Zoom rose to the occasion of salvaging the tethering connections of thousands of communities gripped into the jaws of a deadly pandemic. In 2020 it supported education, the economy, and the healthcare sector by directly enabling people to communicate without physical contact from the comfort of their homes. As vaccines help ease COVID restrictions, can zoom maintain and compete for its relevance?

Here are some of the top competitors for zoom;

#1. Microsoft teams 

  • Launched on: March 14, 2017 
  • Headquarters: Redmond Washington, United States 
  • Website: https://www.microsoft.com/en/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software

Need to know

Product of Microsoft’s renowned internal hackathons – Teams were marketed as competition for web-based desktop apps like skype and slack. Over time it has been developed to target business ventures and integrated with Office 365 and google services. It hit 75 million daily users in April 2020 because of the Covid 19 pandemic. It was a more efficient alternative to zoom because of its safety features and integration of office 365 for education.

It is available in 45 different languages. The software is programmed using the languages typescript, Angular, and ReactElectron. It is available in Operating systems Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, Web and updated regularly to improve the virtual work environment. Microsoft teams reported 250 million monthly users for 2021.

Microsoft Teams is built on a set of proprietary Microsoft protocols. Video conferencing is held using the MNP24 protocol, which is familiar from the Skype consumer version. The Skype for Business protocol MS-SIP is no longer utilized to connect Teams, clients. To connect to Microsoft Teams servers, VoIP and video conferencing clients based on SIP and H.323 require special gateways. If peer-to-peer connectivity is not available, clients behind Network address translation routers and restrictive firewalls can connect using Interactive Connectivity Establishment (ICE).

>>MORE: Top Zendesk Competitors & Alternatives

#2. Telegram 

  • Launched on: August 14, 2013 
  • Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates 
  • Website: https://web.telegram.org/k/

Need to know

Telegram was the most downloaded app in January of 2021 breaking its record in august with 1 billion global downloads. Launched by Russian brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov– it is a cloud-based instant messaging system that has developed over the years to satisfy virtual meetings, channels, and even cloud-based storage. It has a variety of clients who use it for cross-platform communication. 

Users can send text and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share an unlimited number of images, documents (2 GB per file). It is an SMS-based authentication system. It competes with zoom for being safer with management of data and meeting information. It allows users to store and share files and communicate through channels. 

Telegram’s Android app will be built directly in 2021, according to the company. Telegram for Android may be downloaded from the Telegram website directly. Telegram offers a number of client apps, some of which were created by Telegram Messenger LLP and others by the community. The majority of them are free and open-source, with the GNU General Public License version 2 or 3 governing their distribution. It will most likely receive new versions sooner than apps in the Play Store and App Store because it is automatically updated.

>>MORE: Top SolarWinds Competitors & Alternatives

#3. Cisco Webex 

  • Founded: 1995 
  • Headquarters: Milpitas, California, United States 
  • Website: https://www.webex.com/

Need to know

Cisco Webex mainly targets producing and marketing video-conferencing and web conferencing software applications. Designed and executed by multiple architects like Shaun Bryant and Zaid Ali Snr, Cisco aims to be a proprietary business communication platform.

Kelly Kramer the CFO of Cisco reported a boom in meeting attendees during April of 2020. The Covid 19 pandemic boosted their meeting attendees to 500 million equating to 25 billion meeting minutes. Listed on the Nasdaq national market, Cisco has developed its software over the years to meet the demands and outrank its competitors. Its drawbacks are lack of accessibility and comparatively higher subscription fees.

Cisco debuted Webex Classrooms, a new platform for virtual homeroom experiences, in September 2020. In October 2020, Cisco acquired BabbleLabs. Cisco released an upgrade for their Webex portfolio on October 26, 2021, focused on improving virtual and hybrid in-person meetings and events with AI-powered technologies.

>>MORE: Top Mixtiles Competitors & Alternatives

#4. Google Workspace 

  • Launched: March 9, 2017 
  • Headquarters: Mountain View California, United States
  • Website: https://workspace.google.com/intl/en/

Need to know

Much like its predecessor, Google Hangouts, Google Workspace is a video communication service. It was listed as an enterprise-friendly version of hangouts upgraded with call encryption and integration with various Google services like calendar and tasks. 

Google temporarily provided advanced capabilities from the corporate edition to users of Google Workspace G Suite for Education editions in March 2020. In 2021, real-time translations of the automatically generated closed captions are expected to be available. Between January and April 2020, the usage of Google Meet increased by a factor of 30 during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, with 100 million daily users compared to 200 million daily users for Zoom as of the last week of April 2020. For unpaid accounts, Google has suspended its regular 60-minute restriction.

A web app, an Android app, and an iOS app were all made available to increase compatibility with operating systems and be unique to them at the same time. Google workspace made headlines in 2021 by rendering all its services for free to compete against zoom. Added options for the users to dial into meetings from various countries just through a dial-in number and provided convenience for users to opt for virtual backgrounds or background blurring. Available in a wide assortment of languages, workspace provides extensive scope for users with all kinds of backgrounds and purposes to conduct their business with maximum efficiency. 

>>MORE: Top Zoominfo Competitors & Alternatives

#5. Calendly 

  • Launched in: 2013 
  • Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia, United States 
  • Website: https://calendly.com/

Need to know

Calendly is a web-based program that integrates with personal calendars to produce customized schedules based on available options and time zone identification. It is led by its CEO/founder Tope Avtona; who is a Nigerian immigrant and entrepreneur.

The integration saves time, regulates calendars, and helps users avoid last-minute meetings and scheduling issues by utilizing buffer times, daily limitations, and concealed event types.

Calendly allows users to customize their settings and meeting kinds to better suit their needs with Calendly. Users may choose meeting types, notifications types, meeting limitations and buffers, and minimum scheduling notice. Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, Microsoft Office 365 Calendar, and Apple’s iCloud Calendar are all supported by Calendly. Calendly also has an API that users may utilize to develop bespoke integrations with their software.

To show support for remote works in the Covid 19 pandemic calendly made its services of integration with zoom free. Calendly was valued at an impressive $3 billion as of January 2021, according to its most recent fundraising round as reported by “Because of them we can”.

>>MORE: Top Carmax Competitors & Alternatives

REFERENCES: