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5 online meeting rooms to empower your remote teams
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5 online meeting rooms to empower your remote teams

Online meetings aren’t going anywhere. To make them more productive, you need the right tools. Here is the top online meeting room software.

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Meet Rob, the Product VP at a small remote B2B software company that designs ecommerce apps. Rob’s got a lot of projects in flight right now (when doesn’t he?), so he’s always in meetings with his team of 6 designers to move projects forward. 

Trouble is, he’s noticed that some of his team don’t seem very engaged—or manage to get much done—during meetings.  

Rob knows his team isn’t lazy, so he suspects that the one-way communication—one person presenting while everyone watches—and basic screen-sharing capabilities of his video conferencing tool might not be helping, especially in product design meetings where they struggle to get much done when working on visual items. 

He’s not alone in experiencing these productivity challenges. In fact, research* shows that remote employees multitask in at least 41% of meetings, which makes it harder for them to stay focused and get stuff done.  

Meetings are an essential part of collaboration for Rob and his team, but they have a lot of unproductive ones every week. So he’s looking for an online meeting room that gives his remote team a shared space to connect over video calls and online chat. These types of tools save you time and help you and your team communicate more effectively and get more work done. All of which makes your meetings and your team more productive and engaged. 

Here is the best online meeting room software that can help you do just that. 

Want to make your remote meetings more productive?
Switchboard is built for true collaboration—to save you time and help you get more done. 
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5 online meeting rooms for intuitive remote collaboration

Like Rob, you’re probably wondering which virtual meeting tools on the market meet your specific remote communication needs and objectives.  

To help you, we’ve taken a look at which tools you can use, what they do, and who they’re most suitable for. 

Remember, though, the tools below are a great starting point for boosting the productivity of your meetings, but it’s how you use them that will shape your outcomes and success. 

1. Switchboard—Best for collaboration on small teams

Switchboard is a browser-based collaboration platform that allows you to collaborate on documents and apps inside a virtual room—without having to share your screen. It’s designed to foster team connection, collaboration, and productivity through intuitive meeting rooms. 

Switchboard lets you communicate in real time with video, audio, and chat. You can also work side-by-side, allowing everyone to scroll, type, and browse the same document at the same time. 

You can create cloud-based virtual rooms for brainstorming, host spontaneous meetings with your team, and connect with clients in an interactive space. 

Throughout the meeting, you can explore any file in the room, moving around and viewing whatever you want without getting in the way of others. Best of all, Switchboard saves all your files after every meeting, so you never need to download anything or repopulate the room again.  

Free features:

  • Shared online workspaces and rooms for recurring meetings and virtual brainstorming
  • Web-based canvas to add multiple apps, websites, PDFs, and images side by side
  • Persistent rooms that save your work
  • In-meeting video, audio, and chat
  • Secure, fast cloud browsers for instant collaboration
  • Screen sharing for native apps
  • Presentation mode
  • In-app support
  • Google Calendar integration
  • Unlimited rooms for 1:1s, meetings, and projects
  • Meeting recording
  • No integration required for web-based apps—they all work
  • Room permissions for members and guests
  • Sections to organize documents and apps
  • Host not required for members to enter a room

Paid features: 

Switchboard is currently free with all features included.

Why we like it:

Switchboard brings interactivity to traditional video conferencing. It’s like playing a video game with your friends, instead of watching someone else play it. 

Pricing:

Switchboard is currently free with all features included. It plans to introduce pricing tiers in mid-2023 and there will always be a free option.

Who is it good for?

Highly collaborative small remote or hybrid companies looking for a comprehensive and team-oriented solution to traditional video conferencing tools.

Screenshot of Switchboard room and virtual canvas.
Switchboard lets you work side-by-side with your team on any type of file, web app, or browser to boost meeting productivity. 
Source: Switchboard

Who isn’t Switchboard for?

Switchboard is less suitable for companies or teams with more than 50 people. This is because the interactive virtual rooms and canvases lend themselves better to meaningful small team brainstorming sessions. 

