As the importance of video conferencing software that enhances internal and external corporate communication continues to grow, these solutions are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Particularly for businesses with remote teams, video conferencing tools are crucial in improving coordination and collaboration, supporting business processes, and ensuring continuity with numerous advantages.
Video conferencing tools now go beyond just audio and video calls; they also offer interactive features such as whiteboards that enhance teamwork and streamline workflows.
With a wide range of options available, users can choose the video conferencing tool that best meets their needs. In this article, we will compare the features of OctaMeet, a locally developed solution, and Microsoft Teams, two widely preferred video conferencing tools.
OctaMeet and Microsoft Teams: Common Features
- High-Quality Video Meetings: Both individual users and businesses can easily organize online meetings, calls, training sessions, and webinars in HD quality using either solution.
- In-App Messaging: Users can stay connected not only during meetings but also afterward by sending messages, sharing reactions, and exchanging files.
- Webinar Hosting: Both platforms provide interactive Q&A and sharing tools, enabling users to host engaging and effective webinars.
- Host Controls: Meeting hosts can manage participant access, set passwords for entry, and control camera and microphone settings, ensuring privacy and security.
- Meeting Rooms: Users can create persistent meeting rooms with fixed links for recurring sessions, making it easy to join meetings.
- Interactive Sharing Tools: Features like whiteboards and annotation tools allow users to add notes and drawings to documents, materials, and presentations, facilitating brainstorming sessions.
What Are the Advantages of OctaMeet?
As a locally developed video conferencing solution, OctaMeet offers several advantages that enhance user experience compared to Microsoft Teams. These benefits include:
- User-Friendly Interface: OctaMeet provides an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, eliminating the need for training sessions.
- Performance Optimization: With a low-bandwidth mode, meetings run smoothly even in weak or unstable network conditions.
- Unlimited and Free One-on-One Meetings: Even on the free plan, users can conduct uninterrupted and unlimited one-on-one meetings without connectivity issues.
- Noise Cancellation & Live Captioning: OctaMeet supports live captions in Turkish and English, making communication clearer. Additionally, its noise cancellation feature helps minimize audio distractions, improving the clarity of meeting notes.
- Shared Live Streaming: With YouTube co-watching, users can watch videos together without synchronization issues in audio or video.
- On-Premise Deployment: Businesses and organizations can opt for on-premise installation, allowing them to host OctaMeet on their own servers according to their security and operational needs.
- Flexible Subscription Plans: OctaMeet offers both individual and corporate plans without mandatory subscriptions. Since there are no termination fees, users can adjust or cancel their licenses as needed.
- Calendar & Email Integration: Users can sign up and log in with their email accounts, while calendar integration enables meeting details to be viewed and accessed directly from their calendars.
OctaMeet Offers Stable Meetings with a Local and Robust Infrastructure
OCTAPULL’s local video conferencing solution, OctaMeet, offers high-quality audio and video with its Turkey-based data center, fast infrastructure, and advanced security features.
With automatic video quality adjustment, OctaMeet prevents audio and video disruptions even when connection quality drops. Once the connection stabilizes, it automatically restores the default quality, ensuring a seamless meeting experience. This feature is critical in maintaining uninterrupted effective communication during meetings.
Users can minimize background noise with the noise cancellation feature, while real-time captions help eliminate issues related to unclear audio.
OctaMeet also enhances privacy and security with its virtual and blurred background options and host controls. Users can upload custom backgrounds or choose from pre-set options to maintain discretion during meetings.
Additionally, OctaMeet’s Shortcuts feature allows users to activate keyboard shortcuts for microphone, camera, screen sharing, and interface settings, making navigation more efficient.
On the other hand, Microsoft Teams, a widely used video conferencing solution, also boasts a strong infrastructure, enabling high-quality video meetings and calls.
With its Touch Up My Appearance feature, Teams aims to enhance video quality in low-light environments by applying filter effects for sharper visuals—although occasional distortions may occur. Other available features include virtual and blurred backgrounds, video filters, and brightness adjustments.
Both solutions allow participants to customize video layouts, adjust their view of themselves and others, and modify the interface to focus on selected participants.
Advanced Interactive Tools
Beyond its advanced video and audio features, OctaMeet provides a range of collaborative tools designed for individual users and remote teams.
