As the communication and collaboration landscape evolves, are you ready for UC 3.0?
Today, your technology stack needs to be more than just affordable and efficient. The solutions that you invest in also need to support the rising demand for exceptional experiences, in the workplace, with customers, and more.
Meeting room solutions like those available from Zoom and GoTo are designed to enhance the way that people work together in a transforming business environment. Let’s take a look at how two of the top providers perform in the UC 3.0 era.
GoToMeeting vs. Zoom: User Experience
User experience is a crucial facet of building a solution that thrives in the UC 3.0 industry. Users need to be able to adopt new technology to discover its benefits. This is particularly true in the meeting room environment, where groups want to set up conferences quickly and collaborate seamlessly.
GoTo is a simple cloud-hosted communication and collaboration solution that’s brimming with user-friendly features. Users can seamlessly launch their online conferences through the simple UI system and provide participants with customised URLs that allow them to join with a single click. GoToMeeting also provides the option to join meetings from any device, including a Mac, PC, Android, or iOS machine.
With features like toll-free multi-national numbers, this software solution is an easy-to-access meeting service for companies of all shapes and sizes. User experience features include:
- Toll-free numbers in over 50 countries
- Cloud-based performance
- Web browser or smartphone access
- No hardware or downloads required
- Click-to-join meetings
Zoom is another highly-ranked solution in the web-based meeting environment. Ranked number 1 by customer reviews, Zoom provides users with an all-in-one accessible solution for voice, video, instant messaging, and more through the cloud. Anyone can seamlessly join a conversation anywhere, from any device. Zoom even integrates with a user’s calendar system to make launching meetings faster, again from any device, including a Mac, PC, Android, or iOS.
With an app download available for mobile devices, and free VoIP and toll-based dial-in for more than 55 countries, Zoom makes accessing next-level meetings simple. There are even dedicated dial-in numbers available too. There’s no need to download any software to join a Zoom meeting, just click on a dedicated link, and you can start audio or video conferencing in no time. User experience features include:
- Free VoIP and toll-free numbers in over 55 countries
- Cloud-based performance
- Smartphone and web browser access
- No downloads or hardware necessary
- Click-to-join meetings
- Dedicated dial-in numbers
GoToMeeting vs. Zoom: Team Experience
Meeting tools are particularly popular in this new age of collaboration. As businesses become more dispersed, with employees in various parts of the world, all operating according to their own schedule, it’s crucial for companies to have a reliable way to stay connected. GoToConnect, the recent delivery from GoTo, combines the power of GoToMeeting for web, video, and audio conferencing with VoIP from Jive for a complete UC&C solution
Through GoTo, you can collaborate with up to 25 high-def video feeds per session, share application and desktop information, and more. There are drawing tools included for annotation purposes, virtual whiteboards, and even easy-to-use document sharing. There’s also the option to host huge webinars with up to 250 attendees.
For huddle rooms and in-house conferencing, GoTo offers “GoToRoom” bundles, complete with video conferencing hardware and equipment intended to simplify your conversations. The solutions are designed for mid-sized rooms and huddle spaces. The InRoom link also works seamlessly with H.323 enabled video conferencing room systems that you may already have installed. GoToRoom improves meeting efficiency with one-tap joining and a simple user interface.
For collaboration, the GoTo brand of GoToMeeting also offers Grasshopper, a full virtual phone system that users can access from anywhere.
Team experience features include:
- GoToRoom hardware bundles and equipment
- One-tap meeting room conferences
- GoToConnect UC&C solution
- Webinar support for up to 250 attendees
- File sharing, screen sharing and more
- Instant messaging, video, and audio conferencing
- Virtual whiteboards and annotation
- Grasshopper from GoTo
Zoom also takes meeting rooms to the next level, with HD video and audio that can support up to 49 videos on a single screen, and 1,000 video, and for webinars up to an impressive 10,000 attendees. There are countless collaboration tools built into the Zoom experience, including integrated file sharing, co-annotations, screen sharing, and group or personal chat. Zoom also offers streamlined calendaring integrations to keep your team on the same page.
When it comes to designing your huddle and conferencing room, Zoom provides the “Zoom Rooms” packages, which allow you to build the room you need from scratch on top of the cloud-based Zoom environment. The scalable solutions will enable you to adapt according to changing business needs, with one-touch meeting starts, and integration with existing H.323 and SIP systems.
