WebEx vs Zoho Meeting

June 08, 2023 | Author: Adam Levine
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WebEx
Cisco Webex is your one place to call, message, meet. Build stronger relationships with face-to-face meetings and real-time collaboration using whiteboarding, screen sharing and more. Showcase the best you with video conferencing that is simple but powerful.
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Zoho Meeting
Zoho Meeting empowers you with remote support, online meeting, and web conferencing features to host instant meetings or web meetings for your audience.
WebEx and Zoho Meeting are both web conferencing and online meeting platforms, but they offer distinct features and cater to different user needs. WebEx, developed by Cisco, is known for its robust set of features, including high-quality video and audio conferencing, screen sharing, interactive whiteboarding, breakout rooms, and integrated chat functionality. It focuses on enterprise-grade security, scalability, and integration with other Cisco collaboration tools. Zoho Meeting, on the other hand, provides a simpler and more affordable solution with features like screen sharing, webinar hosting, and remote control capabilities. Zoho Meeting is particularly popular among small and medium-sized businesses seeking an easy-to-use and cost-effective web conferencing solution.

See also: Top 10 Visual Collaboration software
WebEx vs Zoho Meeting in our news:

2021. Cisco to acquire startup Socio to bring hybrid events to Webex



Cisco has made an acquisition by purchasing the startup Socio, a company specializing in planning hybrid events that combine both in-person and virtual elements. Socio offers a crucial hybrid event management component that will complement Cisco's existing Webex platform. The objective behind this acquisition seems to be integrating Socio's capabilities with the recently acquired Slido, thereby transforming Webex from a primarily video meeting application into a comprehensive event platform. Socio, established in 2016, has received approximately $7 million in investment capital, as reported by Crunchbase. The company boasts an impressive roster of enterprise clients, including Microsoft, Google, Jet Blue, Greenpeace, PepsiCo, and Hyundai.


2020. Cisco is buying Slido to improve Q&A, polls and engagement in WebEx



While Zoom continues to dominate the videoconferencing landscape, Cisco's WebEx division has demonstrated its commitment to staying competitive by announcing an acquisition. WebEx is acquiring Slido, a company renowned for its platform that enables moderators to manage questions and interactions from a large audience during virtual conferences and live events. Slido's innovative solution allows participants to ask questions in a separate space, and other attendees can upvote the questions they find most valuable, prioritizing them for discussion. Additionally, moderators can conduct polls and receive real-time feedback, fostering better engagement and audience interaction. This approach helps minimize unnecessary disruptions on the main video screen while still giving the audience a voice and the opportunity to actively participate in the conversation. The acquisition of Slido by WebEx strengthens its offerings and showcases its determination to stay at the forefront of the videoconferencing industry.


2020. Zoho Meeting introduces video conferencing with multiple video feeds



Zoho has introduced an enhanced and user-friendly interface for its video conferencing service Zoho Meeting. The online meeting interface of Zoho Meeting now boasts a revamped design, featuring a conveniently positioned top menu that provides easy access to essential functionalities. The active speaker in a meeting is now visually distinguished by a blue frame surrounding their video feed, accompanied by a microphone icon located at the bottom left corner. With the new interface, you can host meetings with a maximum of 100 participants and simultaneously view up to 25 live video feeds. During meetings, you can effortlessly share your screen to deliver presentations or showcase documents. Whether you opt to share your entire screen or a specific application window, Zoho Meeting accommodates both options. Furthermore, participants can request remote access to your screen, enabling collaborative engagement on documents or presentations.


2019. Zoho Meeting adds registration moderation, Screen Sharing for meetings



Zoho Meeting has introduced new features for webinars, enhancing the overall experience for participants. A notable addition is the ability for meeting attendees to share their screens, provided they receive approval from the presenter. The introduction of registration moderation offers greater control over webinar registrants, allowing the host to filter and selectively admit specific leads to the session. To ensure you attract the right audience, the registration form plays a crucial role. Additionally, Zoho Meeting now supports high-definition (HD) quality playback of webinar and meeting recordings. These recordings can be easily shared with leads and colleagues, and also downloaded for offline viewing. Users with paid subscriptions to Zoho Meeting can benefit from increased cloud storage capacity, allowing them to store up to 10 meeting recordings and 25 webinar recordings per user.


