Since the boom in remote working, video conferencing companies have been tangled in a race to become the biggest and best provider of video collaboration software. By now, we’re probably all familiar with giants like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, but what alternatives are out there?
We tested and reviewed ten of the best video conferencing solutions to see what kind of features and security they offered. Here’s our finalized list of the top contenders:
- Google Meet: Secure online meeting platform for individuals and professionals
- Microsoft Teams: Powerful communication and collaboration tool
- Dialpad: A service provider that offers unlimited meetings on its free plan
- Zoom: Popular platform that offers end-to-end encryption
- Livestorm: A great choice when hosting live training sessions
- Webex: Secure video conferencing solution backed by Cisco
- GoTo Meeting: Unlimited meeting duration
- Slack: An intuitive interface that makes collaboration easy
- RingCentral Video: A good option for small business owners
- BlueJeans Virtual Meetings: Ideal for multi-platform conferencing
However, no matter how secure a video conferencing app might be, it is always wise to ensure the privacy and security of the information you share with a VPN. We recommend NordVPN in combination with any video conferencing platform as it offers several features that will keep you safe during your meetings like robust encryption and split tunneling.
If you want to see where each app excels, check out our full investigation and write-up below!
In this article, we look at the best secure video conferencing platforms for 2023. Security is crucial when you’re working online, remotely. That’s why we’ve not only focused on functionality but video conferencing security and privacy when working from home.
What Is Video Conferencing Software?
Video conferencing software allows you to hold a conference remotely via a video call. You can hold a one-to-one meeting or create group sessions, which is why this software has become widely used to support remote working arrangements.
Video conferencing software isn’t new, though. Older models combined software and hardware to install video calling functionality into corporate boardrooms and other locations. Today, the most secure video conferencing platforms are hosted entirely in the cloud.
Coupled with strong VPN (Virtual Private Network) software like NordVPN, your data is incredibly safe. NordVPN will encrypt your data with its robust AES-256 encryption cipher and ensure you have a smooth video conferencing experience with no interruptions through the stable connections it offers.
Whether they use a browser or an installed application, video conferencing platforms are now crucial to organizations worldwide. They’re also a useful tool for freelancers and other remote workers, providing a huge range of functionality at low or even no cost.
The 10 Best Video Conferencing Software Platforms
We tested the 10 best video conferencing platforms to see what value they bring to online meetings and how effective they are at sharing information. Based on our research, we’re confident that these are the top choices.
1. Google Meet: An online meeting platform with great security features
Pros
- Manual controls to limit uninvited access
- Change meeting invites without cancelling
- All data in transit and recordings encrypted
- Integrates well with other Google Suite products
- Can be used entirely for free
Cons
- Resolution defaults to 360p
- Lacks screen annotation features
- No breakout rooms for collaboration
- Less participants per meeting than some competitors
Google Meet used to be known as Google Hangouts. Nowadays, it’s gotten a rebrand thanks to its extended functionality and full integration with Google’s highly secure software suite, like Google Calendar and Gmail. This lets you create meeting invites directly from both.
With a free Google Meet account, you can host a meeting for up to 60 minutes with up to 100 attendees. Paid accounts get unlimited meetings plus support for up to 250 attendees. If streaming live content is your thing, a paid account gets you up to 100,000 viewers.
Google Meet: Installation and pricing
There’s no need to install Google Meet — it works directly from your browser. We could create a meeting link for later, start an ad-hoc meeting, or schedule one in advance. There are also Google Meet apps for both iOS and Android mobile devices, which felt super slick when we tried them out.
