Data and communication are the fulcrum of all business operations in all corporations during modern times. It is vital for all the teams in all the important departments of an organization to communicate and coordinate with each other seamlessly to complete all of the organization’s official projects on time and impeccably. 

The population explosion that has occurred in most countries worldwide due to the rapid advancements made in various technologies has enabled corporations in every industry to expand their footprint globally. 

Hence, these days, there is a deep necessity for key teams in an organization to communicate and collaborate remotely to be informed regarding a project’s developments and to complete the undertaken project impeccably. In this article, we will look at the best free collaboration tools for remote teams as of 2024. So, kindly read on to find out. 

Top 5 Remote Collaboration Tools for Employees as of 2024

Following are the best free collaboration tools for remote teams as of 2024. They all have the following advanced, convenient, and vital features that make remote communication and collaboration easy, swift, and secure for a company’s employees.

• High-definition and uninterrupted video and audio calling.
• Calendar notifications on scheduled team meetings and the ability to join a team meeting by just clicking on a link.
• Screen/file sharing, group chat, 1:1 chat, and whiteboard for explaining any topic. 
• The option to record ongoing meetings at the click of a button (the record button) so that employees who have missed it can watch the recorded meetings and stay up to date with the developments on the undertaken project.

Now, let’s have a look at the top 5 remote collaboration tools for employees as of 2024. These applications can be installed and work on Windows, Android, and iOS/Mac OS. They enable employees to experience HD audio and video conference calls.

Zoom

If you don’t know about the Zoom video conference calling app or software, it means that you’re living under a rock. To invite people to join a con call on Zoom, all you have to do is share a link to the con call. Once, any person clicks on the link, he or she will be able to join your con call on Zoom. 

Zoom is especially popular for its HD audio and video calls. It provides an uninterrupted connection even when the WiFi signal is weak. Only the quality (pixel definition) of the video will be lowered, that’s all. As mentioned before, Zoom like all video conferencing software on this list has group chat, 1:1 chat, call recording, screen sharing, and cyber security features. One can place a swift and secure video call using Zoom. 

Zoom now features even a whiteboard which employees can use to draw diagrams or list points and explain official matters. Last but not least, Zoom enables people to create and schedule conference calls and set reminders for them. Soom is one of the best remote collaboration tools to date.

Webex Meetings

This application was developed by the American tech giant, Cisco. This application is especially renowned for its crystal clear video and audio call quality. Webex is available for free download on Android and iOS smartphones and it can also be used on a PC by visiting its official website. 

The most popular feature of Webex is its advanced whiteboard feature that has a “magic pen” that can rectify your shabby geometrical shapes such as circles, squares, rectangles, cones, pie charts, etc. Webex enables one to share a document as an attachment on group chats, 1:1 chats, and video calls without having to share their screens. This is one of the most popular and advanced virtual collaboration tools. 

Google Meet

This is another globally renowned video conferencing software in the world. The global popularity and usage of the Google search engine have contributed immensely to the success of this application. People just have to click on the meeting’s link to join a conference call on this app. This software can also be accessed via its official website. 

The most salient feature of Google Meet is its ‘Live Captions’ feature. This means that when this option is enabled in a video call, accurate subtitles will appear at the bottom-middle of one’s screen. This feature is especially useful when collaborating with foreigners as some people find it hard to understand foreign accents. 

The most unique and intriguing feature of this application is that it allows up to 100,000 people to join as view-only participants in a video or audio conference call. This means that view-only participants can hear and see what other participants are saying and doing in a conference call but they cannot speak or do anything on the conference call. View-only participants on Google Meet’s conference calls are like “silent observers”. 

Microsoft Teams

This is another globally popular remote collaboration application. Like all of the applications on this list, this remote conferencing software has useful and advanced features like HD audio and video calls, whiteboard, group, and 1:1 chats, simply joining conference calls by clicking their respective links, etc. 

The most salient feature of Microsoft Teams is the auto-correct feature on its whiteboard which automatically and instantly corrects shoddy geometrical shapes drawn on the whiteboard such as triangles, rectangles, squares, circles, pie-charts, graphs, etc. 

This application also provides intriguing and funny features like the together mode screen on conference calls, stickers, and gimmicks for file sharing. The only noteworthy defect in this app is that its interface looks a little cluttered with quite a few features. 

Whereby

This application has mobile apps for Android and iOS as well as a website where people can place conference calls. This application allows up to 100 people to join a conference call at a time. 

It also has advanced and handy features like call recording, screen and file sharing, group and 1:1 chats, and HD audio and video calls like all the other applications in this list. The most convenient and popular feature of this application is the integration of Google Docs with it. 

This means that all con call participants can create a Google Docs document on the con call itself and not only share but edit it live! This feature makes it very convenient for employees to immediately implement the suggestions given for a document. 

This application also has integrated the YouTube app with it. This means that all call participants can watch YouTube videos while in the con call and even engage with them (like liking YouTube videos and commenting on them).   

Our Take

Video conferencing, also known as remote collaboration software is the need of the hour for any company in any industry these days. As an increasing number of countries are developing, companies in all industries have expanded or begun to expand their footprint globally. 

This implies that the workforce of many companies is spread out globally and there is a dire need for remote virtual collaboration tools that employees of a company can use to communicate and coordinate with each other remotely to complete their company’s undertaken projects on time and perfectly.

Remote conferencing software these days not only have remote audio and video calling features but also a plethora of other handy features like group and 1:1 chat, screen and file sharing, whiteboards with auto-correct features, creating and scheduling con calls, setting reminders for con calls, creating, sharing, and editing documents live on con calls, watching YouTube videos live on con calls, a swift and secure audio and video call connection, etc. 

All these advanced and convenient features have made collaborating remotely with one’s team members a piece of cake for employees. Virtual collaboration tools will be on demand and in use for the foreseeable future until extremely advanced technologies like holograms are widely employed in the future. To learn about the scope of hologram technology, kindly watch this YouTube video created by the BBC news channel, one of the most popular news channels in the world.            

FAQs

• For which purposes is placing a video con call ideal?

Video con calls are ideally suited for conducting important team meetings, webinars, product demos, virtual job interviews, official discussions, etc. 

• What is the most significant challenge as far as holding con calls are concerned? 

Restricting con calls only to the chosen participants and blocking unwanted and uninvited participants are the major challenges of holding con calls these days. 

• What is the minimum internet speed one should have to experience an uninterrupted conference call? 

One should have a minimum internet speed of 1 MBPS to experience a smooth conference call. 

• Which is the most popular video conferencing application in the world as of 2024?

Zoom is the most popular video conferencing app as of 2024. At present, this application (mobile and PC) has around 810.2 million users and around 300 million users use it in a day. Zoom’s net worth as of 2024 is US $22.05 billion.    

• What is the main advantage of video call calls over audio ones?

Video con calls to give a more personal touch and clarity of information when compared to audio con calls. 

• How many connection plans does Zoom have?

Zoom has three connection plans. They are basic, pro, and pro plus. The basic plan has basic conference calling features and is free, the other two plans have more advanced con call features and require a nominal monthly payment.