The emergence of the coronavirus pandemic at the beginning of last year changed several sectors, including the professional one. To ensure the lives of employees, most companies had to adopt the home office regime, which made videoconferences a daily practice in the lives of remote workers.
Naturally, this moved the market for call platforms. “Forgotten” applications are back in force, tools known only in some corporate segments have become popular and many companies have decided to invest in the development of new platforms.
With all this movement in the sector, several options for videoconferencing platforms were made available on the market. Services can vary greatly and the good news is that companies can choose between tools according to their needs.
However, the list below seeks to list the main free videoconferencing platforms. Of course, non-paid plans have their limitations — the limit on the number of participants or the duration of meetings. But it's important to remember that the basic suggestions can serve as a test, as companies can choose to upgrade plans to add new features. In other cases, it may be the perfect “match” to meet needs.
Zoom
Created in 2011, the Zoom video conferencing platform is one of the most popular today. The app has always been known in the corporate world, but the coronavirus pandemic has become even more popular.
Meetings can be accessed via the browser client, the desktop tool, or even the mobile device apps. In addition to the free account option, there are Professional, Corporate and Enterprise plans, each of which has specific features that can suit your company's needs.
It is also possible to transfer files, share screens, record meetings, activate automatic subtitles, download transcripts and several other features for meetings with up to 500 participants.
Free account features
- Limit of participants: 100 participants
- Individual meetings: no time limit
- Group meetings: 40 minute limit
- screen sharing: yes
- Meeting recording: Yes
Cisco webex
Created in the 90s, the tool was adopted by Cisco in 2007. The videoconferencing platform is even considered one of the best available on the market.
Not counting most of the resources available on call platforms, it is worth highlighting the integrations made with other tools. You can start your Microsoft Teams, Slack or Workplace meetings from Facebook or even start and schedule meetings from Outlook or Google Calendar.
Free account features
- Limit of participants: 100 participants
- Individual meetings: 50 minutes
- Group meetings: 50 minutes
- screen sharing: yes
- Meeting recording: Yes
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams can be a great opportunity for users of the Office ecosystem. Although the videoconferencing platform is aimed at commercial use, the company revealed a free version, which allows users to access Microsoft accounts.
In an effort to leverage its use and make life easier for professionals in times of the coronavirus pandemic, Teams extended the maximum number of participants to 300 and increased the call duration limit to 24 hours during global health chaos.
Free account features
- Limit of participants: 100 participants (extended to 300 during the pandemic)
- Individual meetings: 1 hour (extended to 24 hours during the pandemic)
- Group meetings: 1 hour (extended to 24 hours during the pandemic)
- screen sharing: yes
- Meeting recording: No
Read more:
- Videoconferencing: discover platforms that do not require the installation of an application
- Home office, videoconferencing, streaming: online portamento in the pandemic
- New technology from Nvidia promises to improve video calls using AI
Skype
Skype has always been known for being a platform for individual or small group video and audio conferences. The good news is that the “Meet now” service allows calls of up to 50 guests and free of charge.
You don't even need to register on the platform. Users will be able to join the guests via a link generated by the host of the link. Anyone who misses the meeting will be able to watch the recordings later, which are kept for up to 30 days.
Free account features
- Limit of participants: 50 participants
- Individual meetings: no time limit
- Group meetings: calls of up to 4 hours, limit of 10 hours per day and 100 hours per month
- screen sharing: yes
- Meeting recording: Yes
Google Meet
The Google tool has three types of plans: the free version, the Google Workspace Essentials plan and the Google Workspace Enterprise subscription (which allows you to organize meetings for up to 250 people).
The videoconferencing platform can be accessed by browsers or by native apps for mobile devices. The available resources include subtitles, hand-raising, polls and questions, thematic rooms, among others.
Free account features
- Limit of participants: 100 participants
- Individual meetings: 24 hours
- Group meetings: 1 hour (extended to 24 hours until June 28, 2021)
- screen sharing: yes
- Meeting recording: No
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