Of course, you get more functionality with a paid account:
| Features | Business Starter | Business Standard | Business Plus | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.00 per user/month | $12.00 per user/month | $18.00 per user/month | On request |
| Meeting Duration | 24 hours | 24 hours | 24 hours | 24 hours |
| Attendees | 100 | 150 | 500 | 500 |
| Virtual Whiteboard | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Noise Cancellation | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Call Recordings | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Breakout Rooms | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Attendance Tracking | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Live Streaming | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
Google Meet: Security
Being a Google product, Google Meet has pretty strong security. The tech giant is known for collecting user data for fairly heavy targeted advertising. But from a data security point of view, you’re generally in safe hands. Google Meet offers robust security features such as:
- Ten-character meeting codes that are hard to crack with brute-force attacks
- Ability to change meeting invites if a participant is no longer welcome
- Uninvited participants must be admitted to the meeting while waiting in a lobby
Outside of manual controls, Google Meet encrypts all data in transit. Any recordings you make and store in Google Drive are encrypted too, and the software was developed in line with IETF, DTLS, and SRTP standards. According to the tech giant, Google doesn’t use any of your data for advertising nor sells it.
Google Meet: Our verdict
Overall, we’ve ranked Google Meet as the best secure online meeting platform for 2023, whether that’s for personal or business use. It offers a lot of core functionality and a range of privacy settings. While lacking features like screen annotation, we think most users will be content with what’s there.
The ability to protect meetings, change invite codes, and have all data encrypted are key. However, if you’re running a larger organization, you might feel more at home on Zoom – its business tiers support between 300 and 1,000 meeting guests.
2. Microsoft Teams: A user-friendly interface with handy collaboration tools
Pros
- Incredibly familiar, easy to use interface
- Powerful in-app chat features
- Share and collaborate on documents
- Two-factor authentication
Cons
- Admins can read organizational chat history
- Most features require a per-user subscription
Particularly with the boom in home-based working arrangements, companies have come to rely on Teams as a central application for collaboration, communication, and document-sharing. Compared to Google Meet, the functionality available is significant.
Teams makes it easy to chat, call, and video call, plus collaborate when viewing and editing files. You can control who has access to these chats, too. Via the Meetings dashboard, you can launch or schedule a meeting for later or launch ad-hoc calls within individual chats.
Microsoft Teams: Pricing and installation
Microsoft Teams comes with Microsoft Office 365 and has both a paid and a free version. In either case, you can choose to use the browser or the app. Microsoft Teams’ mobile app is one of its strongest points, boasting almost feature parity with desktop.
The free version allows you to create teams with thousands of people and offers 2GB of storage per user. However, you must have the paid version to advance schedule and record meetings. Here’s how the pricing stacks up:
| Features | Microsoft Teams Free | Microsoft Teams Essentials | Microsoft 365 Business Basic | Microsoft 365 Business Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $4.00 per user/month | $6.00 per user/month | $12.50 per user/month |
| Meeting Duration | 60 minutes (group), 30 hours (1-2-1) | 30 hours | 30 hours | 30 hours |
| Attendees | 100 | 100 | 300 | 300 |
| Cloud Storage | 5 GB per user | 10 GB per user | 1 TB per user | 1 TB per user |
| File Sharing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Live Captions | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Virtual Whiteboard | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Call Recordings & Transcriptions | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Business Email | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Webinar Hosting | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
Microsoft Teams: Security
Microsoft Teams uses two-factor authentication to enable user access. This can be paired with Microsoft’s own Authenticator app for the utmost employee security. Here’s a quick look at other security features:
- Teams is compliant with industry security standards, such as ISO 27001 and ISO 27018
- All data is encrypted and backed up in Azure, using data centers in 54 regions
- A Lobby feature requires meeting participants to be allowed entry by a host
- Management layers can be created using channels only accessible to specified users
Unfortunately, being a corporate video conferencing and communication platform, it’s not the most private app. Admins can gain access to all users’ chat histories if they have the necessary permissions. It means that you can’t always assume absolute privacy when speaking to another user.
Microsoft Teams: Our verdict
Microsoft Teams is a powerful communication and collaboration tool. But it’s not our best secure video conferencing platform. Why? First, there’s the lack of a comprehensive free version. Second, there’s the issue of administrators having access to communication history.
But don’t be fooled – we still think it’s a great choice for personal users who need to create ad-hoc meetings, and it’s clearly leading the pack in terms of adoption en-masse by corporations across the world.