Alternatives for larger teams

Fast forward a year, ecommerce is even bigger business than ever, and Rob's company has grown exponentially. He's now managing a cross-functional team of 20 people and often has to pull in people from product marketing and customer success to get their input during meetings. That means he needs different tools designed for larger teams.

Let’s take a look at the options available to Rob—and you—to overcome remote team challenges and host more productive meetings for larger teams. 

2. Zoom—Best for big corporations

Zoom is one of the most recognizable online meeting platforms out there today. It offers online meeting solutions for various industries, from education to healthcare.

Its built-in whiteboard and messaging features help make meetings more productive and interactive. You can invite up to 100 attendees on the Basic and Pro plans, up to 300 on its Business plans, and up to 1,000 on its Enterprise plan.

As a single host, you can send one-click meeting invites and create multiple meeting rooms to keep your teams focused and get more work done. 

Free features: 

  • Meetings of up to 40 minutes and 100 participants
  • Built-in online whiteboard
  • In-meeting chat
  • Automated captions
  • Call recording
  • Screen sharing
  • Breakout rooms

Paid features: 

Business plan features include: 

  • Meetings of up to 30 hours per meeting and 300 participants 
  • Unlimited whiteboards 
  • Team chat
  • Cloud storage 
  • Mail and calendar (Beta) 
  • Essential apps 

Why we like it:

Zoom is a great tool for big departments and companies to easily connect and share important information. It also has a wide range of services and pricing plans tailor-made for bigger companies and corporations. 

Cost:

  • Free version with limited functionality and attendee numbers
  • Pro: $149.90/year per user
  • Business: $199.90/year per user 
  • Business plus: $250/year per user
  • Enterprise: custom priced

Who is it good for?

Zoom can accommodate a large number of participants, which makes it ideal for large companies that need a reliable video conferencing platform

Who is it not good for?

Smaller remote or hybrid companies looking for an affordable, informal way to connect and collaborate with their team, without having to share screens. This is because Zoom meetings lack the functionality you need for true side-by-side collaboration.

Screenshot of a Zoom video conference meeting.
Zoom is perfect for hosting corporate meetings with hundreds of employees.
Source: Zoom

3. Google Meet—Best for companies using Google Workspace   

Formerly known as Hangouts, Google Meet is a browser-based online meeting room that lets teams using Google Workspace meet easily and efficiently. 

Its high-quality video and audio conferencing and live chat let you easily hop in and out of calls, while Google Calendar always has the correct meeting link automatically inserted, which saves time searching. Google Meet also automatically adjusts to your network speed, so your audio and video are always good quality. 

Google Meet also has multiple viewing options so you can see everyone in your meeting, which boosts employee engagement. Polls, hand raising, and virtual whiteboards let you pose important questions and collaborate more effectively—saving you time and energy. 

When the meeting is over, recorded meetings are automatically saved in Google Drive, so you can focus on preparing for your next meeting—and know where to find and reference your last one. 

Free features:

  • Up to 500 participants
  • Live captions (in English)
  • In-meeting whiteboard capabilities and Miro integration
  • Screen sharing
  • Event live-streaming
  • Seamless integration with Google Chat

Paid features: 

  • Meeting recording
  • Live streaming
  • Administrative controls
  • International dial-in numbers

Why we like it:

Google Meet is a simple and effective tool that offers secure and high-quality free video conferencing

Cost: 

  • Google Meet is free to use with access to premium features when you sign up for Google Workspace. 
  • Business Starter: $6/month per user
  • Business Standard: $12/month per user
  • Business Plus: $18/month per user
  • Enterprise: custom priced 

Who is it good for?

Remote companies using Google Workspace that prioritize face-to-face discussions and synchronous working. 

Who is it not good for?

Google Meet isn’t the best option for highly collaborative teams since it doesn’t let you work together on the same documents and apps.

