Microsoft Teams vs. Zoom

Overview

Microsoft Teams and Zoom both offer videoconferencing and other features to help facilitate remote teaching, learning, work, and communication. To help you choose a suitable tool for a given purpose, this article contains the following comparison tables:

Note: Canvas Conferences (BigBlueButton) also exists as an option for videoconferencing within Canvas. However, for instruction, the UO recommends instead using Zoom, which is integrated into Canvas.

Note: To ensure functionalities in Microsoft Teams and Zoom are working properly, please keep app up-to-date and use a supported device.

General Features

Availability

Feature Description Teams Zoom
Account types Type of account available based on your UO affiliation (e.g. faculty, staff, student). All UO faculty, staff, and students have the same access. All UO faculty, staff, and students now have the same access (Education accounts).

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Compatibility

Feature Description Teams Zoom
Can be used via web browser Use the service directly from a web browser, without installing a separate application.

Go to office.uoregon.edu

Go to uoregon.zoom.us
Can install app on Mac and iOS Install the application on your Mac computer or iOS device.
Can install app on Windows PC and Android Install the application on your Windows computer or Android device.

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Capacity

Feature Description Teams Zoom
Meeting capacity The maximum amount of participants allowed for a video or audio meeting. Up to 300 participants. Up to 300 participants.

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Audio and Video

Feature Description Teams Zoom
Videoconference Meet with other people virtually on your computer using video and audio.
Audio conference via computer audio

Meet with other people virtually on your computer using audio only.

Use your computer's built-in microphone and speaker (or a headset connected to your computer) for audio when joining a meeting.
Audio conference via phone call

Meet with other people virtually on your computer using audio only.

Dial in to a meeting using a phone instead of your computer audio.

Host must have a phone bridge.

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Chat

Feature Description Teams Zoom
Persistent chat Create topic-based discussion rooms that persist over time. Messages are saved so chat room participants can see the chat history.
Presence Indicates your current availability and status to other users.
Group chat Chat with multiple team members at once.

Up to 100 people can be included in a group chat or up to 250 people in a private Teams channel.

Group chat using the Channel feature.

 
Private chat in meeting Chat directly with one other meeting participant.
Chat mentions Use chat mentions to notify certain users in a chat and get their attention. Depending on the user's notification settings, they may receive a push notification when they are mentioned in a chat. Use the @ symbol before the user's name.

Available in chats using the Channel feature, but not in meetings.
Reactions in chat React to a chat message with a thumbs-up, smiley face, or other emojis.

Available in chats using the Channel feature, but not in meetings.
Reactions in meeting video React during a meeting with a brief thumbs-up or clapping emoji on your video thumbnail

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Content Sharing

Feature Description Teams Zoom
Whiteboard Allows you to share a virtual whiteboard that you and other participants (if allowed) can draw or write on.

Available in any Teams meeting. (More info.)

Also available on Teams calls with three or more participants.

 
Screen sharing Share your screen with meeting participants — either your entire desktop or individual application windows.
Share multiple screens Allow multiple participants to share their screens simultaneously during a meeting.
Share files Share files with participants and collaborate on them together.

Using Office 365.

Using In-Meeting File Transfer.

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Meeting Capabilities

Feature Description Teams Zoom
Lobby or waiting room Allows a meeting host to control when a participant joins a meeting. Hosts can admit participants one at a time or hold all attendees in a virtual waiting room and admit them all at once. Participants will see a screen notifying them that they are in a waiting room.

Settings need to be enabled first for putting internal users into a lobby.

Virtual hand raising Allows participants to raise their hand to indicate that they need something from the host or would like to speak.
Polling Create single-choice or multiple-choice polling questions to gather responses from your meeting attendees.

Using Microsoft Forms.
Remote screen control Ability to take control of another participant's screen in a meeting. You can request remote control of another participant's screen or the other participant can give you control.
Gallery view of video for all participants

See thumbnail displays of participants in a grid pattern that expands and contracts as participants join and leave the meeting.

Specifications here are for the Teams or Zoom application installed on a laptop or desktop computer. Features differ on mobile devices.

Currently displays up to 49 participants.

Displays up to 25 or 49 participants per screen, depending on your computer's processor (Intel i5 vs. i7). Additional participants display on subsequent screens.
Obscure your video background If you're in a location where you would prefer not to show your background, obscure it so it's not visible.

Use a virtual background or blur your background.

Use a virtual background. May require a physical green screen, depending on your computer's processor.

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Breakout Rooms

Feature Description Teams Zoom
Breakout rooms Split your meeting into separate smaller sessions.

Create up to 50 breakout rooms.

Organizer can start on desktop client only.

Participants can join from deskop, web or mobile. 

Participants logged in from multiple devices will have all end points join the same breakout room.

Create up to 50 breakout rooms.

Hosts/co-hosts can create and manage when using a supported device and up to date version of Zoom

Attendees can join when using a supported device and up to date version of Zoom
Automatically Assign Participants will be assigned to breakout rooms as soon as you open the rooms.