With these tools, presentations, documents, and notes can be shared with participants during meetings. The whiteboard and annotation tools allow users to write on materials, add drawings, and make meetings more engaging and interactive.
Additionally, features such as the random participant selector (wheel spin), reactions, and hand-raising enhance engagement. With advanced host controls, the meeting host can manage participants’ microphone and camera settings and give speaking turns in an orderly manner.
Similarly, Microsoft Teams supports productivity and collaboration through Microsoft Whiteboard and Loop workspaces. However, these features are only available in paid plans, meaning users who require these tools must subscribe to a premium license.
Both solutions enable brainstorming sessions and creative meetings, allowing participants to express ideas visually and more effectively, ultimately boosting productivity and efficiency.
Seamless Accessibility Across Devices
Both Teams and OctaMeet offer multi-platform accessibility, making it easier for users to join meetings.
Meetings can be created and attended via mobile, tablet, or desktop applications, or directly through a web browser. Additionally, seamless switching between these platforms ensures a smooth and uninterrupted experience.
Compared to Teams, OctaMeet stands out with its user-friendly and streamlined interface. Users can view their weekly meetings on the homepage, create instant meetings, or set up meeting rooms quickly and effortlessly.
Both platforms include an in-meeting chat feature, allowing participants to send private messages, reactions, and files, ensuring continuous communication.
While Teams comes pre-installed with Windows 11, OctaMeet’s Windows application is available on the Microsoft Store, and its macOS version can be downloaded from the Mac App Store. Both solutions also offer iOS and Android apps.
However, OctaMeet’s biggest advantage is its seamless browser-based accessibility. Without requiring a download, users can instantly access the platform via a web browser, register for free at octapull.com, and quickly set up a meeting.
Screen Sharing, Recording, and Cloud Storage
OctaMeet allows participants to record meetings, enabling seamless sharing across different platforms in multiple formats. This feature ensures that those who missed a meeting can stay informed about key discussions and decisions.
Additionally, live captions can be included in recordings to prevent misunderstandings, and the transcription feature helps in generating meeting notes.
Teams application offers similar sharing capabilities, with automatic meeting recordings uploaded to OneDrive, making it easier to share with participants.
Both platforms provide AI-powered live captioning and meeting transcriptions. However, Teams lacks Turkish language support, whereas OctaMeet fully supports Turkish, making it a significant advantage for users in Turkey who need accurate meeting notes and a smoother communication experience.
Both solutions also provide cloud storage options. Teams app offers 5GB of free storage through OneDrive, while OctaMeet’s licensed version has no storage limitations, giving users more flexibility for archiving their meetings and documents.
OctaMeet Offers More Flexible Plans
While Microsoft Teams corporate memberships require annual subscriptions paid monthly, OctaMeet does not have such a requirement. There is no cancellation fee. Users can change their plans as needed and can cancel without any cancellation fee if desired.
Here is an overview of OctaMeet’s individual and business plans:
OctaMeet Licenses
OctaMeet Freemium
Unlimited one-on-one meetings and group meetings for up to 50 users for up to 1 hour, calendar integration, screen and file sharing, in-app messaging, mobile app access, shared video viewing, whiteboard, and annotation tools are offered. There are no usage fees.
OctaMeet Individual
In addition to all the features of the free version, it offers group meetings for up to 100 participants for up to 30 hours, meeting rooms, meeting recording, a Webinar module, and unlimited cloud storage.
Developed to meet video meeting needs, OctaMeet has unlimited meeting rooms and group meeting durations, detailed screen recording, and unlimited in-app messaging features. The monthly license fee is $8. Discounts are available for annual license purchases.
OctaMeet Business
In addition to the features of the individual license, it offers a personalized interface, corporate domain, URL customization, workspace integration, and priority technical support. You can request a quote for monthly and annual license fees.
Microsoft Teams Licenses
The Teams application offers various plans for both individual and business use:
Microsoft Teams
Group calls for up to 100 participants with a duration of up to 60 minutes, unlimited chat, collaborative planning, data encryption, and 5 GB of cloud storage.
Microsoft Teams Start
Group calls with up to 300 participants, 10 GB of cloud storage, file sharing, and data encryption features are provided. Live captions and integration with collaboration applications like Microsoft Whiteboard are also available. The monthly fee for this app is $4.
