Video calls - which is best ?

[ChrisF]

I thought it was fixed already just the other day.  Not sure now.

 

Both cables down again YESTERDAY .... 

[Shebeen]

Am going to be trying our Google meet

Basically because everyone is on Google already, not a very tech company so thought it would be simplest.

 

Any issues and I'm going straight to zoom

[RocknRolla]

All these apps use Data.

 

If you however choose to call the number provided to join the meeting from a phonecall point of view, you will use minutes/free minutes from your phone provider.

 

To join one of these meetings by phonecall, you dial a localised switchboard number, enter your meeting ID (provided, eg 1234) and it transfers you to the meeting, but you will only hear voice. you can not see what is presented or shared. it's a normal voice phonecall.

 

I am using a 20meg fibre line at home and while the 5 of us are all online in one form or another, I have had clear video and voice on all platforms.

[WaynejG]

I find the Telegram voice calls better quality than WhatsApp.

[NC_lurker]

To join one of these meetings by phonecall, you dial a localised switchboard number, enter your meeting ID (provided, eg 1234) and it transfers you to the meeting, but you will only hear voice. you can not see what is presented or shared. it's a normal voice phonecall.

That's not totally true. With Zoom you can connect via your PC to get the video & therefore screen share, while opting to dial into the audio via phone.

 

[Edit] Note that you can view a shared screen without needing your own video cam.

Edited March 29, 2020 by NC_lurker

[RocknRolla]

That's not totally true. With Zoom you can connect via your PC to get the video & therefore screen share, while opting to dial into the audio via phone.

 

[Edit] Note that you can view a shared screen without needing your own video cam.

Yeah, sorry, left out that important part..

[J∆kk∆ls]

Zoom is okay but I find FaceTime on Mac to be the clearest.

[sirmoun10goat]

We use Teams at work. Works well as we have office in Canada (Vancouver) and Aus (Brisbane). Quality and latency is good but I have no bandwidth issue. I have a 100 Mbit line. Very seldom use Skype as not many other people use Skype but Skype and Teams is pretty much the same thing. I think Microsoft actually bought Skype. I hate Whatsapp because of the latency.

 

Wrt to your question about data. It does not care who make the call. You use data and you pay for that. I do not know which of the products use less data, once again I am not bothered because I do not have capped data.

 

I do not know Zoom at all.

MS does own Skype. They have stopped dev on Skype for Business, and are now just pushing Teams. Last time I used Skype for Business the app opened up in Teams anyway

[Uni]

For socials and silly, the girls and I installed house party over the weekend . It's cool as a catch up as whoever is available can join andate there's no need to schedule a time etc. Great to catch up with friends in different time zones all at once and a place to reach out during times of isolation.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Uni

[dave303e]

MS Teams in my opinion is the best, mainly because of the link with other Office 365 products, for us at work we can quickly share data with teams and onedrive. I also like the security of it all and the formailty of a licenced product not a free app.

Google meetings is also great, like Zoom all they need is an internet browser which is a win for the poor souls using mac pc's.

[MORNE]

using skype today is like being one of those die-hard myspace people when facebook first came out way back when...

Its old and sucks, and the only reason why it still exists is because everybody calls video calling 'skype' so it's sortof become a household name.

 

Zoom and MS teams for real work due to meeting/conference scheduling, app integration , screen sharing etc. Also available cross platform.

 

Everything else is social media.

[ChrisF]

THANKS for all the feedback 

 

 

 

 

Tempted to go back in my emails to check which architects suggested Skype ...   

[NC_lurker]

THANKS for all the feedback

 

 

 

 

Tempted to go back in my emails to check which architects suggested Skype ...

My regular Pilates class switched to the online world this evening using Zoom. Taking a look at my data usage stats, it appears that a 30min video call used about 130mb (roughly). I followed it up with a 50min WhatsApp audio call that used about 50mb.

 

I'll try to remember to check my usage in my morning meeting tomorrow and post it.

[Stretch]

We use Google Hangouts for all conferencing. It's light and does everything you need

 

We are up to 8000 meetings globally a day within the organisation with everyone working from home

[Robbie Stewart]

I am using Teams for my work comms. Video and Calls. You can turn off the mic and video in a meeting, and it seamlessly links to your calendar and allows doc or screen sharing. It also has a central link to a repository for documents on a Sharepoint location if needed. It works well from both my laptop and phone. As for data usage, I can't say, as I use my fibre 20mbps connection.

[geomark]

Have used Skype for personal and business for a long time.

 

More recently Skype for Business got thrust upon us by some large groups for doing meetings with them and that is a complete abomination which Microsoft has quietly killed and replaced with Teams, which like others have said works well as shared work spaces as well as video.

 

i must say its been years since we've done video conference, we always just do voice calls with the video feed being constrained to 1 persons screen showing the presentation/maps/spreadsheet etc.  Its a waste of bandwidth and you really don't need an dodgy up close/up nose view of your work mates to improve the experience!  Video is for socializing. 

 

I havent used it but I see lots of security concerns over Zoom 

https://www.google.com/search?q=zoom+security&oq=zoom+security&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.3521j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

Anyone have any personal experience on this aspect?