Video collaboration software helps people to conduct video meetings. It has enabled many businesses to operate freely from anywhere with complete security.
Overview
We recently wrote on the impact of video conferencing software on business along with a tutorial article on setting up open source Jitsi Meet. in this modern age, the corporate sector has enabled their workers to work from home. There are many solid reasons behind the adoption of the remote model. The spread of COVID-19 has been the top reason as it infected human life so hard that people were compelled to avoid gatherings and physical meetings. However, open source video conferencing applications provide an affordable and reliable solution to assist remote working models.
These open source meeting software are easy to set up as they come with self-hosting capabilities. All the stakeholders can communicate face to face regardless of time and space. Along with the video call, there are many other provisions attached with these video conferencing apps such as Etherpad, file sharing, Whiteboard, and many more. In this blog post, we will go through the following popular open source video conferencing software of the current time.
Jitsi Meet
Jitsi Meet is a free open source meeting software. It is self-hosted and provides the utmost encryption. This software is compatible with WebRTC due to which it lets users do a screen share. Further, users can invite other users into the conference by simply sharing the URL of the stream. Jitsi Meet also provides support for Etherpad where users can work on shared worksheets. Further, this free tool gives provision to record video conferences. There is comprehensive documentation available regarding development and deployment. However, it is written in JavaScript and all the source code is available on Github.
Jitsi Meet offers the following key points:
- Simulcasting
- Support For Etherpad
- Multi-Party Video Conference
- Encryption
- WebRTC Compatible
BigBlueButton
BigBlueButton is another free video collaboration software. It is highly extensible and provides seamless integration with popular platforms such as WordPress, Drupal, Redmine, Canvas, and more. Moreover, this web conferencing solution is scalable and provides a responsive user interface that runs on all popular browsers. In addition, students and teachers use this learning management system to conduct online learning webinars. There is comprehensive documentation available regarding development and deployment. However, BigBlueButton is written in JavaScript and all the source code is available at Github.
BigBlueButton comes up with the following key features:
- Support For Third Party Software
- HD Audio
- Real-time Chats
- File Sharing
- Multi-user Whiteboard
Learn more about BigBlueButton
OpenVidu
OpenVidu is WebRTC based open source video conferencing software with session configuration abilities. It is free open source and offers many rich features such as screen sharing, intelligent layout, video recordings, audio/video filters, IP camera, and many more. It is highly customizable and able to accept the video stream from any camera at the same time. Developers can deploy it on-premises using Docker. In addition, the architecture of this free video conferencing solution is based on two components OpenVidu browser and the OpenVidu server. This free software is based on a layered architecture. In addition, OpenVidu is written in Java, TypeScript, and JavaScript. Moreover, all of its source code is available at Github with complete documentation regarding development and development.
OpenVidu offers the following important features:
- Support For Front/Back End Technologies
- Video/Audio Filters
- Session Configuration
- Multiparty Video calls
- Multiplatform
Element
Element is another Matrix Network-based free video conferencing solution. It is highly secure and configurable with many chat apps including Slack. Above all, it provides encrypted video/audio communications and cross-signed device verification. Further, this is one of the Zoom alternatives that come up with self-hosted capabilities and users can host this software on their own servers. This cross-platform open source video conferencing software gives control to the users over textual communication. However, Element is written in HTML, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, and Perl with documentation and source code available on Github.
Element has the following key features:
- End to End Encryption
- File Sharing
- Group Chats
- Support For Unlimited Participants
- Supports Cross-Signed Device Verification
Wire
Wire is another powerful video collaboration solution. It is multipurpose and comes with many security features. Moreover, this free video conferencing tool uses the Proteus protocol for text messages and picture sharing. There is a logical user interface where users can navigate easily. However, it uses DTLS For key negotiation and authentication and SRTP for encrypted media transfer. After that, the wire is written in TypeScript, Javascript, CSS, and HTML. Its source code is available on Github with documentation regarding development and deployment.
Following are the prominent features:
- Support For Guest Rooms
- User Friendly UI
- WebRTC Compatible
- Support For Third Party Apps
- Robust Business Model
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of this blog post. In this article, we have covered widely used open source video conferencing software. There are many factors that come under consideration when choosing a good free conferencing software for business and personal use cases. There are many open source video collaboration software with advanced features. They provide video and audio with high definition and high quality. Users can invite as many users as required. As far as security and privacy are concerned, all the communication streams are encrypted. All these open source software mentioned above are optimized, configurable, scalable, and extensible.
In addition, there are some zoom alternatives mentioned in the “Explore” section below. These top video meeting software are not only for business purposes but they can be used for personal usage. However, this article may help you in making the right choice. You are now able to pick a conferencing software that fits the needs of your organization. Finally, containerize.com has been writing on further open source products. Please stay in touch with this video conferencing category for regular updates.
Explore
You may find the following links relevant: