With Zoom's Security Issues, Use These 3 Video Chat Alternatives During COVID-19 Lockdown

With the Coronavirus pandemic spreading across the globe, corporates have been forced to manage their operations from home. Consecutively, the use of work-from-home online tools has skyrocketed in the past month. In this, not all tools are preferred for a secure experience though.

Zoom, for instance, has been under massive scrutiny over its privacy issues, which have lately drawn at least three lawsuits against the company and multiple bans in various places.

Work From Home Software Tools

Those using Zoom for their work have started using other such services, three of which are listed here. We will also try to figure how the companies operating them make sure of their security.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams (Image: Microsoft)

Microsoft¡¯s wholesome package for enterprises to operate online, Teams lets you indulge in workplace chat and video meetings, while also taking care of your file storage and sharing. App integration (like with Microsoft Office) on Microsoft Teams also makes sharing of files easier and secure than most.

Microsoft promises to not use the Teams data to serve ads and that the data is deleted after the expiration of a subscription. To avoid privacy concerns as with some freaky platforms that monitor you through the webcam realtime, Teams does not track participant attention or multi-tasking.

As for security controls for video conferences, Teams lets a user decide who from outside the organization can join in the meetings directly, and who should wait in the lobby for someone to let them in. A user can also remove participants during a meeting, designate ¡°presenters¡± and ¡°attendees,¡± and control which meeting participants can present content.

Through moderation one can control who is and isn¡¯t allowed to post and share content. When recording a meeting, all participants are notified when a recording starts, and online participants can access Teams privacy notice directly. Recordings are only available to the people on the call or people invited to the meeting.

To comply with global, national, regional, and industry-specific regulations, Teams claims to support more than 90 regulatory standards and laws.

Google Hangouts Meet

Google Hangouts (Image: Google)

Just like Teams is based on Microsoft¡¯s 365, Hangouts is built on top of Google G-Suite. That means a better compatibility with files on Google Docs, Sheets and more. Users should keep that in mind while opting for any services of the two above.

Google Hangouts, however, is not just limited to file sharing and storage. In fact, that is just one of the features it offers, in addition to instant messaging and task management through Google Hangouts Chat. The other half of the Google tool enables video or audio meetings with multiple participants.

Google has always been based on cloud computing and so has a thorough experience of protecting one¡¯s business in such an online ecosystem. Hangouts¡¯ enterprise services work on the same security infrastructure as Google and so, can be deemed highly secure, reliable, and compliant.

In addition to the security, the G Suite offers administrators enterprise control over system configuration and application settings through a simple to use dashboard. Google also promises not to sell user¡¯s data to third parties or collect and use data from G Suite services for any advertising purposes.

Cisco Webex

Cisco WebEx (Image: Cisco)

Formed in 2007 when Cisco acquired Webex, Cisco Webex comes as a video conferencing tool for online meetings, presentations, webinars and more. In totality, the package offers Meeting, Event, Training and Support Center as well as Assistive Services for expert help whenever needed.

Intrinsic features for WebEx meetings include a privacy lock, collaboration meeting rooms as well as a ¡®Call Me¡¯ feature for the intended participants of the video meeting. Through such functions, Cisco Webex is not only limited to being used by enterprises but also as a platform to hold online events, conduct online classes and even provide customer assistance.

As for the security, Cisco WebEx products are delivered over infrastructure purpose-built for real-time web communications. This infrastructure includes worldwide data centres located at strategic Internet access points. The company also claims to use multilayer security validated by independent audits, including the likes of SSAE-16 and ISO 27001.