Screenshot of a Google Meet meeting.
Google Meet lets teams gather in real time for quick catch-ups, check-ins, and hangouts.
Source: Google Meet

4. Microsoft Teams—Best for companies using Microsoft 365

Microsoft Teams is a cost-effective online meeting tool that lets you host a range of meetings and virtual events, from 1:1s to company-wide video conferences, all-hands, webinars, and more. 

It has a virtual speaker coach that helps you steady your pace, reminds you to check in with your audience while you’re presenting, and tells you if you’re interrupting anyone. All this makes it easier to follow good meeting etiquette and means everyone has the chance to participate. 

Microsoft Teams also lets you virtually raise your hand and access live chat and captions. Together Mode lets you host your video conference in a shared space like a cafe, lounge, or vacation rental home—so you and your team can get more done together wherever you are. 

Free features:

  • Unlimited group meetings for up to an hour
  • Up to 100 participants per meeting
  • Unlimited chat
  • Wireless sharing
  • Real-time collaboration
  • File sharing, tasks, polling
  • Data encryption for chats, calls, files, and meetings

Paid features: 

  • Unlimited group meetings—up to 30 hours per meeting
  • Up to 300 attendees per meeting
  • 10GB of cloud storage per user
  • Live captions in meetings
  • Team meeting recordings with transcripts
  • Webinar hosting
  • Attendee registration and reporting tools

Why we like it:

Microsoft Teams is easy-to-use and the paid plans give you plenty of features and low-cost pricing options. 

Cost:

  • Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Teams Rooms with limited functionality: Free   
  • Microsoft Teams Essentials: $4/month per user
  • Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6/month per user
  • Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50/month per user 
  • Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro (without Audio Conferencing): $40/month per room 

Who is it good for?

Scaling remote companies with 50-200 employees using Microsoft 365 that hold regular internal meetings and webinars. 

Who is it not good for?

Remote or hybrid teams focused on real-time internal collaboration over virtual events and webinars and who aren’t using Microsoft 365.

Screenshot of a Microsoft Teams video call.
Microsoft Teams virtual speaker coach helps team leads in larger companies run company meetings and virtual events with confidence.
Source: Microsoft Teams

5. Skype—Best for international organizations

One of the original video conferencing platforms, you may remember making your first video call using Skype’s popular audio and video conference software. It’s still going strong today and you can host up to 100 participants on a single video call and call phone numbers across the globe when you buy Skype Credit. 

Skype lets you get in touch with key stakeholders and team members in any timezone, so you don’t have to be together to get work done. 

It also lets you create one-click meeting invites, keep conversations private, share your screen, record your meeting, and access live subtitles. All this improves internal communication and lets you and your team get more done during meetings. 

Free features:

  • Audio and HD video calling
  • Smart messaging
  • Screen sharing
  • Call recording
  • File sharing
  • Live subtitles and real-time translation

Paid features: 

  • Skype to Phone
  • Skype Number 

Why we like it:

Skype makes it easy to keep in touch with international teams without breaking the bank—while letting you keep your personal number private. 

Cost:

  • Skype video conferencing for non-business users: Free 
  • Skype for Business is included in Microsoft Teams (see below) 
  • Skype Credit offers a range of pricing plans for calling phone numbers around the world

Who is it good for?

Skype lets you make calls with up to 100 participants and is ideal for medium to large businesses with remote international teams. Its real-time translation feature also lets you communicate naturally even if you don’t all speak each other’s language—which really boosts international collaboration. 

Who is it not good for?

Remote teams looking for an online meeting room that goes beyond screen-sharing and audio calls. 

Screenshot of a team using Skype to place a call.
Skype lets multilingual teams video conference for free and make international calls from within the platform.
Source: Skype

Why Switchboard is a great option for productive meetings

More than just an online meeting room, Switchboard is a virtual workspace that lets you work side-by-side and collaborate on projects and tasks during meetings. 

Here’s how it helps small remote companies host more productive and fruitful meetings. 

Say goodbye to sharing screens

Switchboard lets everyone in your room view, edit, and collaborate on important files and documents, so there’s no need for a single presenter or to take turns sharing your screen. 

