With the development of cutting-edge video conferencing technology, holding effective virtual meetings and presentations is now simpler than ever before. Location is no longer a concern since users can instantaneously meet anywhere, thanks to today’s sophisticated, effective, and dependable solutions. Zoom and Webex are two of the best video conferencing applications for video collaboration. Now, the big question is this, which one is, by far, the best platform for video/online meetings?
Here is a detailed comparison between Zoom and Webex to help you decide.
What is the Zoom Video Conferencing Platform?
Zoom is among the world’s most widely used video conferencing tools, with arguably some of the most significant features available. It offers several reliable and effective services, including group messaging, Zoom Rooms, online meetings, and video webinars. It’s the perfect tool for any company since it offers excellent communication at an incredible price — and there’s even a free version.
What is Cisco Webex for Collaboration?
Another excellent platform for holding meetings and holding online conferences is Webex by Cisco. This cutting-edge software can schedule events, webinars, and video conferences.
Cisco Webex vs. Zoom: Key Features
Both platforms offer an incredible number of features, many of which overlap with each other. Some common examples are video conferencing, SSL security, video call recording, meeting management, and third-party integration.
But they also have some significant differences. While Zoom features a one-touch feature to join or start a conference and permits watermarks and waiting rooms for enhanced protection, Webex enables file transfers and removes participants from a meeting.
How Zoom and Webex provide the non-meeting functionality is another significant distinction between the two services. Zoom combines the functionality for SIP calling integration, training, meetings, and remote assistance into a single service, while Cisco Webex necessitates purchasing many solutions at various price points.
Cisco Webex vs. Zoom: User Experience
UX for Webex is far more complex than Zoom. For instance, joining a meeting after being invited by the host takes much longer. Additionally, Zoom makes it much simpler to find functionality during video conference sessions. Although Webex dashboards are simple, it isn’t easy to find the video conferencing, web conferencing, and cloud calling functions there. Zoom wins with its easy-to-use UX, given that Webex has a steeper learning curve. However, Webex provides a broader range of functionalities, including Webex Connect’s CPaaS capabilities.
Cisco Webex vs. Zoom: Business Telephony
Telephony extensions are crucial for business communications that include telephony, video, conferencing, and texting. Webex Calling would help companies achieve all of this at once. It offers cloud services provided by local service providers, an app for mobile and desktop devices, access to Webex Teams for a centralized communications ecosystem, and the option to include Webex Meetings. Call subscriptions are provided for common areas like conference rooms and telephony users.
This function is part of Zoom’s cloud phone technology — known as Zoom Phone. A single system for video, phone, chat, and collaboration is only one of its many functions. Read our Zoom Phone Vs. Webex Calling analysis for more.
Cisco Webex vs. Zoom: Breakout Sessions
Since video collaboration (and learning) replicates the group dynamics of the real world, breakout sessions are now a crucial component of video collaboration. Breakout Rooms are a feature of all Zoom plans that enable administrators to split up more extensive sessions into up to 50 specific sub-groups for more collaborative, pan-department meetings or one-on-one conversations. The Zoom meeting hosts choose to allocate these breakout groups randomly or bring together certain participants.
Users of Webex Breakout Sessions may divide more extensive meetings into 100 shorter breakout sessions. As with Zoom, hosts and co-hosts may split participants among different sessions, and breakout sessions can be planned or allocated randomly.
Cisco Webex vs. Zoom: Secure Communication
Unified communications conversations have always come with a security discussion. Any serious IT-centric discussion about business meetings and conferences always includes security as one of the biggest concerns.
Out-of-the-box Zoom vs. Webex features provide the basics like user authentication, meeting password requirements, and end-to-end encryption. Zoom and Webex also offer Active Directory integration for single sign-on, essential as most organizations have AD for their directory service. Zoom provides a waiting room and watermarks, while Webex features OTP (one-time password) for secured login.
Cisco Webex vs. Zoom: Pricing
Webex has five different plans. The Call Plan offers a specific cloud-based phone number with each license and premium calling services. At the same time, the Meet Plan and the Basic Plan both enable high-definition online video conferencing. Both online video meetings and telephone services are provided under the Webex Meet + Call Plan. Except for the Enterprise Plan’s configurable cost, Webex plans’ prices vary from $0 to $25 per month per license. Zoom provides four options with monthly licensing costs ranging from $0 to $19.99. The primary variations between the programs are the cost, the length of the meetings, and the number of participants. A significant difference is the participant capacity limit for the various plans offered.
While Webex’s $15 Meet Package allows up to 200 participants, Zoom’s $14.99 Pro plan has a maximum of 100 users. With Zoom premium subscriptions, you may increase the number of attendees in each meeting to 1,000 with the Zoom Large Meetings add-on, which costs $50 per month. On the other hand, Cisco Webex allows enterprises to decide their maximum capacity.
Verdict
Zoom and Cisco Webex tick all the right boxes and cover most of the essential video features you need. The enterprise decision to buy a particular platform would come down to budget, capacity requirements, existing Cisco infrastructure (if any), and personal user preferences.
