I’ve had a lot of video collaboration tools come across my desk over the last decade. I’ve depended on many of these to communicate with Redgate in the UK as well as Microsoft for feedback, coordination, etc. I’m regularly on calls with people where we need to present or share a screen.
Probably a few I’ve forgotten, but I’ve used:
- Oovoo
- Broadcast.net
- GotoMeeting/webinar
- Webex
- join.me
- Skype
- Skype 4 Business
- Slack
- Teams
- On/24
- Zoom
For awhile, we settled on Skype for Business at Redgate, where most meetings (scheduled or impromptu) were on this platform. It worked well for my on both my Windows 10 machines, and I got used to it. However, it was an issue for the OSX people. At Redgate, we’ve somewhat settled on Zoom as the current in house platform, but I still get Skype and Slack calls.
Recently I got a note about an MVP call with Microsoft. It was on Teams, which is their standard. I didn’t think I’d make it, so I deleted the invite from my computer. Then, plans changed, and I was scrambling.
I did see the meeting invite on my phone calendar, so I clicked that and started Teams on my Android phone. I could hear, but I struggled to see. Even a 5.5” screen isn’t great for 50+ year old eyes. I opened Teams on the PC, thinking that maybe the invite was there, but to my surprise, the meeting opened, with a “join” link. I could see in the timeline that “Steve Jones” had already joined. I clicked the link and got the screen share on a PC where I could see.
That was cool. Skype will track a call I’ve had and scheduled meetings, but it doesn’t seem to always sync between my phone and PC. Very cool.