Web Conferencing Software Guide: The Best Services of 2020

What is Web Conferencing Software?

 

Web conferencing software provides a platform for businesses to hold meetings with remote team members and stakeholders around the world. Most web conferencing platforms are low-cost, simple, and intuitive. There are solutions suited to businesses of all sizes that allow for screen sharing and collaboration.

Businesses use web conferencing solutions to help screen and interview candidates. The best web conferencing tools introduce tech and customer support, customer service, or face-to-face client interactions in completely new ways.

 

Ask the Right Questions About Web Conferencing

 

Finding the conferencing solution best suited for your business comes down to knowing the main use cases and features of the best web conferecing software on the market. Once you know what to look for, you can find a provider who caters to the needs of businesses like yours.

 

What Makes Web Conferencing Useful?

Web conference software makes online meetings easier. Simply put, web conferencing allows meeting participants to get together virtually whenever and wherever. Your team will spend less time scheduling face-to-face meetings and spend less money on arranging for entire teams to meet in a board room together.

Web conferencing software puts you in control of who to communicate with, including when, where, and how you communicate with them.

Depending on your service, there are plenty of uses for web conferencing like file sharing. You’ll be able to upload files you need to share in an instant. Screen sharing allows you to show your team the product or service you’re talking about in action.

The best video conferencing tools should include tools to allow you to create online training modules. You should be offered great video quality with even the more barebones system. Web conferencing tools should offer a one-click solution to all of your audio and video connectivity needs.

You can even host webinars and other live events to interact with your customers in real-time.

 

Which Operating Systems is it Compatible With?

It’s important to keep in mind that members of your team may use more than just Macs, PCs, and Linux laptops. As the work and commercial spaces go mobile, more people are more dependent on their smartphones and tablets.  Make sure you decide whether you’ll want web conferencing solutions that harness the power of mobile connectivity.

There are solutions with robust features that span all operating systems. Some focus on certain operating systems and are well known within a specific niche. Pick a solution that will be compatible with the operating systems your on-premise, remote team, and client base all make use of.

Web conferencing tools should also be able to integrate with your current software suite. Join.me, Zoho Meetings, Webex Meetings, Zoom, GoToMeeting, RingCentral, and CiscoWebEx offer connections to larger software suites owned and operated by the web conference software providers. Even freemium services from Microsoft, Skype for Business, or Google Hangouts can provide a robust addition to a small enterprise.

 

Do You Need Audio, Video, and Chat?

Some options balance out the quality of all three. If you’d like all your participants to see each other and chime in when they’re called up, there are web conference solutions focused on this. If you’d like to focus on the chat window during live meetings, there’s software that allows for this. If you’re attending a conference with remote staff or even colleagues in the same conference room, instant messaging is a way to put a pin in something without interrupting the presentation.

Web conferencing solutions are versatile enough to fit your specific business needs. They allow a presenter to run a video conference or a web meeting through a web browser or software tools. Consider what you’d want your typical meeting to look and sound like before you choose conferencing software.

While there are separate solutions for video conferencing software, most web conferencing solutions provide both video and audio conferencing. Expect group messaging tools and video calling among the conferencing features of the best meeting software.

These solutions allow for up to hundreds of attendees to join your meeting room in HD video via mobile devices, mobile apps, or a broader webcast. Expect compatibility with iOS, Android, and Google devices with any modern conferencing service.

 

What Other Features Does Your Business Need?

Web conferencing solutions have impressive capabilities and integration. The best web conferencing solutions should include video conferencing tools, screen-sharing capabilities, meeting recordings, and the ability to upload files during meetings. The features you require affect the degree of interaction between your video meeting attendees.

There are high-quality video conferencing solutions that allow for video calls and content sharing as well as conferencing. These can integrate with your collaboration tools so that teams can work together on projects, presentations, digital whiteboards, and Powerpoints. They allow for conference calls or virtual meetings on any device that has a webcam.

Free versions or trial software won’t have the same features as enterprise-level options. Enterprise-level options ensure for unified communications and integration with other VoIP and productivity tools. Enterprise-level solutions will connect to your calendar tools or Outlook to offer you reminders of when it’s time to dial in to a meeting.

In the past, you could open up a briefcase and hand out collated copies of sheets you wanted your team to look at. Depending on the features you tack on, you can have a similar level of team collaboration, except you can be dispersed across the globe in any number of time zones. Balance out the level of interaction you’re looking for in your meeting solution with the features offered.

 

Is Web Conferencing Secure?

The security of your web conference depends on the software you choose. Different companies put different levels of priority on security. It might also depend on the pricing tier that you select when buying a paid web conferencing software solution.

Your business information is valuable and confidential. Make sure the software you’re going to choose has the encryption and security guarantees in place to ensure what you’re sharing with your team stays within your team. High-end conferencing solutions include end to end encryption to keep your messages safe between the sender and receiver.

While most web conferencing tools deal with security to a certain degree, some focus on this angle more than others.