It’s become a fact of web life that Google giveth and Google taketh away. Just as you’ve become reliant on one of its free tools for managing your photos, streaming your music library or getting your daily news fix, the search giant decides to put it permanently on ice.

Sometimes this happens because Google has launched what it believes to be (but often isn’t) a superior service, while at other times it’s simply because Google has lost interest in that product, even if its users haven’t. It is running a business, after all. 

Fortunately, few Google tools are unique, and there are usually good alternatives available for its abandoned products. In this feature, we round up the best free replacements for tools that have been consigned to the Google graveyard over the last seven years, or that are about to be killed off very soon.

Google Cloud Print

Lifespan: 2010-2021

Why Google killed it: Cloud Print, Google’s cloud-based printing solution, makes it possible to send web pages to printers from any device. Google announced plans to kill the service off late last year, with an execution date of 1 Jan 2021. The company didn’t give a clear reason for the closure, although it did say that Chrome OS, its cloud-based operating system, would be offering improved built-in printing controls.

What to use instead: Google suggests switching to one of its free printing partners, the best of which is PaperCut Mobility Print. There’s even a handy guide that helps you migrate to the service from Cloud Print.

Google Play Music

Lifespan: 2011-2020

Why Google killed it: Google currently has two music-streaming services – Google Play Music, which is the default music player on many Android devices, and YouTube Music – but it now only wants one. Google has been warning users for a while that it will be shutting down Play Music and, in a blog post in August, it confirmed that YouTube Music will replace the service by December 2020.

What to use instead: Although Google would like you to switch to YouTube Music, and is making it as easy as possible to do so, now is the perfect time to move to a better choice. Spotify has a huge library of songs, with both free and paid-for tiers – and, like Play Music, it lets you import and play locally stored audio files.

Hangouts

Lifespan: 2013-2020

Why Google killed it: Google has a number of different messaging apps and is trying to streamline its offerings. It shut down Allo last year (more on that later) and is killing off Hangouts Classic – its most popular messaging app, with more than a billion installs on Android – in December 2020. It might seem strange for Google to shut down its most successful service, but the company is focusing on business communication, which in the light of the pandemic-fuelled rise in working from home, seems like a smart bet.

What to use instead: Google wants you to communicate using Android’s built-in Messages app, or either of Hangouts’ direct successors – Google Meet or Google Chat (its Slack alternative for businesses). There are much better choices available, however. WhatsApp is packed with features including voice and video calls, is available for your phone, computer and the web, and your friends are probably already using it.

Google Chrome Apps

Lifespan: 2010-2020

Why Google killed it: Not to be confused with Chrome extensions, Chrome Apps are hosted or packaged web applications that run using Google’s browser. They are downloaded from the Chrome Web Store and look much like a typical desktop app. The chances are you don’t use these, and that’s the reason Google decided to pull the plug on them. Support for them on Windows, Mac and Linux will end in December 2020 (Chrome OS users will continue to have access), and they will be killed off entirely by June 2022.

What to use instead: Chrome Apps are a nice gimmick, but in truth they don’t serve any great purpose. Rather than installing an app and running it in your browser, just navigate to the actual online service. You’ll get pretty much the same experience.

One Today

Lifespan: 2013-2020

Why Google killed it: Google has a non-profit arm that aims to solve some of humanity’s biggest challenges. One Today was an Android app that made it possible for users to donate money to charities and see exactly how that donation was going to be spent. Google killed it off at the start of February 2020, explaining that “in the last few years, we have seen donors choose other products to fundraise for their favourite non-profits”.

What to use instead: Thinking of You is a free app for Android and iOS that lets you send a thought to someone you know, along with a donation to one of its many supported charities, including Shelter, Stroke Association, Make-A-Wish, Kidney Research UK, Parkinson’s and Children with Cancer UK. You can also donate directly to charities, and Thinking of You gives all transaction fees to the charities on its app.

