Digital tools for a better virtual meeting experience
Virtual meetings have become essential for collaboration and productivity in today’s hybrid and remote work environments.
This guide outlines key features for the most popular platforms—Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet—to help you choose the right one for your next meeting.
Platform Snapshot
| Platform | Registration | Breakout Rooms | Polls & Surveys | Accessibility | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom | Built-in | Up to 100 | Built-in advanced polls | Live transcription, captions, interpretation, + more | Videoconferencing for groups of all sizes + webinars |
| Microsoft Teams | Webinars only | For meetings < 300 attendees | Built-in advanced polls and Microsoft Forms | Language interpretation, captions, screen magnifier, + more | Workspace collaboration |
| Google Meet | Via Forms or Calendar | Up to 100 | Built-in advanced polls and Google Forms | Transcripts, captions, screen magnifier, + more | Small/quick meetings + individuals who use Google Workspace |
Zoom
Best for meetings and webinars for groups of all sizes. Free Zoom accounts can be set up to hold meetings, if your organization does not have one. However, there are limitations on meeting length.
Key Features:
- Registration: Create meetings and manage your registrants, add registration requirements, send confirmation emails, generate meeting attendance reports, and more.
- Breakout rooms: Split your meeting into separate sessions (up to 100) where you can assign participants to rooms automatically or manually, before or during the meeting or have participants choose their breakout room.
- Polls/surveys: Create advanced polls with single and multiple-choice questions and launch during your meeting for live feedback. Can be conducted anonymously too. Plus, participant surveys can be created and sent out after meeting sessions and webinars to gather feedback.
- Accessibility: Access features like live transcription, auto and manual captions, language interpretation, and more.
Learn more here.
Microsoft Teams
Communicate, hold meetings, and share files in one place
Key Features:
- Multiple meeting types: Regular meetings, webinars, and town halls. Learn more.
- Registration: This feature is only available in webinars. Customize event details, attendee registration, limit access to your organization or make it public, and more.
- Breakout rooms: Both Microsoft Teams meetings and webinars support breakout rooms in meetings with fewer than 300 attendees. Assign participants to rooms automatically or manually, before or during the meeting or have participants choose their breakout room.
- Polls/surveys: Create Teams polls before your meeting and launch during to gather live feedback. Choose from options like multiple choice, word cloud, ranking poll, and more.
- Collaboration: Engage your team using Microsoft Whiteboard, a digital canvas tool to share ideas and collaborate in real time with features like drawing, sticky notes, and templates.
- Accessibility: Access features like language interpretation, captions, meeting recording, magnifying screen content, and more.
Best For: Groups who need tools to communicate and collaborate beyond just video conferencing.
More information: here.
Google Meet
Video and audio conferencing
Key Features:
- Registration: Share a calendar event link or use a Google Form registration template and send the meting link via email.
- Breakout rooms: Google Meets supports up to 100 breakout rooms per meeting, and up to 100 participants per breakout room. Assign participants to rooms automatically or manually, before or during the meeting.
- Polls/surveys: Conduct polls in Google Meet for live feedback or use Google Forms to create polls and surveys with advanced features like file upload, templates, collaboration, and more.
- Accessibility: Access features like live captions, transcripts, screen readers and magnifiers, and more.
Best For: Small organizations and individuals that use Google Workspace who want a simple video and audio-conferencing platform.
Learn more here.
Other digital tools
Increase collaboration and make your meetings more interactive using the engagement, scheduling, and presentation tools below.
Engagement
Mentimeter: Interactive presentation tool that allows presenters to engage participants through live polls, quizzes, word clouds, and more.
Miro: Collaborative whiteboard platform that allows users to brainstorm, plan, and design using templates, sticky notes, and drawing tools.
Slido: Interactive Q&A and live polling platform that integrates with platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google, and more.
Scheduling
Calendly: Virtual availability and booking app for individuals and organizations.
Doodle: Allows users to create polls to find a time that works for multiple people to meet.
Calendar: Meeting scheduler and calendar with advanced features.
Presenting
Prezi: Web-based tool for creating dynamic and interactive presentations.
Canva: Web-based tool to create presentations using ready-made templates and interactive tools.