As we embrace this new virtual year, here is a breakdown of everything you need to know about two of the most popular online learning applications: Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

Security

Zoom: 

• Hosts can remove participants if necessary 
• Enable or disable participants to record 
• A secure meeting is encrypted 
• Once the host locks the meeting no one else can join
• Anyone with the link can join but they may need a password and meeting ID
• Participants need host’s permission to share their screen
• Waiting rooms are enabled by the host 
• Host can mute or unmute participants 
• Private messages between participants cannot be viewed by the host 
• Can prevent participants from starting their video
• The host controls who enters meetings and those who remain in the waiting room
• Host can record the meeting, and video saves to a designated file location once the meeting ends

Teams: 

• Offers two-factor authentication and single sign on with encryption
• The host controls those who enter meetings and those who remain in the waiting room
• Host can remove participants
• Participants need host’s permission to share their screen
• The “attendees” or the “presenters” are chosen by the host
• Hosts can turn on moderation to monitor who can launch new posts and respond to posts on that channel
• Advanced artificial intelligence (AI) protects the chat box from bullying comments
• All participants are notified when a meeting is being recorded via a privacy notice

Accessibility

Zoom: 

• You can choose between a gallery view and a presenter view 
• The host can choose to have the same meeting code and password every time or they can choose to have a unique meeting ID and password each time. 
• The personal meeting ID (PMI) choice needs to be enabled in order to use the same PMI everytime. 

Teams: 

• You can choose between gallery view and presenter view, but gallery view images are smaller
• Meetings can be found on Teams calendar 
• Meeting links can be emailed

Whiteboard feature 

Zoom: 

• The whiteboard image and annotations can be saved and sent to the recipients only 
• The whiteboard image is a multi-touch screen 

Teams: 

• Allows for students work to be shared with the entire team in a virtual setting 
• Sharing the whiteboard allows for the host and participant to draw           

Maximum Conference Time 

Zoom: 

• The free version allows a maximum of 100 users and 40-minute long meetings
• The Pro plan is $149.90 a year and allows 100 users and meetings can last up to 30 hours
• The Business Plan, $199.90 a year, and the Zoom Unlimited Business plan, $300 a year, both host up to 300 users and provide unlimited meeting times

Teams:

• Meet-now meetings will expire 8 hours after start time
• All other meeting types will expire after 60 days

Recordings 

Zoom: 

• Recordings will save after the meeting ends and the host decides where to save it based on memory availability 

Teams: 

• Recordings are automatically saved to the Microsoft stream on the Teams platform where everyone can view the recording 

Chat feature

Zoom: 

• Messages can be sent publicly for all participants to see or privately with the host or other participants 
• If the participant sends a message to another participant the host cannot view it
• The chat disappears when the meeting ends, but the host can save the chats
• The host can choose who the participants communicate with and can disable the chat completely or partially
• The auto-save chat will automatically save after the meeting ends on your computer
• Includes a polling feature, which allows participants to respond anonymously, with responses shared with all participants
• The host also has the ability to download the results of the polling that took place during the meeting
• The host can decide who can copy/paste information from the chat specifically 

Teams:  

• Participants cannot send private messages to anyone in a meeting
• The chat feature saves with the recording at the end
• If you don’t want to display chat, you can mute it