Datally

Lifespan: 2017-2019

Why Google killed it: Google’s Play store is home to millions of Android apps, including many produced by the search giant itself. Datally was a useful free app (called Triangle when it originally launched in June 2017), that helped users manage their mobile data by viewing and blocking the activity of installed apps. Google never gave a reason for why it pulled Datally from the Play store in October last year, but it’s not the only app to vanish in this way.

What to use instead: Data Usage – Data Manager is a good free alternative for Android that can display daily data usage for apps you use and warn you if you go over your limit. It hasn’t been updated in over a year, but it still works fine with newer versions of Android.

Google Daydream

Lifespan: 2016-2019

Why Google killed it: There was a time when virtual reality seemed destined to be the next big thing, and if you couldn’t afford a full-fledged headset such as the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive, you could just drop your Android phone into a VR headset like Google Daydream instead. Developers didn’t flock to it however, and consumers didn’t buy it in any great numbers either, so Google ceased development, stating: “There hasn’t been the broad consumer or developer adoption we had hoped, and we’ve seen decreasing usage over time of the Daydream View headset”.

What to use instead: If you can afford it, buy a dedicated headset; if you can’t, you can pick up cheap phone-based VR headsets from Amazon and eBay. There’s also Google’s own Cardboard viewer which costs from just £15 (it’s only made out of cardboard, after all) and works with both Android devices and iPhones.

Google Trips

Lifespan: 2016-2019

Why Google killed it: This app for Android and iOS was designed as a trip planner that could pull information on upcoming excursions from Gmail and offer day guides to over 200 major cities. Google killed off the Trips app, but still offers much of the same functionality in in Google Maps and on the web at google.com/travel.

What to use instead: TripIt is a very similar app available for Android and iOS that helps you organise your travel plans (when you have some again). Just forward your confirmation emails to TripIt and it will build a master itinerary for you, and provide travel stats and carbon footprint details. It also helps you get around and lets you keep colleagues and friends informed of where you are.

Inbox by Gmail

Lifespan: 2015-2019

Why Google killed it: Inbox by Gmail provided a different way to access the search giant’s webmail service, and was designed to cut through the junk in a busy inbox and present you with only what’s important. You could even snooze emails for a later time. In shutting down Inbox, Google said it had been “a great place to experiment with new ideas”, but it now wants to focus on just Gmail.

What to use instead: If you miss Inbox’s clean design, then you can bring it back by installing Simplify Gmail. This Chrome extension was created by Michael Leggett, Gmail’s lead designer from 2008 to 2012, and the co-founder of Google Inbox.

Google+

Lifespan: 2011-2019

Why Google killed it: Google+ was the search giant’s attempt to take on Facebook and Twitter, and although Google did everything possible to push it – including integration with the company’s other services, such as YouTube and Google Drive, and continual redesigns to make it easier to use – few people were interested and Google eventually threw in the towel, citing “low user engagement”.

What to use instead: Facebook or Twitter would be the obvious choice, but there are lesser-known services to consider such as the currently invite-only Webtalk or MeWe, which is a privacy-focused social network with no ads.

Goo.gl

Lifespan: 2009-2019

Why Google killed it: Google’s URL shortener was a useful service for shrinking long, unwieldy web addresses and making it easier for people to share links and measure traffic. Despite its popularity, Google made the decision to shut it down in 2018 (bit.ly/3kmiica) due to competition from other services and people moving from “desktop web pages to apps, mobile devices, home assistants, and more”.

What to use instead: Bit.ly is our preferred choice of URL shortener. It lets you shrink long URLs, customise the links, and view the number of clicks for each one – so you can quickly see how many people have looked at things you’ve shared. It’s free to use, but the paid-for version offers extra features.

Google Allo

Lifespan: 2016-2019

Why Google killed it: Rather than be put off by the surfeit of mobile messaging apps, in 2016, Google decided the world needed two more and rolled out Allo – with Google Assistant baked in – and Duo (for video calling). While Duo still exists (for now), Google killed off Allo in 2019 to focus instead on its Messages app.

