Video Conferencing Tools: The Top 16 Options

Video conferencing software is an easy and inexpensive solution for communicating with remote employees, especially in today’s increasingly mobile world. It’s not just for big companies either; small businesses can save big money by using video conferencing to communicate with their staff.

The best video conferencing tools allow you to conduct business meetings with anyone on the world, right from your desktop or mobile device. It’s a convenient way to save costs and stay in touch with people remotely, especially if you’re a virtual assistant.

In this article we will look at some of the best video conferencing software available today, before discussing whether or not it is right for your business.

Top video conferencing tools

If you’re looking for a video conferencing tool to help you communicate with your team, there are many to choose from.

Here are some of the best video conferencing tools that can help you bring your team together.

1. Google Meet

Google Meet is a free video conferencing service from Google that allows you to make video calls with others who have the app. It works on the web, and phones and tablets for Android and iOS. It is a new tool created by Google to help you connect with people. 

Google Meet uses the Google Hangouts API. This means you can create ad hoc calls and invite your friends and family. 

It is a new way to share screens in real-time with anyone, anywhere. It’s easy to use and the ideal solution for sharing ideas and collaborating with other people on projects.

Pricing

• Business Starter: $6 USD /user/month
• Business Standard: $12 USD /user/month
• Business Plus: $18 USD /user/month
• Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing

2. Zoom

Zoom is a virtual meeting solution that allows you to create online meetings in minutes, with no software to download or install. Meetings can be created with multiple participants at once, with different camera views and audio inputs so everyone can contribute to the discussion. 

It is a great tool for sharing files and documents between individuals, teams, or groups of people who are not in the same physical space. Zoom is very easy to use even for beginner virtual assistants.

Pricing

The Zoom app is free to download, but it’s limited to 40-minute meetings that make it more suitable for personal use than for more intensive professional use.

• Basic: Free
• Pro: $14.99- per host per month
• Business: $19.99- per host per month
• Enterprise: $19.99- per host per month

3. Dialpad Meetings

Dialpad Meetings is a web-based conference calling software that allows you to organize and manage your meetings. It lets you record calls, send files, share online presentations and collaborate with other users.

Dialpad Meetings targets various industries including technology, retail, eCommerce, and business services. Android and iOS mobile applications allow users to access the platform on the go.

Pricing

• Standard: $15 USD/mo/user (billed annually)
•  Businesses Pro: $25 USD/mo/user (billed annually)
• Enterprise: Contact

4. TrueConf Online

TrueConf Online is a cloud video conferencing service with a range of pre-configured collaboration tools and an easy-to-use interface. It’s a cost-effective solution for meeting with your partners and colleagues anytime, anywhere. Conversations can be captured and stored in your own video archive to enhance training, as well as improve team communication. This solution is capable of allowing users to join any meeting regardless of their location within the organization. The service provides the option to stream to all participants, providing rich media content without fail.

Pricing

• Starting Price: $12.90 per host
• Free Version: Free Version available.
• Corporate: $300.00

5. Skype

Skype is one of the most well-known and used applications for making video calls, but it also offers many other tools that simplify your life. For example, Skype has a feature that lets you add contacts to your contact list directly from a phone call or text message. You can also use Skype to make voice calls to any phone number around the world and even send group text messages with just one click.

With so many features built into Skype, it’s no wonder why this software is so popular among businesses. As long as your computer has an internet connection, you can join in on these great features by using Skype anytime you have an internet connection on your computer or smartphone!

Pricing

Skype calls between users are free, but you will be charged extra for what they call “premium” features such as voicemail, SMS texts, or calls to a landline, cell phone, or outside of Skype. 

• United States-Subscription-Mobiles and landlines Unlimited mins*: $2.99 per month.
• North America- Subscription-Mobiles and landlines Unlimited mins*-$6.99 per month.