3. Dialpad Ai Meetings: A video conferencing platform with impressive features
Pros
- Data encrypted with Transport Layer Security
- Other data in Google Cloud with AES 256 encryption
- Conference lock prevents new people joining
- PIN-protected conferences
- 14-day free trial
- Dialpad Ai Meetings is available free
Cons
- Exceptionally expensive compared to Microsoft Teams
- Less comprehensive tools than Teams
- Lots of paywalled functionality
- AI transcripts often have mistakes
- Integrations still quite limited at present
Dialpad is a secure video conferencing service provider that’s closer in design to Teams than Google Meet. Everyone can use Dialpad Ai Meetings for free. That gives you access to free online meetings and unlimited video calling.
While some features are locked behind a subscription model, you can still use screen sharing and integrate Dialpad with secure email providers like Outlook and organization tools like Google Calendar. Surprisingly, even call recordings and real-time chat are available on the unpaid version.
Sure, there are limitations to call length on the free version, and some features are paid-only, but you can still get a 14-day free trial. We found this useful for testing the full range of features.
Dialpad: Pricing and installation
Dialpad offers an in-browser experience, as well as downloadable applications for desktop and mobile. You have to have an existing account to use Dialpad on a mobile device. But our first experience with Dialpad wasn’t the best.
We failed to create a free trial multiple times using a Gmail account. We then went through the Microsoft account signup process before hitting the same error and giving up entirely on that device. Eventually, we got in on another device.
Pricing for Dialpad Ai Meetings, if you choose to subscribe, is $15 per user/month. That’s significantly more than the $4 you can pay Microsoft for each Teams user. The pricing also gets more complicated if you opt for other features, like the contact center or sales outreach tools.
| Features | Free | Business |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free of charge | $15.00 per user/month |
| Meeting Length | 45 minutes | 5 hours |
| Attendees | 10 | 150 |
| Virtual Backgrounds | ✔ | ✔ |
| Audio Recordings | ✔ | ✔ |
| Video Recordings | ✖ | ✔ |
| AI Transcriptions | ✖ | ✔ |
Dialpad: Security
Dialpad enjoys a lot of familiar security features that you’d expect from a secure video conferencing tool. This is largely what ranked it quite high in our experience. With Dialpad you can:
- Pause recordings and omit transcriptions to remove sensitive information
- Integrate with access-management tools to ensure secure user management
- Encrypt your data with TLS (Transport Layer Security)
- Admit guests manually from a virtual waiting room
- Password-protect your meetings
Unfortunately, our research has suggested that toward the end of 2022, Dialpad was under investigation for a data breach. At the time of writing, unusually, we couldn’t find much information relating to the supposed breach.
Still, the platform itself has been designed in line with industry security standards, which is why Dialpad has made our list of secure video conferencing solutions.
However, if you are still worried about the safety of your data while using Dialpad, we recommend using NordVPN to enhance your online privacy. NordVPN has several security features that will encrypt your traffic and the information you share online, like the NordLynx protocol, which has a small codebase making it harder for hackers to crack and gain access to your data.
Dialpad: Our verdict
Despite our less-than-impressive experience when signing up, we’ll still give Dialpad the benefit of the doubt. The features available are impressive, and customer reviews are overwhelmingly positive.
But this comes at a significantly higher cost than Microsoft Teams. There’s also an outstanding question regarding a potential security breach. With all of that in mind, it’s still a strong contender from a functionality point of view.
4. Zoom: An established service provider that offers password-protected meetings
Pros
- Breakout rooms for up to 50 separate huddles
- Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption
- Waiting Rooms for meeting attendees
- Passcode-protected meetings
Cons
- Free version lacks a lot of functionality
- No SSO with unpaid accounts
- Free meeting time limit feels almost useless
Zoom is arguably the most popular option amongst teleworkers, seeing an explosion of downloads during the pandemic. We found the platform very user-friendly, and we were able to hold meetings without any glitches. The free version lets you hold meetings with up to 100 participants, but there’s a limit of 40 minutes per meeting.
However, when we tried Zoom, we were able to just log out from the meeting when the 40 minutes were up and then rejoin again through the same invite URL.
Zoom: Pricing and installation
Zoom lets you join a meeting directly from your browser if you have the URL invite link. Alternatively, you can install the client onto your device for a smoother experience and access to more controls.
