Live streaming tools are essential to the operations of the contemporary business. Through live streaming and conferencing, even the most remote of offices can connect with each other in real-time. Employees can connect with clients, remote workers can consult with their team and multiple offices can hold events and seminars. There are a number of fantastic live streaming tools available to augment your business operations: here are some of the best.
ZoomConference
A high-quality video and audio conferencing solution, ZoomConference makes it possible to create digital rooms and workspaces in which to collaborate. Through ZoomConference, you can easily connect to meetings and chat with others on-the-fly. An app marketplace provides third-party integrations that can be used alongside Zoom Conference, such as customer relationship management suites and sales and marketing products.
ZoomConference’s free tier provides conferencing solutions for up to 100 participants, which includes up to 40 minutes of group chat. At the highest enterprise level, ZoomConference can be used for up to 1,000 participants, with unlimited cloud storage. Additional features of ZoomConference include advanced administrative features, phone support, and single sign-on.
Google Hangouts
While Google+ has been discontinued, Google Hangouts isn’t as robust a solution as the others on this list, but it has the advantage of being the simplest and most intuitive. For organizations that need fast, simple calling options, Google Hangouts provides a complete solution that doesn’t need to be downloaded or installed. It can also be easily used with customers and vendors who have Gmail accounts.
Adobe Connect
Adobe Connect’s unique cloud-based solution makes it possible for users to create a permanent online meeting space. Through Adobe Connect, users are able to log in directly through the web, in addition to mobile devices such as Android and iOS. One of the major advantages to Adobe Connect is that it provides top tier security compliance; it is used by the Department of Defense. Further, meetings can be recorded, edited, and preserved to be referenced later.
Adobe Connect’s free service provides connectivity for up to three meeting participants, while the mid-tier service provides resources for up to 25 online meeting participants. The high-tier premium service allows connectivity for up to 100 participants. Every tier of service provides for unlimited meetings, storage, and VoIP.
GoToMeeting
For many businesses, GoToMeeting is considered to be industry standard. With support for multiple platforms, GoToMeeting makes it easy for users to connect to on-going meetings, launch new meetings, and record and save meetings once they’ve been completed. GoToMeeting includes features such as the smart meeting assistant (which provides automated transcripts), one-click meetings and business messaging.
Additionally, GoToMeeting provides support for exceptionally large meetings. GoToMeeting’s starter tier provides support for up to 10 users. GoToMeeting’s enterprise tier provides support for up to 2,000 participants. This is many times greater than most other live streaming services. This includes HD video, screen sharing, personal meeting rooms and 24/7 customer service.
ezTalks Meetings
ezTalks Meetings is an online webinar, conferencing and event platform through which both instant and scheduled meetings can be held. Private chat, group chat, and instant messaging can all be controlled directly through the platform, while an interactive whiteboard and screen sharing solution makes collaboration and communication easier.
ezTalks Meetings provides resources for up to 100 participants for free, with screen-sharing and annotation features available out-of-the-box. Pricing for ezTalks Meetings is tiered, with a free starter package, standard package, pro package and business package. The business package of ezTalks Meetings provides up to 300 participants, unlimited group meetings, ten gigabytes of online storage per host, and REST API access.
All of the above video streaming solutions are good options, depending on how many users you need to support and your conferencing budget. Regardless of the video streaming solution your organization decides to use, its effectiveness will be determined by the speed and reliability of your internet service. Learn more about whether your business can currently support live streaming by contacting PS LIGHTWAVE.
