Skype - Voice calls, instant messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing. Webex - Connect with anyone, anywhere, any time. Zoom - Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing. Step 1: On the Teams meeting screen, simply tap on the ‘Show Participants’ at the bottom half of the screen. Now you’ll view a list (on the screen right side) of all members that are connected to the meeting. Step 2: Inside the list, tap the Mute All button located at the top. 2K Zoomable Webcam Kits, AutoFocus, Support 1080P@ 60FPS, 3X Digital Zoom, Remote Control, Tripod Stand, USB Microphone, 4-Port USB Hub, Video Conference Lighting, for Zoom/Skype/Teams/Webex, MAC PC 167.99 $ 167. Sign in to Webex Teams for group chat, video calling, and sharing documents with your team. It's all backed by Cisco security and reliability.
I’ve been using Zoom for meetings and webinars for more than 3 years. Scientifically Speaking hosts webinars on cyber security, LinkedIn and mobile technology every Friday for financial professionals and wealth managers. As people around the world have begun to work from home, they are looking to Webex (by Cisco) and Skype and Zoom for financial advisors. The best solution meets the needs of the advisor and their client.
Convenience, ease of use, cost and security are all important considerations for virtual meetings. There are several choices, and the correct tool varies from office to office. I facilitate webinars and meeting with all of the major services, and I have discovered the good, the bad and the ugly of each. Here they are:
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- Ease of Use: The first time I used Zoom for financial advisors I realized how easy it was to use. Attendees received a link to click. Once they clicked they were connected to the meeting. Skype is very popular, but you have to know the attendee’s Skype address to invite them. Webex is recognized as a corporate solution, and several financial advisors use it. The Zoom chat feature is easy to use during meetings, and attendees can mute themselves and turn off their camera. Advantage: Zoom
- Integrations: Business owners need integrations with productivity, sales, marketing and financial services. Skype (by Microsoft) is moving everything to Teams, and it has the most integrations. Webex and Zoom collaborate with the major business players. These integrations level the playing field and make them easier to use. There was no discernible difference between the three platforms. Advantage: Even
- Price / Value: I discovered Zoom because of the cost, and I kept it because of the value ($15 / user / month). Skype / Teams is makes sense if you already use Microsoft 365 (Free). Webex costs the most money ($18 / user / month), but they occasionally have sales. The cheaper solution is not always the best. Consider the number of participants allowed, cloud recording and the length of the meetings / webinars. Zoom provides the most attendees and meeting time at the best price. Advantage: Zoom
- Security: This is where Zoom originally dropped the ball. For years they touted their service has end to end encryption, but that wasn’t true. Security and data protection are critical when using Zoom for financial advisors. WebEx Teams features Personal Room Locking and Encrypted Cloud Storage for added security. Advantage: Webex
- Special Features: Great webinars make it very similar to being in the room with people. Zoom and Teams make it intuitive and easy to do things like blur your background and add emojis. Webex by Cisco is more corporate, and some features are only available for certain levels. Zoom makes it easy to saving meetings to the cloud, host more than 100 people and share your screen. Advantage: Zoom
Business will never be the same, and webinars are a resource for helping professionals keep up. Webex by Cisco, Skype (Teams) and Zoom are robust tools to build engagement and increase communication with prospects, clients, customers and coworkers. Each has distinct advantages, but we find Zoom to be the best solution for most businesses. Try it out, but the paid version is worth the extra money.
Scientifically Speaking, of course…
Does Skype Work With Zoom
Many popular meetings platforms like Zoom and Webex have an option to add a SIP Address for Skype for business users to dial directly into the meeting from the Skype for Business client.
It’s not the slickest user experience and not something I would necessarily recommend. Still, interestingly you can dial this SfB SIP URI from Microsoft Teams to join the Zoom or Webex or another platform meeting.
You are probably better joining with the native client for those platforms.
This works via federation, so you need to be in Teams Only mode (which allows federation) and have federation enabled. Unfortunately, most Teams users won’t know what “mode” they are in.
How do Zoom and Webex meetings get a Skype for Business Join SIP URI?
In Zoom, it is an option that the person inviting you to the meeting has to enable. e.g. in Zoom details are here
In Webex, there is a special format SIP URI you can dial,
- The username is the prefix of the host’s room video address, in the format of username@sitename.webex.com
- For a scheduled meeting: meetingnumber.sitename@lync.webex.com (For example, 123456789.example@lync.webex.com)
- For a Personal Room meeting: username.sitename@lync.webex.com (For example, acassidy.example@lync.webex.com)
More details here
Dialling the Skype for Business SIP address from Microsoft Teams to join a Zoom Meeting
In this example, I’ll use Zoom, but it will be much the same for any meeting platform that allows SfB SIP URI dial-in.
If the zoom user has the feature enabled, at the very bottom of the invite, there is a link to “Join by Skype for Business.”
That link takes you to a web page that is just a button to launch a link to a SIP URI. I’m not sure why they don’t put the SIP URI in the invite, maybe to allow click to launch SfB, possibly to avoid users confusing it with the standard non-SfB SIP URI in the invite.
If you have SIP: associated with Microsoft Teams, it will try to launch Teams
Otherwise, you may be given a selection of apps to choose from.
Or you might need to take this SIP URI and paste it into a new chat in Teams then “search externally.”
You can see in Teams it shows as a SfB federated contact, you can click the video call button, top right.
You will see audio and video working.
You can input the password to join the Zoom meeting with the keypad.
How does it work?
This works on the Teams desktop client (electron) and mobile app. I found it wasn’t working for me in the web app, though logically it should.
What is happening here is, even though the Teams desktop and mobile clients don’t have SIP in them, they can connect to an Office 365 gateway to allow SfB federation. This call is going via that SfB federation gateway.
The Teams user needs to be in Teams only; otherwise their federation is still via Skype for Business and must have federation enabled.
Zoom Gotomeeting Skype Webex Comparison
Microsoft Teams Rooms
Microsoft Teams Rooms can also do this, but they are actually dual-stack clients, they have an SfB client that makes the call directly without using the Office 365 gateway. They also have an upcoming feature to natively join WebEx and Zoom meetings which will be a superior user experience.
Zoom Webex Skype Teams Meeting
What about Cloud Video Interop (CVI)?
Cloud Video Interop (CVI) is about enabling standards-based rooms to dial into Microsoft Teams meetings, it doesn’t enable Teams to dial out to a standards-based room.