In pricing terms, Zoom is somewhat in the middle of the road – it’s not the priciest option, but it’s not the cheapest.
| Features | Basic | Pro | Business | Business Plus | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | $149.90 per user/year | $199.90 per user/year | $250.00 per user/year | On request |
| Meeting Length | 40 minutes | 30 hours | 30 hours | 30 hours | 30 hours |
| Attendees | 100 | 100 | 300 | 300 | 1,000 |
| Cloud Storage | ✖ | 5 GB | 5 GB | 10 GB | Unlimited |
| Virtual Whiteboard | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Mail and Calendar | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| SSO | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Translated Captions | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Rooms & Webinars | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
Zoom also offers a bunch of add-ons that can be bolted onto your plan. These include increases in meeting capacity, bigger cloud storage limits that can compete with the best cloud storage providers, translated captions, and more. We liked the flexibility that this offers — you could, for example, be a Pro user, but with a 1,000-participant meeting limit.
Zoom: Security
Zoom has had to focus on security since the app saw a boom in its user base. Recent security-focused awards like the Cybersecurity Excellence Award 2022 and American Cyber Award 2020 instill confidence.
Secure video conference features available during a meeting include:
- Locking meetings to prevent new participants from joining
- Enabling waiting rooms to vet who can join your session and when
- Removing participants if you have unwanted attendees
Aside from in-meeting options, Zoom offers full end-to-end encryption for all meeting data. The app also provides various authentication methods, including OAuth and SAML, which are typically more secure than using a password-based sign-in.
Zoom: Our verdict
Zoom is a powerful platform, whether you’re a paid user or not, and the in-meeting administration functions are some of the best you’ll find in the industry.
However, we do wish that Zoom would increase the time limit for meetings on its free tier. A maximum of 40 minutes isn’t enough for most use cases. Even increasing this limit to one hour would make a large difference.
5. Livestorm: A platform with several support features for live training sessions
Pros
- Great support for live webinars
- Surveys, polls, and questionnaires
- Free version has breakout rooms
- Limit access to invite-only
- Moderators manage your meetings while you present
Cons
- Very limited with free version
- No meeting lock functionality
- SSO only available with Enterprise subscription
- Pricing only available in Euros
- Some features still in beta
Livestorm is a video conferencing solution that leans heavily on supporting webinars. With one of the lesser subscriptions, you can immediately have up to 3,000 people viewing your stream.
For webinars, this software is very powerful. Unfortunately, this focus on live streaming means that the standard business video conferencing features feel a little watered down.
Livestorm: Pricing and installation
Livestorm is a browser-based web service, meaning you access everything through your internet browser. Attendees can join your meetings via any major browser, including Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Opera.
The free version of Livestorm is very easy to use. We created an account and could immediately schedule a secure video conference in less than a minute. That said, the free tier has pretty stringent limits around meeting length and the number of attendees you can have.
| Features | Free | Pro | Business | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | $87/month | On request | On request |
| Meeting Length | 20 minutes | 4 hours | 4 hours | 12 hours |
| Attendees | 30 | 100 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| Virtual Whiteboard | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Virtual Backgrounds | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Breakout Rooms | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Standard Support | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| E-learning Resources | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Dedicated Customer Service Manager | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Enterprise Onboarding & Training | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
Livestorm: Security
Livestorm uses the WebRTC protocol to process audio and video data, avoiding any need for data to be downloaded to a local server. The software also uses TLS (Transport Layer Security) for encryption to ensure data security.
What’s more, Livestorm has been through an SSL audit. The outcome of this was that the software received an A+ award from Certification Qualys SSL Labs for its encryption standards.
Livestorm: Our verdict
Livestorm felt quite lacking to us when comparing other major video conferencing solutions. This software’s much more focused on delivering webinars or live-streamed sessions in general. This is evident through significant support for up to 3,000 guests, plus features like polling, questionnaires, and moderation support.
Other areas seemed like they were less well-developed to us. Livestorm offers no cloud storage, for example, while other major providers do. As a result, we think Livestorm would be great if you’re hosting live training or other streamed talks.