6. FreeConference

FreeConference is an online meeting call provider that allows you to host an unlimited number of conference calls with up to 5 online participants or 400 phone participants. It is a web-based voice communications platform that allows users to host a webinar, conference call or webinar dial-in session for free. FreeConference provides hosting for your online events and meetings, as well as toll-free numbers for your customers or consumers worldwide.

Pricing

• Free Version: $0. Per Month. Select Plan. Capacity. Up to 100 Call Participants. Up to 5 Web Participants.
• Starter Plan: $9.99. Per Month. Select Plan. Capacity. Up to 100 Call Participants. Up to 15 Web Participants
• Plus Plan: $24.99. per month, 400 audio participants, 20 video conferencing & screen sharing participants. (8c/minute overage), Unlimited Call Recording.
• Pro Plan: $34.99. per month. Select Plan. Capacity. Up to 250 Call Participants. Up to 250 Web Participants.

7. Lifesize Go

Lifesize is a collaboration platform that provides a unified communication tool for small businesses to communicate with employees or customers. Lifesize offers multiple features including audio conferencing, web conferencing, video conferencing, recording meeting minutes and more. The platform enables you to organize your team into virtual teams so that they can collaborate on projects at a distance without having to meet in person.

Lifesize offers high quality services at competitive prices, with unlimited resources and a dedicated support team. It is an open source project, freely available to anyone who wants to use it.

Pricing

• Free: 6 months free 
• Standard: $16.95/host/month starting at 1 host
• Plus: $14.95/host/month with a minimum of 15 hosts 
• Enterprise: $12.95/host/month 

8. Slack Video Calls

Slack is a cloud-based application that enables teams to work more effectively through real-time communication, file sharing, and task management. Users can engage in team chat while collaborating with colleagues around the world on documents, photos, videos, and many other types of content. The app also includes search functionality.

Slack makes it easy to organize teams and share information. Fast, secure, and reliable—it is the perfect platform for remote workers and those with busy schedules.

Pricing

Slack has 2 pricing models and it ranges from $8 to $15. Look at different pricing editions below and read more information about the product here to see which one is right for you.

• Free: $0 USD/mo- The quickest and easiest way to try Slack
• Pro: $6.67 USD/mo*- More power for small teams who want better collaboration
• Business+: $12.50 USD/mo*- Scale your business, increase productivity, and keep your teams connected
• Enterprise Grid: Contact Sales- Slack for the most demanding enterprises—all the flexibility to meet your regulatory requirements and all the power to match your growth

9. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is one of the most popular options for businesses looking to boost their communication strategy with a video conferencing tool. 

The software is easy to use and comes with a robust feature set that enables you to connect with participants in any meeting room in your organization. You can also receive calls, send messages, and share files during these meetings.

Pricing

GoToMeeting offers three pricing editions:

• Professional plan: Professional plan costs $12month per organizer, or $12/month per organizer billed annually. 
• Business plan: Business plan costs $16per month per organizer, or $16/month billed annually. 
• Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing

10. BlueJeans

Meetings are the biggest productivity in modern organizations. BlueJeans is the platform for meetings in the modern office.

BlueJeans connects desktops, mobile devices, and room systems to provide seamless team collaboration across screens. People can host video meetings in minutes, with the flexibility to switch seamlessly between audio and web conferencing.

It provides a complete end-to-end business solution for teams of all sizes. From the open-plan office to the remote team, BlueJeans makes it possible for everyone to work together, wherever they are.

It is the meeting solution teams trust to get their best work done.

Pricing

BlueJeans  software is available across 3 pricing.

• BlueJeans Standard: $9.99 host per month
• BlueJeans Pro: $13.99 host per month
• BlueJeans Enterprise: 16.66 host per month

11. Cisco Webex Meetings

Cisco Webex Meetings is a web conferencing tool that enables you to host video meetings from anywhere in the world using your own computer or mobile device. Make your meetings more engaging by creating custom dialogues for each participant.  Utilize Webex’s wide range of collaborative capabilities, including dynamic poll and Q&A, to create moments that put people first.

