ITS offers a variety of conferencing options for all faculty, staff, and students to use at no cost. Use this resource to help make a decision about which tool to use based on the set of features you need.
| BlueJeans Meetings not available after 5/1/2021 |
Canvas Conferences (BigBlueButton) | Google Meet | Zoom | Zoom Webinars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended use | Small-to-medium discussion classes, staff meetings. | Small-to-medium classes focused on materials, where everything is integrated in a single Canvas environment. | Small-to-medium discussion classes, staff meetings. (Only free option for alumni and retirees.) | Staff meetings, training sessions under 300 people. | Town halls, classes over 300 or professional conferences. |
| Integrates with Canvas | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Maximum connections | 200 | 100 | 100 | 300 | 500–10,000 |
| HIPAA compliant for use with PHI | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Option to allow only U-M authenticated users to join | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Screen share capability | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Host, co-host panelist. |
| Q&A option | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Chat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual backgrounds | Yes | No | Yes; blurred backgrounds available now. Custom background currently unavailable. | Yes | Host, co-host panelist. |
| Download recordings | Before 4/30/2021. | No | No. Temporary recordings available and saved for 30 days to share. No downloads, no external sharing (only U-M users). | Yes, for 180 days. | Yes, for 180 days. |
| Annotate screen share | Yes; Current speaker. | Yes; Presenter and participants. | No | Yes; Presenter and participants. | Yes; Presenter only. |
| Whiteboard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in polling | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Raise hand | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Breakout rooms | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Max participants seen on screen | 25 | 12 | 49 | 49 | Host and panelist(s) |
| Compatible with high-end room systems | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Auto Captioning | No | No | Yes Captions cannot be downloaded or recorded. |
Yes Transcripts can be automatically downloaded. |
Yes Transcripts can be automatically downloaded. |
| Supports real-time CART captioning | No | No Inline CART support. |
No | Yes Captions can be downloaded. |
Yes |
| ASL interpreter support (multiple pinned screens) | No | Unknown | No | Yes | Unknown |
| Screen reader accessible | Partly | No | Mostly | Mostly | Mostly |
Functionality varies by product.