6. Cisco Webex: A provider that offers great security features and unlimited meetings
Pros
- Carries the secure, well-established Cisco brand name
- Every plan includes unlimited meetings
- Vast array of third-party app integrations
- Dial-in option to join without the app
- Full end-to-end encryption
Cons
- Price vs. functionality worse than competitors
- Call recordings can be slow to pull through
- Occasional issues with call quality
- Personalization is an afterthought
Cisco’s Webex is a secure video conferencing solution designed for large-scale business use. As such, the software can feel like it lacks the user-centric design and some of the basic functions offered by newer alternatives like Zoom.
Webex can be a great tool for presentations. However, while we were using the software, we noticed that sometimes it would stop functioning, and we had to restart the program again. Moreover, the features offered for making notes on presentations were quite limited.
Webex: Pricing and installation
Webex works best when you use the native app, which is available for desktop, iOS, and Android. But you can also use the basic meetings and free calling features via a browser on Firefox, Chrome, or Safari.
While Webex isn’t the most innovative solution, the interface has improved in recent years. One touch we liked was the Personal Insights found in the dashboard. You can view stats like the number of meetings you’ve attended and total time spent in meetings.
| Features | Basic | Meet | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | $14.50 per license/month | On request |
| Meeting Length | 40 minutes | 24 hours | 24 hours |
| Attendees | 100 | 200 | 1,000 |
| Cloud Storage | ✖ | 10 GB | Unlimited |
| Virtual Whiteboard | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Secured Lobby | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Captions | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Polling and Q&A | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Join Overlapping Meetings | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| FedRAMP Authorized | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
Webex: Security
Cisco’s one of the biggest enterprise-grade cybersecurity companies in the world, helping to prevent hacking attacks. That’s why Webex is one of the only video conferencing solutions with FedRAMP authorization, allowing use by federal government agencies.
Webex also supports split tunneling – the ability to route Webex traffic via the internet and everything else through your VPN. This makes it a highly secure solution, particularly when paired with NordVPN, which supports the same feature.
As you’d expect, all meeting data is encrypted regardless of your plan. Webex can also be set up to only allow participants whose software client has been configured for end-to-end encryption.
Webex: Our verdict
If you’re looking for one of the most secure video conferencing solutions, you can’t go wrong with Webex. With the weight of the Cisco brand behind you, you can rest assured that your data and your company’s data will be in safe hands.
But for smaller businesses or freelancers, there are definitely cheaper alternatives that offer more “fun” functionality and personalization options. Cisco Webex is, in our opinion, the perfect solution for bigger organizations that need robust cybersecurity guarantees.
7. GoTo Meeting: A video conferencing solution that provides unlimited cloud recordings
Pros
- Unlimited cloud recordings available
- Unlimited meeting duration on any paid plan
- Breakout rooms available with most plans
Cons
- Oddly lacks a virtual whiteboard
- Virtual backgrounds not a default feature
GoTo Meeting allows phone and video conferences with tools like screen share and calls recordings, as well as transcriptions. Most of this functionality is locked behind a subscription, but there’s a free version too.
We found it useful that participants in a meeting won’t need a GoToMeeting account so long as the organizer has one.
GoTo Meeting: Pricing and installation
GoTo Meeting can be used in-browser or via a native app. This solution isn’t particularly suited to freelancers, because it requires an admin to assign a profile to you. Unless you intend on running GoTo Meeting as a sole employee or freelance — which seems overkill to us in the face of free alternatives — you won’t get far without company IT support.
GoTo Meeting’s pricing plan works on a tiered structure, just like its competitors. But if you want to obtain a feature set that is on par with alternatives, you really need to be using the Business tier.
| Features | Free | Professional | Business | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | $12 per user/month | $16 per user/month | On request |
| Meeting Duration | 40 minutes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Attendees | 3 | 150 | 250 | 250 |
| Screen Sharing | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Dial-in Conference | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Breakout Rooms | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Call Recordings | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Transcription | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Drawing Tools | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Customer Success Manager | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Onboarding & Training | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
GoTo Meeting: Security
GoTo Meeting uses end-to-end encryption with SSL and 128-bit AES encryption. The service also states that unencrypted information is never stored on their systems.