What to use instead: You could use WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or any of the many other available chat apps. Telegram is a good alternative to Allo, but focuses more on speed and privacy.

Chromecast Audio

Lifespan: 2015-2019

Why Google killed it: Although Google’s Chromecast is best known as a device that can stream video content directly to your television set, there was also a version that could be used to cast audio directly to your speakers from an iPhone, iPad, Android device or PC. It cost £30 and came with a 3.5 mm analogue stereo patch cable and power adapter, but was killed off after the company introduced its own range of Google Assistant-powered smart speakers. The technology lives on in the main Chromecast, however.

What to use instead: A smart speaker such as Amazon’s Echo or Google’s own Home/Nest is great for playing audio, but if you want to ‘cast’ music from your other devices, then the Roku Express streaming media player (£25 from Amazon) is ideal. It can stream video at up to 4K Ultra HD, and also lets you cast music (and photos) to your TV. 

For a software solution, try Nero Streaming Player for Android or iOS. The free app can cast music (as well as photos and videos) to your smart TV or any other UPnP/DLNA compatible Media Player.

YouTube Video Editor

Lifespan: 2010-2017

Why Google killed it: YouTube Video Editor was a web-based tool you could use to edit and enhance your movies and apply some effects before sharing them on YouTube. While it was a great idea, YouTube says as few as 0.1% of creators bothered with it (many probably didn’t know it existed in the first place), so Google decided to drop it.

What to use instead: It’s better to edit video directly on your PC rather than in the cloud, and Shotcut does this with no fuss. Available for Windows, Mac and Linux, this free tool can handle all the main media formats and the editing is done on a multi-track timeline. When you’ve finished making your movie, go to the Export tab and select YouTube to upload and share your video in MP4 format. See page 28 for details.

Google Now

Lifespan: 2012-2016

Why Google killed it: Google Now was a card-based search system for iOS and Android that let you view all sorts of relevant information. Cards would appear when you needed them, and it integrated with your installed sites and apps. Google Now also served as the first iteration of its digital assistant, and was summoned by tapping your phone’s button or by saying “OK, Google”. It was eventually replaced by Assistant, which offers two-way spoken interaction.

What to use instead: If you’re heavily invested in Google’s ecosystem, use Google Assistant. If Apple is your preferred choice, then Siri will be more suitable. For everyone else, Amazon Alexa is the digital assistant you should opt for. It’s embedded in a number of Amazon products, such as Echo and Fire TV, and can do everything from answering questions and giving you the news to controlling your lights and reading you audiobooks.

Picasa

Lifespan: 2002-2015

Why Google killed it: Picasa was a big favourite for many people, and provided an easy way to organise and edit your photos. It included lots of fun extras such as face recognition, collages and filters, but was eventually replaced by its cloud-based successor, Google Photos.

What to use instead: While you can (and probably do) use Google Photos to back up your phone’s photos to the cloud, there are desktop services that are more in keeping with Picasa’s original design, features and spirit, such as DigiKam, which was recently updated and now lets you organise your photos by face. See last issue’s Workshop 1 for details.

Orkut

Lifespan: 2004-2014

Why Google killed it: Before Google+ became Google’s main focus, the search giant had Orkut, an online community that was created by employee Orkut Büyükkökten. It was designed to help users stay in touch with friends and was hugely popular in India and Brazil. 

It’s not hard to guess why Google closed it. As the company’s engineering director Paulo Golgher said in a blog post: “Over the past decade, Facebook, YouTube, Blogger and Google+ have taken off, with communities springing up in every corner of the world. Because the growth of these communities has outpaced Orkut’s growth, we’ve decided to bid Orkut farewell.”

What to use instead: While the obvious choices are Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you should also consider the Android/iOS app-based Hello, which is a new social network founded by Orkut Büyükkökten and a small group of ex-Google engineers. It’s different from other services in that it aims to tie people together, based on their common interests.

