Google Meet vs. Zimbra by Synacor

Google Meet was a perfect video conferencing solution for us during our training sessions. The only problems encountered were due to weak signals, which sometimes required us to turn off our video. All features worked very well in tying together a team across four different time zones. I was very impressed with the tool's performance

Zimbra is great for an email system for a medium or large organization with appropriate IT staffing. The system is easy to use for end-users, and has a fantastic web interface. Unfortunately, it is overly complex, when considering staffing requirements and price, when compared with Office 365 or Google Apps for smaller organizations. For other education customers, it is hard to compete with Microsoft and Google providing their services for "Free" now though

Incentivized

• First off, the quality of the call is pretty good, especially when all of us are working remotely.
• We can easily schedule our meeting in Google Calendar.
• Sending an invitation link is easy.
• What makes Google Meet stand out from other video conferencing tools is that we can use it for an unlimited time, even if we use the free account.

• Filter emails with specific information required.
• Very good storage capacity.
• Has a mobile version and another web.
• It has a friendly and modern graphic interface.
• It is compatible with all operating systems.

• Meet as it comes doesn't have a great way to handle large meetings.
• I don't like the way they hide the mute button. It's a disruptive view to mute/unmute.
• Chat box is the only way to document collaborations within the meeting.

Incentivized

• Zimbra's mobile application leaves much to be desired; it is its weakest point.
• This forces the use of third-party applications on smartphones, which only offer a more or less complete integration with the ActiveSync protocol.
• Zimbra allows for an on-premise scenario, which is not for everyone, especially considering that the trend nowadays is to outsource email; in any case, it also offers this alternative.
• The cost of Zimbra as a SaaS solution comes too close to that of more widely adopted competing options.
• Zimbra lacks a robust integrated chat system, which its competitors offer.
• It lacks AI integration.

Incentivized

This app is still having a lot of redundant features as compared to other industry apps such as Zoom and Webex which offers much more on the functionality side along with the option to have greater user access control to the admin/host of the meetings. A sense of interaction is always found to be missing in Google meet which can be easily adopted in the Zoom

Google Meet is very easy and simple to use. I can schedule a meeting right on my calendar - it literally takes a few seconds. There is no additional app I have to open to schedule anything. Guests can click on the link easily to join any meetings. 10/10!

Incentivized

The web usability of the solution is adequate, with all functions integrated into a single interface. However, it is important to note that in the desktop environment, it lacks its own application and relies on ActiveSync synchronization with reference solutions like Outlook or Thunderbird. Some features, such as the briefcase, will be excluded. The same happens on smartphones.It is also common for competing solutions to include integrated chat or video call tools, which Zimbra lacks. These shortcomings are among the most frequently requested by users.

Incentivized

Google does a great job of providing tech support for this product, as it does many others. Similarly, Google has FAQs that cover a large amount of issues faced by users. Problems have not persisted in our use of this product. Problems are resolved quickly and easily, with or without personal Google support.

Incentivized

Overall, we were satisfied with the implementation. We perhaps should have spent more time consulting with Zimbra or others regarding best practices but as we got to know the system better we were able to make changes relatively easily after the fact.

Incentivized

The main positive feature in Google Meet over Zoom to me is the fact that Google meet can be seamlessly deployed in the browser with its full functionality. Unlike Zoom for which you need to download an extra application to use. This consequently makes workflow smooth when transitioning between something like emails and taking part in a meeting.

Incentivized

Zimbra is a significantly cheaper option than one of the Microsoft solutions, such as Exchange. It is able to run in a free environment, as it is in the case of Linux. It offers the advantages of a powerful mail manager, such as indexed searches and the integration of contacts and notes, all in one platform. It is constantly updated and the operation of its connection in mobile equipment is remarkable and very efficient. Additionally, it is able to easily integrate with Outlook solutions with its connector, which brings all the benefits of Zimbra to the user under the interface known as "mail manager." So far, I have been using Zimbra for several years and I have not missed my previous work platforms.

Incentivized

I wasn't involved in the unit pricing factor. So far I used Google meet in the office where I got access to all these Google applications including the Google Meet feature. So I wasn't involved much in this pricing factor of Google Meet and also regarding the contact terms of the product.

This is very good in the professional services as I started using this first for the professional service only. While using this Google Meet itself gives a professional feel as the UI works in a professional way. The video background modification, multi-screen feature, and some other features help in professional service.

• Negative: on each webinar someone from our team had to write manually the people that were participating and after that matching it with the registered people list. We wasted time. It could be easily resolved by adding the export list feature
• Positive: Collaboration and internal meetings. Calendar integration helps us save time.

Incentivized

• Zimbra is a cheaper email service than other similar platforms and in my point of view offers better features, that's why the company migrated services to this platform several years ago and without a doubt, it has been the best investment.
• Zimbra has a more user-friendly interface for employees, this has improved response times to external customers of the company.
• The implementation of Zimbra in the company motivated the IT engineering department to make improvements in open source to adapt it to the needs of the company.

Incentivized