Zoom Vs. Microsoft Teams
By: Cedric Bell
Zoom and Microsoft teams have both been the go-to solutions to distanced interaction, whether for professional, educational, or personal use. Each comes with its own sets of advantages and disadvantages that set them apart. While they both serve the same purpose, they differ in slight ways that can make one more situationally useful than the other. Deciding which one to use can feel like splitting hairs, so this article will show off some of their key differences.
Zoom - Pros
Zoom seems to be better fitted towards personal use than Microsoft Teams is. It’s easier to just make a call and invite friends or family to a Zoom meeting than it would be to arrange a Team and meet through that. Zoom is also clearly more tailored towards personal use, while Microsoft Teams is aimed towards use for either educational or professional uses.
Zoom also offers more in the way of personalization. Backgrounds, filters, and other personal touches allow for more customization than Microsoft Teams offers.
Zoom is slightly more user friendly than Microsoft Teams, as it has a clearer range of options to use, whereas Teams tends to tuck those things away in hard to find places.
Zoom - Cons
Unfortunately, Zoom seems to be less stable than Teams. I have experienced more crashes and freezes with Zoom than I have with Teams, and depending on the situation, those small hiccups can be really harmful, like while taking an important test over Zoom.
Another disadvantage is that while organizing calls is easier, joining them isn’t. Having to manually input a code every time makes it harder to join a meeting right away like you can on Teams. Especially if you’re already running late for a class.
Zoom also has less to offer than Teams does. Not being able to organize assignments through Zoom is especially important to consider for professors and students. Most professors have gotten around this by using moodle as well as Zoom, but having the coursework and lectures separated by two different platforms isn’t very convenient.
Teams - Pros
Most of the pros of Microsoft Teams are that it handles Zooms cons better. For instance, Zoom may be better at personal calls, but Teams is more suited to dealing with professional or educational calls, and is easier to do online classes on.
Teams also offers the option to assign and hand in assignments directly through its platform, rather than having to handle lectures and assignments separately. This is more convenient for professors and students alike, and it’s nice having everything in one place.
Teams is also faster at accessing calls than Zoom. Being able to click a single button to enter a call is much easier than having to input an ID and password each time you want to join a regularly scheduled class.
Teams - Con
The biggest shortcoming of Microsoft Teams is that it is less user friendly and customizable than Zoom. Some of the default settings it comes with are annoying, such as automatically starting on startup, and are hard to find to disable. It also just has less personalization options than Zoom does.
Which is better?
Zoom and Microsoft Teams are both pretty similar, but they have a few key differences that make each better suited towards different situations. Zoom is much better at handling personal calls, while Teams is a better tool to use for online classes and work. While I don’t think one is objectively better than the other, I do prefer Microsoft Teams after having to use both for an extended period of time.