Google Reader

Lifespan: 2005-2013

Why Google killed it: Subscribing to RSS/web feeds using Google Reader could save you a serious amount of time and effort, especially if you visited a lot of websites on a daily basis. Instead of having to go to each site individually, Reader would fetch all the latest headlines for you, aggregating them in an easy-to-read layout. Also, because it was web-based, you could view your subscriptions from anywhere, including on your phone. 

Sadly, in 2013, Google made the shocking decision to kill off Reader, stating: “While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined”. 

What to use instead: In the run-up to Reader’s closure, plenty of rival services surfaced as potential successors, but many have since fallen by the wayside. One that has continued to serve users well is Feedly, which lets you add and organise feeds and tweets, has light and dark modes, and offers mobile apps and browser add-ons. The free version is perfectly adequate for most users, but there’s a paid-for Pro edition with extra features and speedier feed updates from $6 (around £4.50) per month. 

​Zoom users will soon be able to enjoy in-meeting apps from the likes of Trello, Dropbox, Slack, and many other collaborative tools.

The video-conferencing platform has announced the launch of ‘Zapps’ – apps made just for Zoom which will power workflows during and in between meetings.

According to Zoom, Zapps was designed to provide developers with a fast and flexible web view canvas to create apps, viral distribution, as well as IT deployment and manageability.

So far, 36 platforms have announced demos of their ‘Zapps’, including popular collaborative tools such as Trello, Docket, and Slack, as well as Dropbox and Salesforce.

Zapps are to become generally available by the end of the year and will be open to developers soon after.

The announcement was made during Zoom’s virtual conference Zoomtopia 2020, where the company also revealed that it would be launching an online event platform for Zoom users to create and host free, paid, and charity events. Called OnZoom, the new platform will become available internationally from 2021. It is currently available as a public beta for US users.

Additionally, Zoom has added new enhancements to its SDKs, aiming to help developers and companies enrich their own custom video-based applications with Zoom’s platform. The feature is now available on Android, iOS, and web.

The company also developed new functionalities for its core unified communications platform, such as enhanced voice command options and a suite of whiteboarding enhancements.

Lastly, Zoom said that it will begin rolling out Phase 1 of 4 of its end-to-end encryption (E2EE) offering, almost four months after first committing to the technology, which will first be available as a technical preview from next week.

Zoom users, regardless of whether they pay for the platform or not, will be able to host up to 200 participants in an E2EE meeting on Zoom, providing increased privacy and security for your Zoom sessions.

Speaking at Zoomtopia 2020, CEO Eric S. Yuan said that the “one thing we’ve learned in this challenging time is that remote work does work”.

“The future will bring a hybrid of the best of in-person and virtual communications. The announcements we make today at Zoomtopia demonstrate that Zoom is built for this moment and beyond. We have the platform to support what the world needs – today, tomorrow, and well into the future,” he added.

Google Cloud has announced the integration of Google Meet and Google Glass that allows remote teams to see through the eyes of workers in the field.

The integration is available now in beta on the Enterprise Edition 2 of Google Glass, but only for customers with a paid Workspace account.

Workspace is Google’s new desktop UI that allows users to access G Suite apps, such as Gmail, Drive and Meet, via one platform, rather than endlessly cycling between each one.

This now includes an integration with Google Glass and Meet to provide more support for those still working on-site. The cloud giant has tested its Meet for Glass app in data centres, given the reliance on on-site maintenance, allowing for repair work to be carried out by a single on-site engineer with the support of others watching virtually.

With the Meet for Glass integration, users can connect with a remote team and diagnose issues, review physical equipment, and potentially train employees without being in the same place. Google suggests this is far easier than simply connecting via a laptop or “bulky” webcam as it lets technicians work hands-free and gives the remote participants an optimal view of any situation.