While there have been past security issues, they were handled swiftly. In 2019, Swascan, a European cyber security authority, discovered a weakness in GoTo Meeting’s system and worked with the company to plug the leak.
GoTo Meeting doesn’t have its own privacy policy, which makes it difficult to find out exactly how data is managed. The parent company’s privacy policy, from LogMeIn, states that they may share personal information with other service providers, business partners, and affiliates within their corporate structure and for lawful purposes. In cases like these, it is worth investigating further, as policies and user agreements may be hiding several privacy risks.
GoTo Meeting: Our verdict
GoTo Meeting is a solid video conferencing solution for enterprises, but it’s less suited to sole freelancers or smaller teams. Additionally, the free version is significantly lacking in functionality.
We were also disappointed to see that the software plans offer no kind of cloud storage outside of recordings. That said, GoTo Meeting does have its benefits for larger organizations, including unlimited meeting duration and unlimited cloud recordings on the intermediate to advanced plans.
8. Slack: A simple-to-use tool that is ideal for team collaboration
Pros
- Simple, intuitive interface for keeping things clean
- Allows ad-hoc video calls with the click of a button
- Channel management that rivals Teams
- Data encryption at rest and in transit
Cons
- No meeting scheduling functionality
- Several security breaches may lower user confidence
- Lack of meeting controls seen in competitor products
Slack appears, on the surface, to primarily be a chat and collaboration tool. It’s lesser known that Slack also offers both audio and video calling functionality. Meetings held within Slack are called “huddles,” but they’re not so much a central feature of the tool.
While Slack has both a free and a paid version, the free version only offers the possibility to send chat messages and share documents. To make calls, you need to upgrade your plan.
Slack: Pricing and installation
Slack can be used in your browser or via the native app. Regardless of your choice, we found both versions to offer pretty much the same experience all around. Huddles are launched in the same way.
As we’ve alluded to above, Slack is pretty limited when it comes to planning meetings. There’s no option to schedule meetings in advance, and tools for managing participants in calls are lacking. Slack is much better for ad-hoc discussions over video rather than recurring appointments.
| Features | Free | Pro | Business+ | Enterprise Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | $7.25 per user/month | $12.50 per user/month | On request |
| Meeting Duration | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Attendees | 2 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Audio and Video Meetings | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Screen Sharing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Chat History | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Custom User Groups | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| SSO | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| User Management | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Custom Terms of Service | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
Slack: Security
Slack employs the usual security measures to safeguard workspaces. Users benefit from single sign-on for account security while data is encrypted at rest and in transit. Additional features such as audit logs and third-party data backup providers further improve resiliency.
Slack also offers some basic security and management features:
- Adding and removing members from a workspace
- Making channels private to specific members, or public
- Assigning channel managers
- Managing permissions for third parties
Unfortunately, Slack has faced security issues in the past. In late December 2022, Slack employee tokens were stolen and used to gain access to Slack’s GitHub repository. Earlier in 2022, Slack accidentally exposed partially hashed passwords belonging to workspace users.
These kinds of incidents appear to be commonplace. We found examples as far back as 2015, when hackers took control of the service for four days, stealing sensitive user data.
But the company still strives to follow best practices in cybersecurity. Slack has been awarded numerous certificates, including ISO/IEC 27018 (Protection of Personally Identifiable Information). In addition, breaches have been fewer and further between in recent years.
However, if you are still not sure about the privacy of your data while using Slack, consider NordVPN. This VPN provider is one of the best in the market and offers several security features like double encryption, which pushes your traffic through two VPN servers, and Threat Protection which guards you against malware.
Slack: Our verdict
Slack could work for you if your organization tends to do all of its planning via chat communication and file sharing. But if your enterprise is looking for a comprehensive solution that allows for forward planning around meetings and regular, recurring sessions, we advise looking elsewhere. You’ll also want to be mindful of the various cybersecurity issues that have weighed Slack down.