Microsoft 365 Business Basic
In addition to the starter version, it provides a custom business email address, Office access, and 1 TB of cloud storage. The monthly fee is $6.
Microsoft 365 Business Standard
In addition to the basic version, it provides desktop applications, participant recording, reporting features for webinars, workspaces with Loop, and video editing and design tools with Clipchamp. The monthly fee is $12.50.
When we look at the Teams plans, we can say that the free OctaMeet Freemium and basic OctaMeet licenses are more suitable and lower-cost options for both individual and business use.
Users who need more advanced features can benefit from a range of features with the basic OctaMeet plan that streamlines business processes. With unlimited and free one-on-one meetings, users can easily conduct their meetings.
Especially in the education sector, the interactive sharing and drawing tools, meeting recordings, screen recording, and participant list attendance features support remote-working teachers.
Additionally, it offers advanced analytics, reporting, and planning features for corporate businesses, making it a suitable solution for businesses that require these features.
Integration with Business Software
Both solutions offer various advantages when used alongside business software. These advantages can be summarized as follows:
Microsoft Teams
- Office, Outlook, and OneDrive Integration: Teams seamlessly integrates with Microsoft’s other applications, allowing easy sharing of documents and screen recordings during and after meetings.
- Office 365 Support: This support, available in paid versions, is a major advantage for users who require deep integration with Office applications.
- Messaging and Calendar: The messaging feature allows users to easily view meeting recordings and schedules directly from the same page.
OctaMeet
- Calendar Integration: OctaMeet can be registered and logged in using popular email providers like Outlook, Gmail, and Apple Calendar. Additionally, meeting data can be integrated and displayed on the calendar for easy tracking. This enables users to join meetings with ease.
- Single Sign-On (SSO) Support: SSO support enables quick switching between different applications. It also provides direct login options with Gmail and Microsoft accounts. This allows users to securely access both OctaMeet and other services using a single account.
- CRM and Automation Integration: Integrated with Octapull SFA and various CRM software, OctaMeet supports sales, marketing, and product development processes. This way, remote teams have a central meeting platform for their business workflows.
As a result, the integration features offered by OctaMeet are quite valuable for businesses in need of corporate solutions.
Additionally, for users who frequently use Microsoft services, Teams provides advantages through integration with Office, OneDrive cloud storage, and other applications.
Microsoft Teams Only Works Within Its Own Ecosystem
Teams offers full integration with Microsoft applications and provide an ecosystem of various tools. This allows users to meet their video conferencing, office tools, and cloud storage needs through a single platform and subscription.
However, this can limit the possibility of using other commonly used tools, depending on the user’s needs.
OctaMeet, on the other hand, offers the ability to work with project management tools, office software, and collaboration-supporting platforms, making transitions between these tools quite easy. Links to platforms like Slack and Jira can be added, and meetings can be initiated directly from these platforms.
At this point, a good step to better understand which solution would be better for you is to review the compatibility of other business software you are using.
In addition, OctaMeet provides better integration with third-party plugins and applications. This enhances coordination and collaboration for remote teams, supporting their business processes.
OctaMeet vs. Microsoft Teams: Which One Should You Choose?
OctaMeet stands out as a popular and user-friendly software with interactive tools like high-quality audio and video, screen, and presentation sharing.
Its secure and fast infrastructure, along with a data center located in Turkey, ensures the confidentiality and continuity of business processes. It also supports business workflows by working seamlessly with various software.
Additionally, with its limited number of basic licensing options, it makes it easy for both individual users and organizations to find the right solution. It outshines other subscription-based video conferencing software with advantages like a 30-day free trial and no cancellation fees.
Microsoft Teams, a popular video conferencing software, offers advanced features and integrates with other services like office tools and cloud storage. It caters to a wide user base with numerous individual and enterprise plans, providing enhanced security and encryption features for businesses.
In conclusion, if you are looking for a solution that is easy to use, has flexible plans, and integrates with other software and email platforms, OctaMeet would be a great choice for you. Especially with its unlimited one-on-one meetings available in the free plan and live captions with Turkish support, it offers an advanced meeting experience for users.
You can experience OctaMeet completely free with its 30-day trial version. If you wish, you can schedule a demo meeting with our product team, get detailed information about the app and licenses, and discover the best solution for yourself!
