There are three video conferencing tools available to Cornell faculty: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Canvas Conferences. When choosing which tool to use, it is important for faculty to understand the features and limitations of each tool. We have gather below a comparison of these tools. We invite you to contact us at acadtech@cornell.edu to discuss which of these tools might best meet your needs.
| Feature/Function | Zoom | Microsoft Teams | BigBlueButton (formerly Conferences) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakout Rooms | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Screensharing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Polling | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Poll Reporting | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Whiteboard | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Chat | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Scheduling via Canvas | ✔ | ✔ | ✘1 |
| Canvas Calendar Integration | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Attendance Tracking | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Recording to the Cloud | ✔2 | ✔3 | ✔4 |
| Downloading Recordings | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
1 can be created in Canvas, but they are not scheduled
2 available 120 days via Zoom or Zoom in Canvas; available in perpetuity in Cornell VOD
3 available for 120 days via Teams Chat
4 available for 7 days in Conferences in Canvas
Additional Resources
- CTI Resource: Getting Started with Zoom
- CTI Resource: Getting Started with Microsoft Teams
- What are Conferences?