With Webex Meeting, you can reduce disruptions, increase engagement, enhance collaboration, manage workflow more efficiently and amplify the impact of your content. Meet seamlessly anytime, anywhere on any device – whether it is in person or virtually.

Pricing

• Basic Plan: $0/mo – 
• Meet Plan: $13.50/mo
• Meet + Call Plan: $25/mo – HD meetings with up to 200 people, screen sharing, recordings, breakout rooms, & more. 
• Enterprise: Contact sales. Flexible subscription plans

12. Jiminny

Jiminny helps you build better business relationships by improving every conversation. Easily capture conversations and automatically capture all incoming customer questions, comments and meeting notes. Create custom training programs and activities so your team can lead education sessions, ask open-ended questions in a virtual meeting or give advice on performance.

Pricing

Jiminny has 2 pricing editions. A free trial of Jiminny is also available.

• Jiminny Pro: Starting at $85.00
• Jiminny Enterprise: Everything from Pro

13. Microsoft Teams

Like most other messaging apps, Microsoft Teams has a strong focus on collaboration and communication. Microsoft Teams includes all of the features you would expect in a business-focused messaging app, like group chats, group Vidyo video, IM access to one’s personal phone from within the app, and more. 

Microsoft Teams is a free software application designed to help you communicate with colleagues and manage projects as a team. It also integrates with Microsoft Office applications, making it easy for organizations to share files, collaborate on documents, and meet online in real time across Skype for Business or Slack.

Pricing

Look at different pricing editions below and choose which one is right for you.

• Starting Price: $6.90/month
• Basic:: $5.00-per user/per month- Microsoft 365 Business Basic
• Standard: $12.50- per user/per month- Microsoft 365 Business Standard
• E3: $20.00- per user/per month- Office 365 E3

14. Chanty

Chantry is a fast and effective way to collaborate. It’s a team collaboration app that makes it easy for business professionals to interact with their team and share information, in real time. Chantry gives you all the tools needed for working together and making collaborative decisions, with trust built into the platform, so you know what you’re agreeing to. Execute scrum methodology and manage tasks in one place with due date, and super fast client list search with quick filter function.

Pricing

• Free: $0 Forever
• Business: $ 3 user/month (billed annually)

15. RingCentral Video

RingCentral Video enables businesses to conduct meetings and enable team members to share documents, collaborate, edit files and manage multiple users in a centralized platform. 

This tool is designed to help businesses conduct meetings and enable team members to share documents, collaborate, edit files and manage multiple users in a centralized platform.

Pricing

RingCentral has four plans.

• Essentials: Message, Phone- $19.99
• Standard: Message, Video, Phone- $27.99
• Premium: Message, Video, Phone, Open API- $34.99
• Ultimate: Message, Video, Phone, Open API- $49.99

16. Zoho Meeting

Meetings and webinars are no longer the stuff of conference rooms and long conference calls. Today, face-to-face meetings are essential to co-create, share insights, get customer feedback and so much more. Zoho Meeting makes it easy for your team to communicate with real-time interactivity in real time – online or on any device. With our robust web conferencing suite, you can get started quickly with a team meeting room or webinar platform. Meetings can be recorded and shared in rich media formats so everyone sees it just like they’re there!

Pricing

• Free: $0- 100 meeting participants, 100 webinar attendees
• Meeting: $3- per host/ month, billed annually
• Webinar: $16-per organizer/ month, billed annually

Conclusion

The technology for meeting online has vastly improved. The future of business is going to become increasingly digital, and online video conferencing is the next natural progression.

Rather than having meetings in real life, businesses all over the world are moving towards online meetings and group discussions.

As video conferencing tools become more popular and commonplace among both businesses and consumers, this growing industry should present exciting prospects to those looking to get into the field.