9. RingCentral Video: A provider with a slick user interface
Pros
- Great range of functionality offered for free
- Slick, simple user interface
- Leverage developer APIs for custom integration
- Signs of ongoing improvement and development
- No time limits imposed on meetings
Cons
- SSO only available on paid plan
- Encryption also missing from free tier
- Still a fledgling solution compared to competitors
- Doesn't yet support all major browsers
RingCentral is another recognizable name in the video conferencing space. The company ventured into video conferencing in 2020, at the onset of the pandemic, releasing RingCentral Video and merging in some older functionality from software called “Glip.”
With RingCentral Video, you have the option to use RingCentral Webinar for $29.17 per user/month or RingCentral Rooms for $39.00. The former option offers great support for webinars and other live events. This includes interactive polling and Q&A and integrations with major marketing platforms. The latter offers conference room solutions, which could be useful for enterprises with international offices.
But below, we’ve focused on the video conferencing solution, as it’s the closest comparable solution to the alternatives above.
RingCentral Video: Installation and pricing
RingCentral’s core functionality works best in the native app. As a relatively new contender in the video conferencing space, RingCentral’s browser support is a little more limited, supporting Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome, with the secure browser Firefox in open beta testing.
One thing we loved about this app is that there were useful tooltips to introduce you to the software. The user interface was slick, and it was easy to navigate around.
RingCentral structures its pricing into a number of groups that affect the overall functionality you can use. These include Business Communications, Contact Center, Video Solutions, and Conversation Intelligence plans.
Overall, we were impressed by the level of functionality offered by the free plan. Few video conferencing apps give you an integrated whiteboard, screen sharing, and transcriptions without cost.
Here’s how pricing shapes up for the Video Solutions plans:
| Features | RingCentral Pro | RingCentral Pro+ |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | $11.99 per user/month |
| Meeting Duration | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Attendees | 100 | 200 |
| Virtual Whiteboard | ✔ | ✔ |
| Screen Sharing | ✔ | ✔ |
| Screen Annotations | ✔ | ✔ |
| AI Transcriptions and Meeting Insights | ✔ | ✔ |
| SSO | ✖ | ✔ |
| End-to-End Encryption | ✖ | ✔ |
| CRM and App Integrations | ✖ | ✔ |
| Developer API Resources | ✖ | ✔ |
RingCentral Video: Security
RingCentral uses SSO, promoting no-password logins. The app also uses end-to-end encryption to protect private meeting data or recordings. What’s more, cloud storage is included in both free and paid plans, offering secure storage for your recorded calls.
That said, the free plan doesn’t include SSO, nor does it offer encryption. That’s a shame in our eyes because the free functionality offered by RingCentral is otherwise excellent in comparison to other providers’ free plans.
There was nothing in the privacy notice that concerned us. In fact, in each instance where RingCentral collects user data, it was tied to a specific clause within the EU GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) directive. We were particularly impressed by this — other companies, take note!
RingCentral: Our verdict
Overall, RingCentral is a good contender and will likely continue to develop its feature set as time goes on. It’s a shame to see that SSO and data encryption isn’t offered to free users, however.
Nonetheless, it’ll make a good option for small business owners or freelancers looking to keep costs down. Larger enterprises should give serious consideration to a solution with SSO and encryption.
10. BlueJeans Virtual Meetings: A practical video conferencing tool that works on several platforms
Pros
- Available via native app, on mobile, and browser
- Built-in M-Score tool provides useful meeting insights
- Directional audio useful for hybrid working arrangements
Cons
- Free tier extremely limited
- In-browser version lacking some functionality
- Functionality pales compared to competitors
BlueJeans is a rising contender in video conferencing that has improved a great deal since the Verizon acquisition in 2020. We’ll admit that the free tier feels extremely limited. However, it’s now available on a vast range of devices and platforms.
Where BlueJeans excels is in companies that run numerous video calls with third parties, whether that’s customers, suppliers, or anybody else. Dial-in features, support for browsers, and directional audio within physical conferences make cross-company calling simple. Essentially, it removes the complexity caused by companies having different implementations of technology.