The Zoom conference room connector also extends your conference systems into the cloud and allows you to add in extra features such as scheduling displays, digital signage, and interactive touchscreens. Team experience features include:
- Zoom room hardware bundles and equipment
- One-tap conferencing sessions
- Streamlined calendar integrations
- Webinars for up to 10,000 attendees
- Video, instant messaging and audio conferencing
- Scheduling displays, instant signage, and touchscreens
- Virtual whiteboards and annotation
- File sharing, screen sharing and more
GoToMeeting vs. Zoom: Customer Experience
Unlike UC and contact centre solutions, meeting room services don’t focus as heavily on customer experience. However, customer experience will still be a concern for resellers delivering these solutions as part of a full UC&C package to their clients. Additionally, the better a team can collaborate, the more likely it is that they’ll provide excellent service.
To simplify customer service, GoTo offers state-of-the-art integrations with a range of crucial tools, including Chrome software, Google Calendar, and Zapier. Users can also access one-click recording for team training and compliance purposes, and HD conferencing to ensure clarity in face-to-face meetings.
For customers who need extra support with their services, there’s also “Handover control” available from GoTo, which allows someone else to take control of a computer and provide insights into how to use the software. GoTo also recently introduced their Jive Contact Centre add-in for the GoTo experience, which includes call management via custom-call routing, team-based call distribution, screen sharing, and more. Features include:
- HD Conferencing
- One-click recording
- State-of-the-art integrations
- Handover control
- Jive Contact Centre with screen share, find me follow me, team-based call-distribution, custom call routing, call analytics and more
Zoom also offers a range of excellent opportunities to resellers who want to add high-level meeting and conferencing solutions into their portfolio offerings. The meeting room provider delivers high-quality meeting environments where team members can interact clearly, and the newly launched Zoom Phone option for those who prefer to communicate via audio, without video integration.
When it comes to setting up new users, provision is easy thanks to a central administration portal, and it’s even possible for companies to set up intelligent routing and call management for their call centre needs. Auto-attendant and IVR capabilities are available through Zoom Phone, along with voicemail services and call recording for compliance and training purposes. If you need advanced contact centre software then Zoom integrates with leading cloud contact centre platforms from Five9 and Twilio.
Zoom also offers interoperability with a range of standards-based endpoints for VoIP systems, including devices from Yealink and Poly. Customer experience features include:
- HD Conferencing
- One-click recording
- Integrations with leading tools
- Interoperability with standards-based endpoints
- Zoom Phone with IVR, Voicemail, and call management
- Intelligent routing and auto attendant
- Simple provisioning
GoToMeeting vs. Zoom: Business Experience
Finally, with any meeting solution, companies need to make sure that they’re investing in a tool that’s reliable, flexible, affordable, and secure. GoToMeeting is an easy-to-use and diverse tool that allows individuals to communicate over the web, using any device they choose. The service integrates with a variety of tools that most businesses already use today. Additionally, there is plenty of security and compliance solutions built-in.
Thanks to PIN-based entry, even online meetings with click-to-join are more secure. Additionally, GoToMeeting offers encryption and security measures that make it compliant with various high-level standards, including HIPAA for healthcare companies.
GoToMeeting comes with plenty of useful channels for business support and training too, such as videos, webinars, live training, and PDF guides. What’s more, there’s centralised control for administrators, so that you feel more confident about how your data is managed and stored. All that, and GoToMeeting offers simple, affordable pricing too. Business experience features include:
- Expert training and guidance
- Single-sign-on and admin control
- HIPAA compliance
- Full encryption
- PIN-based entry to meetings
- Simple, affordable pricing
Like GoToMeeting, Zoom focuses on providing its customers with a secure and reliable solution to their meeting needs. All conferences include end-to-end encryption, with role-based user security, waiting rooms, and password protection. For compliance or training purposes, you can also record meetings to the cloud, and access searchable transcripts.
The Zoom marketplace is full of ways to enhance your business offering, thanks to integrations with everything from Slack, to Trello, and Infusionsoft. Additionally, when it comes to security and compliance, Zoom goes above and beyond, with HIPAA compliance, SSAE 16 SOC 2 Type 2 certification, single sign-on, and more.
Like GoToMeeting, Zoom offers assistance for companies who need help getting set up, and can even provide guidance for those creating online events. Zoom is also compliant with the EU-US privacy shield standards, FedRAMP, and TRUSTe. Business experience features include:
- Full customer guidance and support
- HIPAA compliance
- SOC 2, TRUSTe, EU-US Privacy Shield, FedRAMP compliance
- End-to-end encryption
- Single sign-on, role-based security and password protection
- Searchable transcripts
- Affordable, transparent pricing
Will you be using Zoom, or GoToMeeting for your conferencing strategy? Let us know in the comments below.
