Video computer/tele conferencing software?

[iMONITOR]

More and more doctors/hospitals are using video computer/tele conferencing than ever before. What software are you using for friends and family and why do you prefer your choice?

I keep hearing about Zoom, but I keep reading about serious security leaks and concerns. What about Skype, is that still popular? I've used TeamViewer for years for connecting to remote systems for maintenance, troubleshooting, installing and configuring software, but I never used it for conferencing.

 

[Stupidfatkid]

More and more doctors/hospitals are using video computer/tele conferencing than ever before. What software are you using for friends and family and why do you prefer your choice?

I keep hearing about Zoom, but I keep reading about serious security leaks and concerns. What about Skype, is that still popular? I've used TeamViewer for years for connecting to remote systems for maintenance, troubleshooting, installing and configuring software, but I never used it for conferencing.

Microsoft is encouraging users to move from Skype to Microsoft Teams. Microsoft is dropping Skype for Business support next year. I use Teams exclusively and I haven't had any issues with it. It works great. Google Meet is another option, although I haven't used it. Teams and Meet are both free now.

 

[mmckenna]

We use Zoom heavily at work.
And I hate it. Often very poor audio, and it's not always a bandwidth issue on my end. Periodically having to exit a meeting and log back in to get it to work correctly.

We use it because we have a large contract for it, and our IT support wonks only want to support one service. There's some blindness, once they decide the old system "sucks", they decide on a new system that is "going to solve all the issues and will be much better". As soon as the new system is in use, the complaints start. Process repeats pretty much every year. I'm sure next fiscal year we'll all have to switch to a different platform.

Personally I don't really care what system I use, as long as it works. Zoom is easy because I have the account through work. Depending on which vendor I'm working with, I'll use whatever their preferred service is. Vidyo, Zoom, GoToMeeting, WebEx, etc. etc. etc. To me they all suck.

For personal use I often just use FaceTime since it works, it's easy and others in my family have iPhones.


My wife and sister both work in education. Seems like each school district has picked their own system, but there are rebels that use others against the wishes of the IT department. Personally, I find pissing off IT guys is kind of fun.

 

[iMONITOR]

Personally, I find pissing off IT guys is kind of fun.

LOL! I worked professionally in IT for decades. It's a thankless job but it paid well. Everyone we met hates us before they even get to know us. We're just know as "That A-Hole from IT.

 

[mmckenna]

LOL! I worked professionally in IT for decades. It's a thankless job but it paid well. Everyone we met hates us before they even get to know us. We're just know as "That A-Hole from IT.

Yep, I've been in telecom for 30 years. I'm under the IT wing of our group. Back pre-2008 when we were all TDM/analog, we were on our own. We didn't touch the data network, they didn't touch us. Then we went to an IP backbone, and we started to work together. I had some background in IP, but not enough to do it all on my own. We moved our offices in with theirs so we could work closer together. Turned out pretty well. Now we're about 80% VoIP, and I've hired guys on my staff just for their IP background. We all get along well and everyone is happy.

Our issue is the workstation support, data center, and other outlying IT guys. They don't get it. Had one data center manager was furious that I would not move my PBX into his data center. After all, he had a "huge" UPS that would give us 15 minutes of backup power. I introduced him to my -48vdc plant with 12 hours of battery backup, including a 20KVA inverter plant. He didn't understand how we could get 12 hours of run time when he could only get 15 minutes. Turns out, he wanted my space and was just going to cram all our gear into a rack or two. He just didn't get it.
Then there's the radio side. I replaced our analog trunking system with a digital system back in 2011, one of the older network engineers was upset because "we could have spent all that money on WiFi access points". Again, he could not comprehend why fire and PD needed a 'real' radio system.

But really, most of the IT guys are just fine and we get along with them. Issue arrises when they think they are superior to those 'dumb telecom guys'. Then we remind them who we are.

 

[bharvey2]

I've straddled the fence and have had a hand in both IT and telecom for a long time. While the IT side has the bells and whistles, the telecom side has a long history of favorable up time and reliability. The move toward IT infrastructure in telecom has come at quite an expense. It used to be that the tariffs mandated a 4 hour repair time for POTS lines. No more. I've had fiber circuits down for days ( A city near me had a month long fiber outage) The divide in mindset between the old school telecom and the shiny new IT folks can sometimes be quite wide and is often frustrating. Maybe I'm done ranting....for now.