BlueJeans: Installation and pricing
To get started with BlueJeans, you’ll need the native app. This is a quick download at just 53 MB — almost twenty times smaller than RingCentral’s software! You can install BlueJeans on macOS, Windows, Linux, or mobile, and it’s usable via your web browser too.
We particularly liked the guest mode, which allows you to jump straight into somebody else’s session if you have the meeting ID. We found the app to be fast and responsive, and unlike some competitors, the minimalist user interface delivered an extremely uncluttered video interface.
| Features | Basic | Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | $9.99 per user/month | $13.99 per user/month |
| Meeting Duration | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Attendees | 25 | 150 | 300 |
| Call Recordings | ✖ | 25 hours | Unlimited |
| Phone Dial-in | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Teams & Slack Integrations | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Closed Captions & Transcriptions | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Brand Customization | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
BlueJeans: Security
BlueJeans uses both SSO for user authentication and AES-256-bit encryption to secure cloud recordings. This is the same standard used by the best premium VPN providers, which is great news for us.
In terms of in-meeting security features, BlueJeans offers some degree of control over participation. It’s missing some features seen in competing products, but it has some unique features, too, like remote access. BlueJeans has the following security features:
- Allows a participant to control another person’s desktop, managed by specific permissions
- Records meetings and stores them securely in the cloud
- Forces users to log out when their password is changed
BlueJeans’ privacy policy seems fairly robust too. The company doesn’t sell personal data, and only basic personal information is stored on company servers. The policy also points to the company’s compliance with California’s new California Consumer Privacy Act.
Even though BlueJeans seems to have some decent security features, we recommend using NordVPN alongside the platform as well. With NordVPN’s Threat Protection, you will safeguard your device better if the person controlling your desktop tries to install malware or any other malicious software.
BlueJeans: Our verdict
Like RingCentral, BlueJeans is a video conferencing solution to watch. We get the impression that this software is going to see continuous improvement following the Verizon acquisition and significant, recent investment.
But, like RingCentral, it’s hard for us to place this system with an ideal user. We feel that the true value of BlueJeans comes from unique features that make this service ideal for multi-platform conferencing or in situations where you’re using a hybrid working arrangement.
And directional sound support means that BlueJeans integrates well with teams still situated in an office with physical video conferencing setups.
Conclusion: Google and Teams Leading the Pack in Secure Video Conferencing
While Zoom has become popular, Teams is clearly leading the way from a corporate perspective regarding secure video conferencing software. After all, it’s baked into the Microsoft ecosystem.
But for smaller start-ups and individuals looking to keep overheads low, Google has the perfect solution — and it doesn’t even require you to install an application. Better still, it fully integrates with Google’s ecosystem of business and productivity tools.
The alternatives that exist, such as Slack and Webex, offer a varying degree of unique features, custom developer integrations, and live streaming support that make them well worth considering for your specific use case.
Curious to learn more about our experience with online collaboration tools and their security features? Check out the articles below:
- Is Slack Secure?
- Microsoft Teams vs Slack: Which Collaboration App Is Better?
- Is Microsoft Teams Secure?
If you’re still unsure about which video conferencing platform is the best, have a look through our FAQ section below.
The most secure video conferencing platform is Google Meet, as it has many robust security features like ten-character meeting codes that are hard to crack, data encryption for information transferred from one user to another, and the ability to remove participants from meetings.
You can ensure secure video conferencing by taking into account the security features offered by a service provider. For example, some services will encrypt the information you send while it is in transit and when it reaches its destination. Other platforms will use two-factor authentication to enable users to enter a meeting.
There are several more secure video conferencing platforms than Zoom. For example, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams have many security features that Zoom doesn’t have like two-factor authentication and meeting codes that are difficult to break.
This is a very good article. Please keep updating it with newer information and add basic explanations of terms such as AEL and TLS and the related concepts.
Thank you very much. It’s hard to get more technical without scaring people away from certain topics, that’s why we’ve kept certain information in separate posts. If you’re interested to learn about encryption we advise you to look at our ‘What is Encryption’ article, which explains the most common kinds of encryption. Or maybe our glossary has some of the answers you’re looking for.