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Microsoft Teams and Zoom
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If you need help determining which software to use for your audio and video conferencing needs, review the feature comparison in these UT-supported systems.
Feature Comparison
| Feature |  MS TeamsMeetings & Shared Workspaces |  ZoomLecture Capture & Meetings |
|---|---|---|
| Channel | Channels are dedicated sections within a Team to keep content organized. | Zoom Team Chat Channels are available in the Zoom Workplace app. Channel members may message, share files, and start an instant meeting via the chat channel. |
| Chat | Chat in public groups, private groups, one-on-one, or during meetings. | Chat with other UT Zoom account holders individually or in a group. During a meeting, chat with meeting attendees. |
| Meetings | Include audio, video, screen-sharing, breakout rooms, and continuous chat. Can integrate Zoom meetings for a higher quality video experience. | Include audio, video, screen-sharing, breakout rooms, and continuous chat. |
| Calls | Calls, both video and audio, are a quick and direct way to connect for completing specific tasks or for getting questions answered quickly. One-on-one calls or calls with several people. Schedule calls ahead of time or start them during a chat. Includes voicemail. | Calls, both video and audio, are a quick and direct way to connect for completing specific tasks or for getting questions answered quickly. One-on-one calls or calls with several people. Schedule calls ahead of time or start them during a chat. |
| Files | Share and collaborate on files of any type with your teammates in chats, channels, and meetings. Everyone involved will be able to view the file, collaborate on it, and download it if they want a personal copy. | In Zoom Team Chat, share files of any type with UT Zoom account holders. In Zoom meetings, display content or send files to participants in the meeting. Zoom docs and Zoom Clips are available in chats and meetings. |
| Tabs | Tabs allow Team members to access services within a channel or in a chat. | Not Available |
| Apps | Microsoft and third-party provided apps can be integrated into your Team to help you customize, simplify, and optimize how you work in Teams to make collaboration more effective. | Limited integration. Current integrations include Zoom Timer, Panopto, and Canvas. |
| Canvas Integration | Microsoft Teams Meetings is fully integrated in all Canvas course sites. | Zoom is fully integrated in all Canvas course sites. |
| Recordings | Record meetings automatically or manually. Recordings are available in the meeting chat and can be downloaded for future reference or sharing. When a meeting is recorded, it will automatically turn on transcriptions. | Hosts may record locally or to the Zoom Cloud. |
| Captions/Transcription | Captions can be translated into a different language than the one being spoken in the meeting, offer live translation options, display speaker identification, and allow users to customize font size and color. Transcription can be enabled before or during a Microsoft Teams meeting and is the foundation for features such as speaker identification, AI-generated meeting notes and recaps. | Included for meetings and cloud recordings. Zoom Voice Recordings can transcribe audio on a mobile device. |
| Artificial Intelligence (AI) | AI-generated meeting summaries and notes that capture key discussion points and suggested follow-up tasks. Can also engage with Copilot inside the Teams environment. | Zoom AI tools include meeting summary and smart recordings. |
| Whiteboard | A collaborative digital workspace that can be used as a standalone app or within Teams’ meetings. Supports real-time brainstorming, note taking, idea sketching, sharing for future reference, and includes a built-in timer to keep activities on track. | Virtual whiteboard can include AI content, images, text, and drawing objects. |
Microsoft Teams Use Cases
Document Collaboration – Create, revise, and make edits on documents in the same window at the same time.
- A faculty member and student create an outline together for an upcoming research presentation.
- Staff members leave comments for suggested revisions departmental newsletter articles.
Project Management – Online meetings, chat, file collaboration, group discussions, quick polls, planning boards, and in-app file editing and sharing allows groups to maintain efficiency and transparency throughout the life of a project.
- A department is working on submitting a research grant application and needs the ability to meet on video, chat in real-time, and edit shared files to meet application deadlines.
- A campus unit is planning an event for faculty and staff and needs a space to brainstorm suggestions, develop marketing goals, and assign tasks to individual team members.
Organizational Structure – The UTK campus community, both on campus and at remote locations, can come together in a centralized online location.
- A student-based campus activity group creates a Team to share relevant files, schedule monthly meetings, and discuss topics as they arise.
- Departments and colleges can conduct weekly team staff meetings and create dedicated channels for meeting notes, projects, etc.
Zoom Use Cases
When facial expressions and other visual cues are paramount to the delivery of your content –
- Social Work faculty and students need to see participants’s facial reactions in mock-therapy sessions.
- Foreign language instructors conduct oral exams with their students to improve their speaking skills.
Live and large-scale, video-heavy events are being delivered –
- The Career Development office is hosting a career fair with numerous potential employers offering one-on-one interviews for all interested fourth-year students.
- A virtual conference is being held on a technology topic of interest to all campus units.
Classroom lectures are being delivered –
- Instructors and students can replicate an in-person class virtually with video and screen sharing.
- Instructors can schedule class meetings in Canvas and the recording will automatically be available within the Canvas course site for any student who missed the class or needs to refer back to a specific topic in the lecture.
Quick communication is needed to answer immediate questions –
- A group has a quick question about an upcoming meeting and sends a message in the chat to meet online and share content while discussing options.
- A staff member invites a colleague to an audio-only impromptu meeting.
Microsoft Teams and Zoom are powerful tools that help users connect, collaborate, create, and share through video and audio conferencing. Significant feature overlaps are evident from the comparison table above. The primary distinction is that Microsoft Teams is a unified collaboration and communication platform that combines file sharing, virtual meetings, chats, MS365 tools, and voice calls, to create a shared workspace; whereas Zoom is a reliable, high-quality video and audio-conferencing tool that offers virtual meetings, webinars, and audio calls.