinar.
API, private branding, custom domain, and optional dedicated services are a part of this plan, along with the features available in the pro plan.
6. Google Meet
Online meetings, video calls, chat, and much more, whether you are a budding freelancer or a startup, google meet has got you covered.
Google meet is easy to use with its join button, along with the mute and turn off video options are straightforward for anyone to use it.
Features
Meeting hosts controls | Audio and video preview |
Live captioning during meetings | Adjustable screen settings |
Compatible across devices | Messaging with participants |
Unlimited meetings | Integration with MS and Google |
Use cases
- Education
- Healthcare
- Nonprofits
Customers
- Burger King
- Colgate Palmolive
- Salesforce
Pricing
- Google meet is free.
7. Zoom
Suppose you are looking for video and audio conferencing software to host webinars for video demos, virtual meetings, online courses, and training.
In that case, Zoom is the easiest virtual solution to use video conferencing software with its group messaging, online meetings, and integrations on a single cloud-based online meeting platform.
Zoom works perfectly and also enables users to host video conferences that can have up to a hundred participants.
HD video, audio, and screen sharing features would allow managers to communicate and collaborate with their remote teams.
Features
Zoom meetings and rooms | Video webinar |
Premium audio | Group Collaboration |
Integrated scheduling | Cloud and local recording |
Use cases
- Education
- Healthcare
- Technology
- Sales
- Training
Customers
- Veeva
- UBER
- Autodesk
- Delta
Pricing
A free trial is available.
The Zoom Basic plan is for free with easy sign up and covers online meetings with up to a hundred participants, group collaboration, security, online support, group meeting for up to forty minutes, unlimited one-on-one meetings, web conferencing, and video conferencing.
The Zoom Pro plan costs $14.99 per host per month and is an excellent fit for small teams.
All the basic plan features are available in this plan and integration with Skype for business, reporting, user management, up to a hundred participants, personal meeting ID, and 1 GB cloud recording.
Add-on plans:
- Extra storing capacity for cloud recording cost starts at $40 per month.
- Video webinars cost starts at $40 per month.
- Toll-free calling cost starts at $100 per month.
- Zoom rooms cost starts at $49 per month.
The Zoom Business plan costs $19.99 per month per host and is an excellent fit for small and medium businesses.
Minimum ten hosts, up to a hundred participants, phone support, single sign-on, branding, on-premise deployments available, customized emails, and LTI integration are a part of this plan and the other features in the Zoom Pro plan.
The Zoom Enterprise plan costs $19.99 per month per host and it may be an excellent choice for large enterprises with a minimum of a hundred hosts.
All the Business plan features are available in this plan along with discounts on Webinars and Zoom rooms, a dedicated customer success manager, unlimited cloud storage, and includes up to two hundred participants.
8. Workplace by Facebook
Workplace by Facebook is another great solution with easy sign up and works really well and enables us to stay connected, engaged, and work with everyone.
Users can create profiles, connect with others, communicate through instant messages, make groups of shared interests/common departments communicate and collaborate with the events, video recording, live streaming, and corporate presentations.
Workplace by Facebook is an excellent fit for small businesses since it’s not very costly, and its features are beneficial to connect for not-so-big teams.
Features
Unlimited file, video, and photo storage | Single sign-on and AD support |
Unlimited team and project groups | Integration with Gsuite |
Integration with file storage providers | Monitoring tools for IT |
Video and audio calls through mobile and desktop | Administrative support |
Use cases
HR | Sales |
e-Learning | Marketing |
Remote working | Surveys |
Customers
- Astra Zeneca
- Sam’s Club
- Nestle
- Spotify
Pricing
The essential plan is free and covers up to fifty groups and five GB per person.
Workplace chat, group video calls, auto-translate, live video streaming, apps, and secure collaboration between companies are all a part of this plan.
The advanced plan costs $4 per person per month and covers all the free plan features. A free trial for thirty days is available for the advanced plan.
Unlimited teams, one TB file storage per person, organization chart, frontline, and surveys are also a part of this plan and the essential plan features.
Single Sign-on, insights, admin controls, AD integrations, and monitoring tools are the other features available in this plan.
The Enterprise plan costs $8 per month and offers unlimited file storage and groups. All the features in the advanced plan are available in this plan.
Multi sign-on, priority resolution, and a dedicated support were all a part of this plan.
9. Amazon Chime
Amazon Chime offers real-time communication features like audio and video calls, screen sharing, and availability on web app.
Features
Online meeting | Team collaboration |
Video conferencing | Business calling |
Security and administration |
Use cases
- Sales teams
- Developers
- Healthcare apps
Customers
- Candid Partners
- agathos
- Chart Span
- Cervello
Pricing
- Amazon Chime does not charge any fees upfront, and there are no subscriptions. Users may pay for the features they used only.
10. GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting is one of those software platforms that enable users to go to meetings online.
The app allows users to connect, chat and attend meetings on the go.
With its screen sharing, calendar integration, and other exciting features, the leading online conferencing software is an excellent choice for companies to stay connected with remote employees.
Features
Video support service | Calendar sync and management with Google API |
Email and mobile integration | Video streaming |
Video call recording | Video Conferencing |
Video conferencing | Active Directory Integration |
Use cases
- Webinar Marketing
- Training
- Internal communication
Customers
- Marketo
- Inside Sales.com
Pricing
The professional plan costs $12 per month per user, with up to one hundred and fifty participants.
HD Video, screen sharing, web audio, unlimited meetings, private meeting room, and business messaging are all a part of this plan.
The Business plan costs $16 per month per user, with up to two hundred and fifty participants.
All the features in the professional plan cover integrations like office 365.
A few other key features like mobile cloud recording, smart assistant, note-taking, transcription, and meeting lock allows users to manage the meetings efficiently and effortlessly.
The enterprise plan allows up to three thousand participants.
Onboarding, training, volume discounts, and customer success managers are part of this plan, along with all the business plan features.
Our experience:
With remote working becoming the new normal, the challenges of recruiting, onboarding, training, communicating, and collaborating with the remote team members are increasing.
Thanks to the online meeting platforms that offer collaboration tools, conferencing systems, and web conferencing solutions that users can take to connect and record meetings, share screen, stay connected through instant messages, and much more through both paid and free versions.
The mobile apps of the video conferencing solution enable users to stay connected on the go. They can attend meetings from anywhere at any time.
Google Hangouts, Skype for business, Cisco WebEx, and a few other online meeting platforms offer limited basic features.
These basic key features of an online meeting platform enable users to manage video and audio calls with HD video quality, note-taking, screen sharing, messaging to participants on the call, and do much more in a few simple clicks.
There are also many video conferencing software available in the market to connect.
These conferencing software offer tons of exciting features to connect like conference room/private meeting room, unlimited participants, video and audio conference calls, one-click recording, and conference calls with multiple participants.
It allows users to pause the video and many others that make communication, collaboration, and project management a breeze for managers with multiple remote teams.
Some projects require regular interaction between colleagues with lengthy conversations.
While it is a usual occurrence for an in-house team, a project with multiple remote working team members can be challenging.
The conferencing software platforms and apps that offer unlimited users features to communicate through instant messages, video, and audio calls make it possible for daily online meetings.
Meetings on the go with the mobile app, collaboration, and File sharing through the media sharing features and many such easy-to-use features make it a breeze to work with the conferencing software.
While most online meeting platforms offer a free trial of their plans/ features, a few of them offer free plans forever with limited features. You can always take help of the free trial if available to get the best out of the particular tool.
Collaboration, communication, and project management discussions have never been this easier.
We have discussed the key features, use cases, top customers, and pricing plans of some of the best online meeting software providers that help users make a list of the features that would work for them and choose accordingly.
Questions asked while selecting online meeting platforms:
What are online meeting platforms?
Online meeting platforms are the conferencing software providers that enable businesses to host online meetings, audio/ video calls, screen sharing, call recording, instant messaging, and more. Companies requiring unlimited sales calls and project management with multiple remote team members find online meeting platforms beneficial.
Can I use an online meeting/ conferencing solution for free?
All the providers offer a free trial, and some of them even offer a free forever plan with some basic features and limited call timings. However, you can always opt for a paid subscription that enables you to use advanced unlimited features.
Do the conferencing solution offer integrations with other platforms?
Skype, Slack, Google Calendar, Office 365, Active Directory, and a few other integrations are available with most conferencing software providers. Users should check with the provider for their integrations before opting for a paid subscription.
Are all the online meeting platforms safe to use?
Some of the providers have strong SSL encryption so that the users and their information stays secure.
However, this is one of the essential factors to consider while choosing a free online meeting tool.
Recently, the ministry of home affairs has mentioned that Zoom users need to be careful since it is not a safe online video conferencing app.
Are all the online meeting providers available on a mobile device?
Most providers offer a mobile app for their conferencing software that enables users to stay connected with the go’s calls. Users should check the availability of mobile apps with the software provider before signing up.
Which is the best online meeting platform?
Join. Me, Amazon Chime, GoToMeeting, Skype for Business, workplace by Facebook, and a few other online meeting platforms are some of the best in the market.
However, every business requirement is different, and there are many factors to be considered before making the decision. While one company might require unlimited participants, screen sharing, call recording, and many other features might be essential for others.
Is it possible to host a meeting with more than 250 participants?
GoToMeeting, and a few other providers offer more than two hundred and fifty participants in a video conferencing call. However, a few providers provide thousands of participants on a single conference call for a paid subscription plan.