“Our mission has never been more critical than in today’s remote work environment,” the company said in a blog post. “Many businesses are adapting to new policies and procedures that keep workers safe. As a result, on-site essential workers – those whose roles cannot be carried out remotely – have had to pivot the ways they work and collaborate.”

This is an idea that Microsoft worked on with the very first HoloLens demos in 2015, using the Skype app to video call a walkthrough for fixing a light switch. The Skype for HoloLens app has since been discontinued and the company uses its newer Dynamics 365 Remote Assist program instead.

Nokia has signed a five-year deal with Google which will see the Finnish telecom giant migrate its on-premise IT infrastructure to Google Cloud, 

Although the terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, the migration, which includes data centres, servers, and various software applications, is already underway and is expected to take between 18 months and two years.

The decision is said to be driven by Nokia’s operational shift to a “cloud-first IT strategy”, which aims to “enhance collaboration and innovation” among its staff as well as accelerate the delivery of its services to customers.

According to the company, the deal with Google Cloud will see Nokia lower its energy consumption as well as new hardware costs.

Nokia’s VP of Global IT Infrastructure Ravi Parmasad said that the company is “on a digital transformation path that is about fundamentally changing how we operate and do business”. 

“This is crucial for how our employees collaborate so that we continue to raise the bar on meeting the needs of our customers. We are very pleased that Google Cloud, with its engineering and operational excellence, is joining our transformation work to help us deliver on the many goals we have set.

Given Nokia’s digital ambitions and plans, this is an ideal time for Nokia to be taking this step with Google Cloud to accelerate our efforts; and doing all of this in a secure and scalable way,” he added.

Meanwhile, Google Cloud’s president Rob Enslin said that it’s an honor to work with Nokia to help modernize its infrastructure on Google Cloud”. 

“We look forward to bringing our leading networking, data analytics, AI/ML, and other technologies to empower Nokia to deliver a cloud-first strategy and better serve its customers,” he said. 

“We are excited to help Nokia revamp its IT infrastructure with our backbone network and our approach to data security, using advanced software-defined networking. We look forward to providing the full menu of our capabilities to help Nokia deliver on its cloud-first strategy and reach its performance requirements.”

The announcement comes weeks after it was revealed that Nokia was chosen by BT to replace Huawei as its 5G radio access network (RAN) vendor, making the Finnish telecom its largest infrastructure partner and equipment provider. The partnership will also see Nokia replace Huawei in BT’s 2G and 4G networks.

IBM has announced updated capabilities for its Cloud Pak for Security platform, including an “industry-first” built-in data security hub.

Launched almost a year ago, Cloud Pak for Security focuses on delivering security solutions for multi-cloud and hybrid environments.

IBM has announced that the platform will soon receive a new built-in data security hub which aims to provide analysts with additional insight on the location of their sensitive data across hybrid cloud environments.

This “industry-first” tool will also show who has access to it, how it is used, and the best way to protect, and will facilitate data breach responses which, according to a new report by The Ponemon Institute and IBM Security, currently take over six months to identify and contain.

IBM also announced that Cloud Pak for Security will soon feature pre-built integrations for five additional threat intelligence feeds from third-party sources: AlienVault OTX, Cisco Threatgrid, MaxMind Geolocation, SANS Internet StormCenter, and Virustotal. This list is expected to be expanded further as early as 2021.

Additionally, IBM announced the launch of new dedicated security services that will aid organisations in updating their security operations using Cloud Pak for Security. This will include end-to-end threat management, managed security services, as well as strategy, consulting, and integration support.

All three features are expected to become available in the final quarter of 2020.

IBM Security VP Justin Youngblood said that the company “will be the first in the industry to bring together external threat intelligence and threat management alongside data security and identity, helping organizations to modernize their security operations and create the foundation for a zero-trust security strategy”.

“Complexity is the greatest challenge facing our industry, forcing resource-strapped security teams to manually connect the dots between disparate tools and sources of security data,” he said. “Cloud Pak for Security is built on open, cloud-native technologies from the ground up to connect any tool within the security ecosystem.”

