Zoom Workplace vs Restream: Which is a better fit?

Jose: My name is Jose. I'm an inside salesman for a top industrial distributor company for any sort of industrial parts, and I would rate Zoom Workplace five out of five. Besides Zoom Workplace, I don't think I've ever really used any other one. I've used FaceTime, Skype, but doesn't really compare to the capabilities Zoom Workplace has. The reason why we choose to stick with Zoom Workplace, it makes it really easy to do remote work. So just recently, we've implemented remote work and it just makes it really easy to communicate. You can mute people, you can type in the chat. Let's say you're on the go, you don't have to really be on the camera and you can even access it on your phone. So it just makes it really easy to communicate with the team and then just do remote work. I think it's really easy to get started with Zoom Workplace. You don't even really need an account to use it. It makes it easier to be able to log in and start meetings for next time, but if you want to make an account, you can make an account. You could start meetings. You could join meetings just based on a link. Pretty easy. Everything's there. You could just put help or it tells you whatever you need. And then it's just really easy. For anybody that's starting Zoom Workplace, I would recommend making an account with them just because it makes it easier for sometimes when you get sent a meeting and you don't have an account, you have to sign in again and again, or you have to join as a guest. And sometimes people don't know who you are, so they won't admit you into the meeting. If it just says, "Guest," nobody's going to admit somebody that says, "Guest," but if you put your name, make an account, then they know who you are and it makes it easier to access meetings. And then I would also recommend, basically, yeah, just make an account and then start meetings by yourself too. You can start meetings with friends. It doesn't really have to be for work, but with Zoom Workplace, it's great for work.

Trevor T.: My name is Trevor. I am the founder of Common Leaders. And I would rate Restream a four. I had experienced video chat with Zoom and Google Meet and a little bit with Vimeo, and although not really big problems with them, they were limited functionality. And I felt like Restream gave me a higher quality of output in terms of its graphics and its functionality in meeting the needs of something more than just a Zoom meeting. I wanted it to look a little bit more professional, a little more like a media outlet. The other piece of why I chose Restream really came down to its ability to go live. It has recording features like every other video chat software that's out there. The big difference with Restream, at least what I felt was different, was its ability to live stream to various venues, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, really any outlet under the sun could receive what I was putting out in a live stream, and Restream made that very easy and very seamless to do. For me, onboarding with Restream was pretty straightforward. I did work a little bit with the professionals behind the scene, but most of what I did was recording and practicing on my own, getting used to the features, which are very different than other typical recording softwares. And then, it took a little bit of time to understand how to live stream out to different places. But it was just a lot of experimentation, which I felt like worked because I was live-streaming, and I needed to know what those functionalities were beyond just a technical manual. That being said, it's a very straightforward software. It's not very complicated. It's a lot of clicks and pops and scrolls, but it's all pretty straightforward. My advice for new people using Restream would, first and foremost, be explore all of its features early on so you know how far you can stretch it. You can add lots of different camera options, lots of different mics, lots of different integrations to make the visual element of what you're doing really the best. And if you're video streaming, that's really what you should want is a really active screen, but one that makes sense. So, it's going to take some experimenting, strongly advise doing that. And the other piece of it is do a really strong equipment check. That's something I experienced. Although internet can play a role in its quality, the bigger issues that I had and that you might face are really with the hardware, your computer being able to keep up with it because it can get to be pretty dense at times. So ensuring that your hardware can keep up with it, and maybe upgrading your hardware because it is an intense program. It's going to come out looking like the nightly news if you want it to, which is pretty beautiful, but your computer is going to need to keep up with that. So, do some experimenting, maybe get some advice from Restream or from a professional that you know in IT so that your hardware can keep up with the quality that you're going to see.