*

 
Manually Assign Choose the people who will share a breakout room.
Pre-assign You can split your meeting participants into breakout rooms when scheduling the meeting. This can be useful if you already know how you want to split up your participants.
Pre-assign limit 200 Up to 200 participants can be pre-assigned to breakout rooms.

Teams does not offer pre-assigned breakout rooms.

Co-host Assign The meeting host or co-host can choose to split the participants of the meeting into these separate sessions automatically or manually.

Teams does not have co-host functionality.

 
Self Select The meeting host or co-host can choose to allow participants to select and enter breakout sessions as they please.
Chat Each breakout room will have its own chat.
Host can move between rooms The host or co-host can switch between sessions at any time. 
Co-host can move between rooms The host or co-host can switch between sessions at any time. 

Teams does not have co-host functionality.
Attendees can move between breakout and main meeting Participants can return to the main meeting from their breakout room. 
Recording in Breakout Room Recording can be done in breakout rooms.
Set Time Limit A time limit can be set on breakout rooms by the host. When time is up, breakout rooms will close automatically and all participants will return to the main room.
Broadcast Message/Make Announcement A host or co-host can publish a message to all users in all breakout rooms simultaneously.

Teams does not have co-host functionality.
Ask Host for Help Button If you Ask for Help, it will notify the meeting host that you need assistance and they will be asked to join your breakout room.

In Teams, tag (@ mention) the host for help in chat.

Zoom breakout room and participant limits vary.

Up to 50 Rooms

 A meeting's participants can be split up to into 50 distinct breakout rooms.
Reassign Rooms Participants can be moved when breakout rooms are open as well as when they're closed.
10 Second Count Down Users will be presented with a 10 second count down before the breakout room they are in closes.
Count Down Customization - Closing Participants will be given a countdown of how much time they have left before being returned to the main room. This amount of time is set by the host.
Persistence in recurring meetings Breakout room configurations will be remembered across recurring meetings.
Limit per breakout room The maximum number of participants in a single breakout room depends on the meeting capacity, number of breakout rooms created, and if participants are assigned during the meeting or before the meeting. 
Name Breakout Rooms Breakout rooms can be named and renamed from their default room name by the host.

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Meeting Recording

Feature Description Teams Zoom
Recording (video/audio) Record meetings to capture audio, video, and screen sharing to be viewed at a later time.
Cloud storage of recordings Store a recorded meeting in the cloud for easy access and secure storage.

Via OneDrive and SharePoint.

*

*Available to faculty, staff, and graduate employees.

*Not available in UO's HIPAA Zoom service.
Local storage of recordings Store a recorded meeting locally on your computer.

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Accessibility

For more comprehensive information about providing accommodations to students, please contact the Accessible Education Center.

Feature Description Teams Zoom
Audio transcription Has the option to automatically transcribe the audio of a meeting that was recorded. Typically must be edited for an ADA-required accommodation.
Live captioning Detect what's said during meeting and provide auto-generated captions for anyone who wants them. Not usually sufficient for an ADA-required accommodation.
Closed captioning by live captioner

Option to assign a person to type live captions.

More information about connecting a transcriber to a Zoom session for ADA-required accommodations is available from the Accessible Education Center.

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Security Compliance

For more comprehensive information about the suitability of various UO collaboration tools for handling data at different risk levels within the data security classification, please see the collaboration tools matrix on the UO Information Security Office website.

Compliance Description Teams Zoom
FERPA Service facilitates compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, known as FERPA.
HIPAA

Service facilitates compliance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA.

*

*Before handling HIPAA-protected data in any UO technology tool, please contact the UO Information Security Office at infosec@uoregon.edu.

*

Only in UO's HIPAA Zoom service.

*Before handling HIPAA-protected data in any UO technology tool, please contact the UO Information Security Office at infosec@uoregon.edu.

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Integrations

Service Description Teams Zoom
Office 365 Access the Office Online applications, such as Word Online, Excel Online, etc., offered through Office 365.
Canvas Schedule and launch a remote meeting from Canvas, provide students with an easy way to attend course meetings, and more.

UO is evaluating Teams for integration with Canvas.

Dropbox Present Dropbox files in a meeting, message contacts, join a meeting directly from Dropbox, or see who presented a file during a meeting.
Outlook calendar integration Schedule meetings directly from your Outlook calendar.
Directory integration Easily search for faculty, staff, and/or some students.

 

Webinars

Service Description Teams Zoom
Capacity How many people total can participate.

1,000 participants

(After webinar exceeds 1,000 view-only mode is available for 20,000. Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, this limit will change to 10,000.)

 500 - 50,000 participants depending on license selected
Availability Who can use the service through the UO license. UO Staff, Faculty, GEs and Students UO Staff/Faculty and GEs
Price for UO Users   Free

 

 

 For now, all of these licenses will be proactively assigned for use by large UO courses. Additional licenses are limited and requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but are also available to purchase. Both can be done here.
Advance Scheduling Schedule your event in advance and send out invitations.

How-to

How-to
Registration Have guests register for the event in advance.

How-to

How-to

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