The announcement comes days after IBM revealed plans to split its business in half by spinning off its infrastructure services unit into a separate public company.

IBM has announced updated capabilities for its Cloud Pak for Security platform, including an “industry-first” built-in data security hub.

Launched almost a year ago, Cloud Pak for Security focuses on delivering security solutions for multi-cloud and hybrid environments.

IBM has announced that the platform will soon receive a new built-in data security hub which aims to provide analysts with additional insight on the location of their sensitive data across hybrid cloud environments.

This “industry-first” tool will also show who has access to it, how it is used, and the best way to protect, and will facilitate data breach responses which, according to a new report by The Ponemon Institute and IBM Security, currently take over six months to identify and contain.

IBM also announced that Cloud Pak for Security will soon feature pre-built integrations for five additional threat intelligence feeds from third-party sources: AlienVault OTX, Cisco Threatgrid, MaxMind Geolocation, SANS Internet StormCenter, and Virustotal. This list is expected to be expanded further as early as 2021.

Additionally, IBM announced the launch of new dedicated security services that will aid organisations in updating their security operations using Cloud Pak for Security. This will include end-to-end threat management, managed security services, as well as strategy, consulting, and integration support.

All three features are expected to become available in the final quarter of 2020.

IBM Security VP Justin Youngblood said that the company “will be the first in the industry to bring together external threat intelligence and threat management alongside data security and identity, helping organizations to modernize their security operations and create the foundation for a zero-trust security strategy”.

“Complexity is the greatest challenge facing our industry, forcing resource-strapped security teams to manually connect the dots between disparate tools and sources of security data,” he said. “Cloud Pak for Security is built on open, cloud-native technologies from the ground up to connect any tool within the security ecosystem.”

The announcement comes days after IBM revealed plans to split its business in half by spinning off its infrastructure services unit into a separate public company.

Dropbox has told its staff that permanent remote working will become the norm, joining a string of the world’s biggest tech companies in abandoning physical office spaces in favour of working virtually.

The existing working from home policy the company has adopted will continue until at least June 2021, in line with policies adopted by the majority of tech companies due to the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The company has, however, also outlined plans to establish at least four Dropbox Studios in sites across the world when it’s safe to do so, starting with San Francisco, Seattle, Austin and Dublin, for employees who prefer to work in-person.

“We believe the data shows the shift to remote work, though abrupt, has been successful overall,” the company said in a blog post. As a company, we’ve continued to serve our customers without interruption and shipped new products and features.  

“But things aren’t perfect. Back-to-back video conferences, constant notifications, and isolation from peers can be overwhelming. In our study with the EIU, workers also say company culture suffers with no in-person interaction, risk of miscommunication is higher, and it’s harder to start new projects with multiple collaborators. There are many things people miss about the office.”

Becoming a virtual-first company means remote working will become the default for all employees and the day-to-day default for individual work.

The remote experience will go one step further with “non-linear workdays” too, meaning core collaboration hours will be set up with overlap between time zones, with employees encouraged to design their own schedules beyond that. 

Dropbox will also invest in a holistic ecosystem of resources, including a dedicated team, to support employees and track progress by measuring impacts on productivity, engagement, and culture so the firm can continue to adapt. 

The company’s Virtual First Toolkit, comprising guidance about supporting the remote workforce, is also being open-sourced, meaning any learnings picked up along the journey will be shared with the wider industry.

Managers also hope the virtual-first approach will give the firm an opportunity to build an even stronger, more diverse workforce as it hires from increasingly varied backgrounds and perspectives. 

News of Dropbox’s new “virtual first” approach comes just days after Microsoft announced that staff will be given the option to work remotely on a permanent basis. 

​Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A giant of the tech industry with a history stretching back many decades and a footprint in most large organisations – and many smaller ones – finds itself struggling against the tide of digital transformation and the shift to cloud.