This saves you a ton of time and energy toggling between different tabs and tools. Not to mention the added stress of potentially sharing the wrong tab or browser with a confidential document. 

Instead, all your team members can play a more active role in getting work done together. This gives your meetings a whole new energy and makes them more lively, engaging, and productive.

Screenshot of a video call in a Switchboard room.
Switchboard gives everyone a fair chance to participate in company and team meetings.
Source: Switchboard

Never lose a thing 

Switchboard’s meeting memory saves everything you’ve been working on within your permanent virtual canvas so you don’t have to waste time uploading, reloading, or downloading anything before or during your next meeting

Simply showing up means you’re ready to engage with your team and contribute to a productive meeting with everything you need at your fingertips. 

And Switchboard’s security features mean all your important company documents and conversations stay safe. 

Screenshot of Switchboard ‘recently shared’ popup.
Switchboard saves shared files in your permanent meeting room to save time and keep up meeting momentum.
Source: Switchboard

Collaborate on everything and anything 

Switchboard lets you upload any type of document, browser, web app, image, and multimedia file directly into your online meeting room. So you can work on any type of project using your favorite tools. 

It saves you tons of time digging through and selecting meeting materials before each meeting. And lets you easily keep track of what’s been covered in previous meetings, and what still needs to be addressed. 

For example, Rob uses Switchboard meeting recordings to record and upload important meetings into his room. That allows any team member that misses the meeting to easily catch up before the next one, so Rob never has to waste time bringing them up to speed and can get straight down to business.

Screenshot of Switchboard room displaying quick-access web apps.
Switchboard helps improve meeting productivity by eliminating clunky and time-consuming integrations.
Source: Switchboard

Online meeting rooms: The key to boosting productivity through true collaboration 

Like Rob and his team of product designers, we all rely on virtual meetings to connect remote teams and get work done.  

Instead of simply trying to cut down on meetings, the answer is to make them more productive. You can do this by using the right online meeting room and collaboration tools. These let you get work done together, not just talk about it, which reduces the number of meetings you need to have. 

The new breed of online meeting rooms is specifically designed for remote teams to make the most of your meetings, resources, and everyone’s time. That’s because they have dedicated features to save you time, help keep teams engaged, and make it easier to work side by side, so each and every meeting is as productive as possible.

Whatever your company size and type of meeting, there is online meeting room software for your specific needs. Zoom is great for big corporations, Google Meet for companies that prioritize async working, and Microsoft Teams for Microsoft 365 companies; Skype for international business. 

However, if you’re a smaller remote company, Switchboard gives you features built to make meetings more productive. For example, permanent meeting spaces, multiplayer experiences, and meeting memory help you achieve true collaboration anytime, anywhere.

Want to make your remote meetings more productive?
Switchboard is built for true collaboration—to save you time and help you get more done.  
Sign up
.

Frequently asked questions about online meeting rooms

What is an online meeting room?

An online meeting room is a virtual platform that lets you communicate with remote workers and teams. They typically include audio and video conferencing software and live chat functionality. Most online meeting room software comes with a free plan. 

How do I create a virtual meeting room?

To create a virtual meeting room, you first need to pick the software you want to use and set up an account. If you’re using Switchboard, you can then create a virtual meeting room in a matter of minutes, and start your conference call, video meeting, or huddle room.

What is the best platform for online meetings?

Although there are many types of platforms on the market for online meetings, our recommendations are: 

  • Switchboard for highly collaborative small remote or hybrid companies looking for a comprehensive and team-oriented solution to traditional video conferencing tools 
  • Zoom for big corporations
  • Google Meet for async teams
  • Microsoft Teams for companies using MS 365 
  • Skype for international organizations 

What is the best free app for online meetings?

The best free apps for online meetings are: 

  • Switchboard 
  • Google Meet
  • Zoom 
  • Skype 

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Want to make your remote meetings more productive?

Switchboard is built for true collaboration—to save you time and help you get more done.