Video conferencing apps

There are many options for free video conferencing apps; however, not all are designed or suited for collaboration in the workplace. Here’s a short list of the best free video conferencing apps.

1. Lifesize
Lifesize has been in the video conferencing industry for nearly two decades and has continuously pushed the bar for quality and ease of use. By setting up a free account with Lifesize, you can quickly start a free video call with up to 25 participants requiring no downloads or installs. Just navigate to the signup.lifesize.com page, enter your name and email and select a password. Guests can join the live call right from their laptops or mobile browsers by clicking on your personal meeting ID link.

2. Google Hangouts™
The free video chat app from Google is a great example of a consumer-grade app that has been accepted into the business world. Google shops operating out of Google mail and Google calendaring will enjoy the native integrations for Google Hangouts.

3. Skype, Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams
The collaboration suite from Microsoft is divided between consumer-grade and enterprise-grade tools. For truly free video conferencing, downloading the Microsoft Skype client gives users access to 10-way calling and a directory that can be populated by individual users. Moving up into the enterprise, Microsoft Teams can be packaged together with an Office365 license.

4. Zoom
The free video conferencing solution from Zoom provides a pared-down service for group video calls. The Zoom Basic plan allows users to have 40-minute calls with a handful of features like screen sharing, local recording, breakout rooms and camera filters.

5. “Free Trial” Solutions
If you only need a free solution for a couple weeks, there are plenty of video conferencing and web conferencing solutions that come with a free trial. Services like join.me, StarLeaf, Cisco WebEx®, GoToMeeting® and BlueJeans® will give you temporary free access to their services.