Zoom vs. Teams: Who has Better Breakout Rooms?

Zoom and Microsoft Teams are two of the most popular platforms in this area, offering a range of features to facilitate online meetings, webinars, and other virtual events. 

One such feature that has become increasingly important for remote collaboration is breakout rooms, which allow hosts to split participants into smaller groups for focused discussion or collaboration. 

With the option of breakout rooms available on both platforms,  we've put both Zoom and Teams to the test, all for the purpose of guiding you toward the optimal choice for your organisation. As an online team building games platform, we have worked with both platforms extensively.

Below, we've got the lowdown on how Zoom and Teams stack up against each other in the realm of breakout rooms.

Why Use Breakout Rooms for Your Online Event?

Breakout rooms are crucial in large meetings by creating smaller groups for focused discussions and improved collaboration. Without them, it can be challenging for everyone to share their opinions and communicate effectively. By allowing participants to gather in smaller groups, breakout rooms encourage better engagement, teamwork, and communication.

This is especially true for team-building exercises, brainstorming sessions, or any situation where smaller groups are necessary to achieve a specific goal. In addition to fostering better communication within groups, breakout rooms also enable simultaneous discussions between multiple groups

Once the smaller groups have completed their discussions, they can reconvene in the main room and share their findings. This allows participants to learn from one another and promotes an environment of open communication and collaboration. By hearing from multiple groups, the larger meeting can benefit from a more comprehensive understanding of the issues at hand and explore different solutions to their challenges.

Breakout rooms offer benefits beyond communication during large meetings. They allow for tailored group discussions and training sessions, targeted groups for specific agendas, and facilitate networking and more productive discussions. Overall, breakout rooms are a powerful tool for enhancing communication, networking, and training during large meetings, creating a more engaging and productive experience for all participants.

Zoom vs. Teams: Who Has Better Breakout Rooms?

1. Easy access

Zoom: Zoom makes it easy for you to invite people to join an event even when they do not have a Zoom account, simply join through a web browser without logging in.  This makes it comparatively easy to access and improves the overall user experience 

Teams: Teams also has a browser-based login, however, in our experience as event organisers hosting online team games, you can run into some problems when using breakout sessions if people join the call without logging in first.We have found that people are not always able to join the breakout room (they are not recognized by the platform in the ‘participant’ list) and are more likely to be kicked completely off the call and out of the rooms when using Microsoft Teams

Zoom vs. Teams: Zoom is our pick here.

2. Customizable Settings

Zoom:  Zoom allows users to tailor their meetings to fit specific needs. This includes features such as virtual backgrounds, waiting rooms, polls, chat functions, and more. Additionally, Zoom’s plans offer even more customization options, including custom branding with logos and colours and multiple host controls, and administrative privileges. 

Teams: Teams offer some basic customization features such as range, including background blur and virtual backgrounds, but they are far more limited compared to Zoom. Teams’ free plan supports up to 250 participants, while Zoom’s free plan allows up to 100 participants.

Zoom vs. Teams: Zoom is our pick here.

3. Automatic grouping

Zoom:  Zoom allows you to quickly and easily group participants into breakout rooms with just a few clicks of the mouse. The host can choose to manually or automatically assign participants to Breakout Rooms. You can pre-assign people into breakout rooms on Zoom before the event or meeting, which you can not yet do on Teams. However, it is important to note that if participants do not join the Zoom call from the email address you have used for pre-assignment, Zoom will not recognise them, and despite all your work, the pre-assign will fail.

Teams:  Microsoft Teams' breakout room feature is limited and does not offer an automated way of creating or assigning groups. While Teams does allow participants to manually join or leave breakouts rooms during meetings, this can be inconvenient and time-consuming for larger meetings with many attendees. 

Zoom vs. Teams: Zoom is our pick here.

4. Screen Sharing and File Sharing:

Zoom: On Zoom, all you have to do is click the ‘Share Screen’ button, and everyone on the call will be able to view whatever you’re presenting. This feature is useful when you need to give a presentation, share a document, or show a website to your team members. Zoom also offers the ability to share specific applications or a portion of your screen, which is useful when you want to show something specific without sharing your entire screen. As for file sharing you can simply drag and drop files into the conversation window and send it to the other person. These tools are important as they help streamline conversations and meetings. 

Teams:  Microsoft Teams also offers screen-sharing functionalities that are quite similar to Zoom. It's just as easy to share your screen with teams as well. Simply select the ‘Share’ option from the toolbar, and your screen will be shared with everyone on the call. With teams, there's an option to send files directly through a chat box. One that sets Teams apart is the digital whiteboard, which allows you to brainstorm ideas, draw diagrams, or create mind maps with your team members in real time. This feature is particularly useful for teams that need to collaborate on creative projects or work on complex problem-solving.

Zoom vs. Teams: It's a tie.

5. Communication Tools

Zoom: With Zoom, you can easily host video conferences with multiple participants. The user-friendly layout makes it simple to see who's speaking at any given time and there's also an option to share screens if needed. Additionally, their breakout rooms feature has been really helpful when you need to split into smaller groups during the sessions. When using Zoom, aside from joining a breakout room directly, a host can only communicate with breakout room participants via a one-way, character-limited ‘broadcast’ function. In this case, you can send a short message to all participants in their breakout rooms at the same time, which means there is no option to send a chat privately. 

The only way for the meeting participant to respond or ask the host for help is for them to hit the ‘ask for help button’ from within their breakout rooms (this pings the host, who can then join the breakout room if they wish) or by rejoining the main meeting. A host also won’t see the breakout room chat, which means there can be a bit of a disconnect with participants. 

Teams: This platform offers a full suite of integrated applications which makes it easy to collaborate while on a call. From instant messaging and file-sharing capabilities to whiteboarding options - these features allow people to work together without ever leaving the platform. Once participants are in their breakout rooms, a meeting host can not only see and participate in the individual breakout session chats but they also have a broadcasting function where they can send a one-way message to all participants at once. 

This gives you, as the meeting host, a lot more options to interact and chat with participants while they are inside their breakout rooms. This is especially helpful if you are organising an online team game or activity for a large group. 

Zoom vs. Teams: Teams is the better option here.

6. Compatibility

Zoom: It is compatible with a wide range of devices, making it easy for anyone to join meetings from virtually any device. Zoom also supports Android and iOS devices, so users can join meetings from their smartphones or tablets.

Teams: Microsoft Teams works with Windows and Mac computers, as well as mobile devices running iOS and Android operating systems. This makes it easy for team members to connect no matter where they are located. 

Zoom vs. Teams: It's a tie.

7. Security and Privacy

Zoom : Zoom offers end-to-end encryption, which ensures that all data is kept private while in transit. It also has a feature that prevents users from joining a meeting without permission - which helps protect against unauthorised access. On top of this, it provides password protection for conference rooms as well as session time limits; these measures help ensure that conversations remain secure even after they've concluded.

Teams: Microsoft Teams offers an array of security features, including two-factor authentication and single sign-on capabilities. It also has built-in malware scanning capabilities to detect malicious software before it reaches the system; this helps protect against potential threats before they cause any damage or disruption. Additionally, Teams includes a wide range of privacy settings so you can easily control who can view your files and manage permissions accordingly.

Zoom vs. Teams: It's a tie.

Zoom vs. Teams: Final Thoughts 

From our perspective, Zoom is better if you have to deal with an external audience, and Teams is a better option if you are looking only to communicate internally. However, if you have the option to use both Zoom and Teams and you want to use breakout sessions, then Zoom wins hands down.

However, if your company primarily uses Teams and it's the preferred platform for your team, using breakout sessions should not pose a problem. It's important to note, however, the limitations regarding pre-assignment or random group allocation, as well as the inability to co-host. We eagerly anticipate updates from Microsoft regarding these issues, which we're confident will arrive in the near future.

FAQs 

• Is Zoom more secure than Teams?

It's hard to make a definitive statement as both Zoom and Teams have taken measures to improve their security. However, both platforms have experienced security issues in the past, so it's important to use best practices to ensure your meetings are secure regardless of the platform you use.

• Why is Zoom better than Teams?

It's subjective and depends on individual needs and preferences. Zoom is known for its ease of use and stability, while Teams has more features for collaboration and integrates well with other Microsoft apps.

• Is Teams meeting free?

Yes, Teams offers a free version that includes meetings for up to 60 minutes with up to 100 participants. However, if you want more features or longer meeting times, you'll need to upgrade to a paid version.