Web Conferencing Comparison

Quick Links to Launch Software

Webex

Zoom

MS Teams

Google Meet

Common Use Cases

Teaching Sessions, Share Lectures, Classroom Breakout Sessions

Team meetings, Live Events for internal and external contacts, and other Many-to-Many needs, unified external/internal phone client

Teaching Sessions, Team meetings, Live Events and other Many-to-Many needs

Team meetings, Team chat, Casual Audio-Video Chat

Casual Audio-Video Chat

Calling Internally to University

Calling Outside University

Teaching Sessions

Training or teaching with break-out sessions

Training or teaching with in-session polling, quizzes, exercises, or tests

Casual, on-the-fly Instant Messaging

Casual, on-the-fly audio chat

Casual, on-the-fly video chat

Scheduled Meetings

Meeting where all participants might need to speak

Invite guests lectures who do not have a GW account

Meeting or discussion where one or more participants needs (or prefers) to attend by phone

Webinars or Events requiring registration

Key Benefits

• Included in the Blackboard classroom environment
• Students must be enrolled in class in order to attend
• Attendance tracking can be done automatically and saved in Grade Center

• Different Types: Meeting, Training, and Event
• Mobile and Desktop Applications
• More participants available with base account
• Unified phone client that integrates existing internal and external phone services 
• Fully integrated with existing enterprise voice infrastructure

• Different Types: Meeting and Webinar
• Mobile and Desktop applications
• Included in the Blackboard classroom environment
• Intuitive to use

• Different Types: Meeting, Training
• Mobile and Desktop applications
• Attendance reports and class insights show how students engage with the class
• Fully integrated with Microsoft 365 platform

• Integrated with Google Suite
• Easy tool for casual interactions

Available to

Anyone who is teaching or enrolled to take a course in Blackboard

Staff, Faculty, Student, Wage, Affiliate

Staff, Faculty, Student (Wage and Affiliate in Zoom Grouper Group with Approval)

Staff, Faculty, Student, Wage, Affiliates

Staff, Faculty, Student, Wage, Alumni, Affiliates, Organizations

Access/Setup

Limitations

Max. # of participants with base account

250 Regular Scale Session / 500 Large Scale

1000 Meetings / 3000 Live Events (max 2 concurrent at 3000, 1000 otherwise)

300

300 Users in a Meeting / 20 Users in Private Chat

250

Number of participants viewable on screen per page

5

25

49

49

49

Max. # of participants, add-on (available upon request)

3000 two concurrent Licenses, 1000 otherwise.

500 webinar/1000 webinar (requires a license request)

NA

NA

Key Features

Record Session

Automatic Transcriptions of Record Session

Chat

Share File

Share Screen

Share iPhone or iPad Screen

Polling

Whiteboard

Breakout Groups

Reactions

Q&A

Available in Events only

Real Time Closed Captions

Available upon request

Blur Video Background / Virtual Background

Live Captioning

Available upon request DSS

Available upon request

Available upon request

Personal Room

Desktop Application option

Mobile Application option

Lobby / Waiting Room

Meeting can be locked

Only course members can join a session unless professor gives a guest link to an outside person