Despite its best efforts to reform its business over a number of years, IBM has taken the decision to split its company in two in the hope that, as separate entities, they can pursue more successful growth strategies than they could under one umbrella – but they will maintain close ties.

To be fair to IBM, the split it announced yesterday, which will see its managed infrastructure services unit spun off into a separate entity, is less fundamental than that of HP in 2015, which saw the creation of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and… HP. Nevertheless, it is meaningful.

It’s clear from the announcement that the centenarian company does very much want to capitalise on its strengths in AI and cloud, with Red Hat taking centre stage as an example of its excellence in the latter and talk of being “laser-focused on the $1 trillion hybrid cloud opportunity”.

Reading between the lines, however, it’s also clear that IBM has no intention of letting go of its core infrastructure heritage, either. While the paragraph on its Systems business is coated in a sweet layer of hybrid cloud, if you were to bite down you would find there’s a traditional hardware business still sitting at the core.

And why not? One of IBMs strengths is its enterprise hardware products and, when it comes to things like mainframe, it has very few competitors. While it may not be quite as sexy to talk about as more modern technologies, it’s still fundamental to many large organisations in lucrative areas like financial services.

What it won’t be doing any more, however, is managing that hardware. This new company will be fundamentally IBM’s managed infrastructure services business, packing up its belongings and striking out on its own. It makes sense for this business unit to become independent, too – multi-cloud and hybrid cloud are all about flexibility and choice and, while it’s promised the company will maintain “a strong strategic partnership with IBM”, it will be able to work more freely across all cloud vendors.

The split is expected to be complete by the end of next year, which gives the branding teams and consultants 12 months to come up with an inspiring name for the new venture. Infrastructure Business Management Corporation, perhaps?

No doubt about it, 2020 has been the year of the virtual meeting. As companies have found themselves forced to embrace remote working, regular get-togethers have necessarily moved online and video conferencing providers have seen record growth levels.

This isn’t a temporary thing, though. Whenever the restrictions are finally lifted, few businesses will be going back to the way things were. Many organisations have found that remote working brings real benefits, not least in terms of operating costs, and are looking to make permanent changes to their working practices. 

That doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the office commute – working from home has its downsides, such as a sense of isolation. However, many companies are looking at allowing staff to split their working week between home and office.

For such a setup, it makes sense for businesses to have a dedicated video conference room in the office, where on-site staff can have face-to-face meetings with remote workers, suppliers and customers. That might sound expensive, but surging demand is pushing prices down, making video conference room systems very affordable.

Tap dance

Many of the best solutions have a central controller with a colour touchscreen. This connects to the other components in the kit and offers simple controls enabling you to start or join a meeting with a few taps – ideal for users who want to get down to business without wasting time figuring out the user interface. Certain touchscreens can even change their display to match the application interface of the chosen provider.

You can locate your central unit on a desk or mount it on a wall – but you’ll need to think about cabling. Some systems run off a standard Ethernet cable with PoE, while elsewhere you’ll find USB connections and proprietary cables.

It’s also worth considering if you want meeting participants to be able to connect their laptops or smartphones to the central video conferencing unit. This can be useful for screen sharing and presentations, but connection methods again vary: some systems use a special USB cable or a standard HDMI port, while others support Miracast and AirPlay for wire-free screen mirroring.

Sound and vision

You can’t have a productive meeting without clear sound, so it’s important to pick a speaker that suits your meeting space. Video bars with built-in speakers are fine for huddle rooms, but for larger meetings you might need something more powerful. If your monitor has built-in loudspeakers, you can pipe the sound through that; alternatively, you might need to invest in some external speakers. 

Similar considerations apply to microphones, as you’ll naturally want to be sure that everyone in the room can be heard clearly by remote participants. Video bars and desktop controllers tend to come with integrated mic arrays, and we’ve found these work well at distances of up to 4m. Other solutions offer separate microphone pods that can be positioned as required, and may even let you add extra pods for large rooms.