2018. Webex Teams gets BroadCloud Calling integration



Webex Teams, a collaboration service that facilitates continuous teamwork through video meetings, group messaging, file sharing, and whiteboarding, has enhanced its capabilities with the integration of cloud calling using the enterprise-grade cloud-based PBX phone system, BroadCloud Calling. This integration enables Webex Teams to become a comprehensive unified communications (UC) application, aligning with the original vision of UC. Webex Teams was introduced earlier this year as a result of Cisco merging its two collaboration platforms, Webex and Spark, into a unified platform. With the addition of calling functionality to its existing content sharing and messaging features, Webex Teams offers a seamless and all-encompassing collaboration solution.


2018. Zoho Meeting adds moderator controls



Zoho Meeting has introduced Moderator Controls to its online meetings software. With this new feature, presenters can lock meetings to minimize interruptions during important discussions. Once a meeting is locked, no additional participants can join. Furthermore, the Switch presenter feature allows anyone to share their screen and effectively demonstrate their point. Through screen sharing, participants have the ability to share various types of content such as documents, presentations, spreadsheets, or any other application. To maintain a focused session, background noise can be eliminated by muting individuals or all participants. In the event that someone unintentionally joins or is no longer relevant to the topic, they can be promptly removed, allowing the discussion to proceed smoothly.


2018. Zoho Meeting adds webinars



Zoho Meeting introduces an exciting new feature that enables users to schedule and conduct captivating webinars online. In addition to sharing the webinar registration link through posts and emails, you now have the option to embed the link on your website and blogs that attract high traffic. Attendees can effortlessly join your session directly from their web browser with just a single click. With Zoho Meeting, you can share presentations, multiple screens, and applications with your participants, record and distribute your webinars, interact with your audience through polls and Q&A sessions, access analytics, and export comprehensive reports.


2018. Cisco morphed Spark into Webex



Cisco has announced that its team messaging app, Spark, will undergo a rebranding and integration into its Webex platform. The decision entails discontinuing the Cisco Spark brand and introducing Webex Teams as its successor. Webex Teams will incorporate all the collaborative functionalities of Spark, such as persistent messaging, whiteboarding, easy guest access, and content sharing. Additionally, Cisco has introduced a new videoconferencing app called Webex Meetings, which will replace Spark's existing meeting app. Previously, Spark video meetings operated separately in the public cloud, rather than within Webex data centers. Consequently, both Webex Meetings and Webex Teams will now operate on the Webex infrastructure backbone.


2018. Cisco acquired Accompany to add AI to Webex



Cisco has made an agreement to purchase the startup Accompany, known for its utilization of artificial intelligence to create comprehensive databases containing information on individuals and their professional relationships within organizations. This technology functions as a personal assistant, equipping executives with the necessary context prior to conversations and meetings. Cisco intends to integrate Accompany's technology into its collaboration products, such as incorporating company and individual profiles into Webex meetings. The acquisition will involve a payment of $270 million in cash and stock, as confirmed by Cisco.


2018. Cisco Spark & Webex combine into single collaboration platform



Cisco has taken a step towards streamlining its collaboration offerings by merging its two separate packages, Spark and WebEx, into a unified platform. This decision was driven by Cisco's development of these similar packages independently, which resulted in market and sales channel confusion. With the introduction of Webex Teams, Cisco has combined the collaboration features from Spark and WebEx, including whiteboarding, persistent messaging, roster management, meeting controls, and content sharing. Previously, Cisco Spark utilized the Control Hub as its management tool with basic analytics capabilities, while WebEx customers relied on the separate Site Admin tool for analytics. Now, the Control Hub supports both WebEx Meetings and WebEx Teams, providing comprehensive analytics functions for WebEx users.

Author: Adam Levine
Adam is an expert in project management, collaboration and productivity technologies, team management, and motivation. With an extensive background working at prestigious companies such as Microsoft and Accenture, Adam's in-depth knowledge and experience in the field make him a sought-after professional. Currently, he has ventured into entrepreneurship, owning a thriving consulting and training agency where he imparts invaluable insights and practical strategies to individuals and organizations, empowering them to achieve their goals and maximize their potential. You can contact Adam via email adam@liventerprise.com