For employees, faculty, and staff at Harding University, choosing the right video conferencing tool is essential for effective communication, collaboration, and instruction. While Zoom has gained significant popularity, it's crucial to evaluate its offerings against Google Meet, especially considering Harding University's existing investment in campus-wide Google Workspace Education Plus licenses. This article will compare Zoom Pro and Google Meet across key areas, underscoring why one of these solutions presents a more advantageous and cost-effective solution for our university community.
Pricing: A Clear Advantage for Google Meet
One of the most significant factors for Harding University is cost. With a comprehensive Google Workspace Education Plus license already in place for all employees, Google Meet's advanced features come at no additional charge to the university. This is a substantial financial benefit, as acquiring individual Zoom Pro licenses would incur recurring costs. Zoom Pro typically costs around $16.99 per user per month (or $159.96 annually per user), which can quickly add up across our entire university. This inherent cost-effectiveness makes Google Meet the preferred choice from a budgetary standpoint.
Features and Functionality: Robust Offerings from Both
Features that are Common to both:
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Core video conferencing features like high-quality audio/video, screen sharing, recording, chat, virtual backgrounds, and host controls.
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Advanced features like breakout rooms, polls, Q&A, noise cancellation, and live captions.
Google Meet Specific Advantages (with Education Plus):
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Significantly larger meeting capacity (up to 1,000 participants)
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100GB of Google Drive storage per user for recordings
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In-domain live streaming for up to 100,000 viewers
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Seamless integration with the Google Workspace ecosystem
Zoom Pro Specific Advantages:
Google Meet's comprehensive suite of features, especially under the Education Plus license, readily meets and often exceeds the typical needs for daily meetings, classes, and collaborations within a university setting.
Usability: Ease of Access and Familiarity
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Usability also favors Google Meet for the Harding community, given its deep integration with the familiar Google ecosystem.
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Google Meet is primarily browser-based, eliminating the need for software installation, and its intuitive interface mirrors other Google Workspace products. This contrasts with Zoom, which often benefits from a client download for the full experience.
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The direct integration of Google Meet with Google Calendar further simplifies scheduling and joining meetings, offering a smoother experience for users already accustomed to Google products.
Conclusion and Recommendation for Harding University
Considering the overwhelming cost advantage, the extensive features available through the existing Education Plus license, superior ease of use, impressive scalability, comprehensive support and robust security*, Google Meet is the recommended video conferencing solution for Harding University. It provides all necessary tools for academic and administrative functions without any additional expenditure. By standardizing on Google Meet, the university can streamline workflows, reduce technical complexities, and maximize the value of its current technology investments.
*For more detail on all of the above content and to learn how Google Meet compares to Zoom in regard to scalability, support and security, read the full article.