4K or not 4K?

There’s one component you’ll definitely need to source separately and that’s the main display, on which you’ll view your remote colleagues. It’s not necessary to spend a fortune on this component – even a budget-priced screen will be fine in small rooms – but we do recommend investing in a 4K model.

It might seem an unnecessary extravagance, especially if you’re on a tight budget. After all, very few video conferencing providers support 4K connections – and depending on the size of the panel you choose (and the size of the room), the difference between a 4K screen and a 1080p one may not be all that obvious.

There’s no doubt, though, that UHD meetings are coming. Most kits already include 4K-capable cameras, while internet connections are getting faster and the highly efficient H.265 video standard is slowly establishing itself in the video conferencing market. It’s only a matter of time until 4K connections become commonplace – so when setting up your new video conference room, we’d recommend that you future-proof it with a screen that’s ready for next-generation video connections. 

Cloud connected

Once your hardware is all in place, there’s just one more thing you need – a cloud video conferencing service to handle the actual calls. There’s a huge range of providers to choose from, but if you want to keep things as simple as possible then the Lifesize and Starleaf systems recently reviewed on our sister site IT Pro may appeal, as they come with the vendor’s own cloud services built in. This gives you the big advantage of centralised support: any problems you encounter with the hardware, online services or client apps should be easier to resolve, and you won’t be passed back and forth between different companies all pointing the finger at each other.

If your company already has a preferred provider, the other two products in this guide might suit you better. The Poly Studio X30 supports five different platforms out of the box, while Logitech’s Room Solutions come in a variety of flavours, each one customised for a specific provider. 

It’s also worth checking out any additional integrations that may allow your video conferencing system to talk to other business tools. A useful tool is meeting room management, which works with Microsoft Outlook or Exchange to let users check room availability and arrange bookings.

We may not know exactly what a post-pandemic world will look like, but it’s clear that video conferencing will be an essential ingredient for conducting business and with prices now very affordable for SMBs, there are some great solutions to choose from.

BT has announced an expansion of its range of cloud-based audio and video collaboration managed services with the addition of Zoom Meetings to its portfolio. 

The move follows the signing of a new carrier agreement between the pair, with BT becoming the first global provider to offer a fully-managed Zoom Meetings service to its customers. 

The service will feature a choice of connectivity and integration with BT’s global voice network, the telecommunications firm said, as well as end-to-end experience monitoring and enhanced security. 

The new agreement also allows BT to provide Zoom Rooms, Zoom’s extendable software-based conference room offering.

“We’re keeping it simple for customers, helping them create secure and productive digital workplaces for their people, wherever they are,” commented Andrew Small, director of Global portfolio at BT. 

“Our new managed service allows global enterprises, typically with complex network and IT infrastructure, to consume Zoom Meetings in a simple, consistent and secure way with optimised experiences for their people around the world.”

Video conferencing provider Zoom saw a huge spike in popularity this year, as COVID-19 lockdown measures were implemented around the world. Users flocked to the service to stay in touch with family, friends and work colleagues as face-to-face meetings were cancelled to help contain the spread of the virus. 

Many organisations also started using the platform to hold virtual business meetings and group communications – but this presented a number of security concerns for IT departments who had little to no control over the service.

However, through the new agreement with BT, there are now security options such as encrypted communications and user ID protection, alongside secure and private MPLS connectivity, dedicated network gateways, and user adoption programmes for education. In terms of connectivity, choices include internet, global SIP, PSTN or MPLS.

“We chose BT as a global managed service partner because it’s a trusted and established leader in the world market with in-depth enterprise voice, video, security, cloud and networking expertise,” said Ryan Azus, chief revenue officer at Zoom. 

“Our new agreement will help large enterprises fully experience the benefits Zoom Meetings, Zoom Phone and Zoom Rooms offer. This partnership will also expand Zoom’s global footprint and enterprise sales capabilities.”