Zoom Breakout Rooms vs. Remo Rooms – What's the difference?

Online events and virtual meetings have grown over the last 5 years. You can now study for a degree online, learn how to code and even take part in a summit, all from the comfort of your home.

The rise of remote workers, in addition to online learning, has led to an increase in innovative products and services catering to this concept of digital engagement. From Zoom to Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.

To forge strong connections with colleagues and peers online, written communication is not enough. People want to feel and experience deep connections in a virtual space.

But how do you bring the offline experience of a classroom, brainstorming, or meeting a friend colleague or peer online? For that, there are two platforms that address this problem: Zoom Breakout Rooms and Remo's virtual breakout rooms (aka: tables). In this post, we will be reviewing both. We will be looking at how you can deliver an offline experience, online.

• How to compare webinar software
• What is Zoom
• What is Remo
  
• Zoom breakout rooms vs Remo breakout room
• Remo Room Features (FREE on all Plans)
• Remo Conference Plans

How to compare Webinar Software?

When in search of the best webinar software, here are a few points to consider:

1. Ease of use

Webinar software must be easy to use, both for you the host and your attendees. If the learning curve for your attendees is too high, you can expect a high drop off rate.

2. Downloadable software

Do your attendees need to download software to join the webinar? Chances are your attendees are too busy to pay attention to your instructions or tutorial. Think about the attendee experience and how you can simplify this as much as possible.

3. Features

What are the must-have features you need to pull off a successful webinar? Whiteboards? video conferencing? breakout room feature?

4. Integration

Is the webinar software easy to integrate with other tools? Does it support your current tech stack?

5. Customer support

imagine having technical issues in the middle of your webinar. This soon becomes a nightmare situation all webinar hosts want to avoid. It is worth checking whether customer support is available during your live event or better still, 24/7. These are some of the most important features webinar hosts look at when comparing webinar software.

Both Remo and Zoom offer a mix of the above features. Now we will be reviewing each, in turn, to help you understand which is the best webinar software for your next event.

6. Networking capabilities

If you have a large group, you don't want to have to do just one main meeting where everyone talks on top of each other (or worst, no one talks) you want to enable group work with a breakout room option.

Why not have a main room to walk around, and discuss like a virtual classroom? With Remo, you can do breakout sessions together with any number of participants, you can separate learners into different video calls to discuss a specific topic, then bring them back to the main room for a video conference presentation.

7. Breakout Room Cost

Subject to the number of webinar attendees the cost of your webinar software will vary. In general, the more attendees you expect, the higher the price you pay. Remember even if you have 100 attendees signed up there is no guarantee of all 100 attendees joining a live session.

What is Zoom?

Zoom is a well-known software company known for facilitating online meetings and conferences. With Zoom you can create:

• online meetings and chat
• online breakout rooms and workspaces
• enterprise cloud phone system
• video webinars

For the purpose of this post, we will be looking at Zoom Breakout Rooms.

What is Remo?

Remo was founded on the experience of a remote-first culture. With Remo you can create and host online events and host interactive networking – just like in real life.

Network just like you would in real life!‍

Traditional webinars go somewhat like this:

You join a webinar -> Hosts talk -> You reply in the chatbox ->  Webinar finishes.

Remo webinars, on the other hand, go like this:

• Attendees can walk around and network (perfect time for icebreakers and games)
• You present the webinar
• People can take part in the Q&A poll and you can answer questions.
• You can get back to breakout room sessions, join tables to connect with peers and other attendees

The difference between Remo and traditional webinar tools? You can create natural networking!

Set your event easily and fast!

It shouldn't take hours to set up your next webinar, summit or other kind of online event. In fact, Remo gets you up and running in 15 seconds or less. There is no clunky software involved. No downloads or installations. Your attendees can join your event directly from their browser.

With the Remo Conference Plan you can create:

• Online conferences
• Online webinars
• Online summits
• Online workshops
• Online networking and more!

Zoom breakout rooms vs Remo breakout rooms

Zoom breakout rooms:

A Zoom Breakout Room divides an online meeting into sub-groups managed by a meeting host. Imagine being part of an online webinar. Then having the webinar host divide the webinar attendees into mini-groups. The mini-groups, also known as breakout groups enable smaller groups of people to engage in a private space. Other features include:

• Option to create 50 breakout rooms.
• The meeting host can either automatically or manually split attendees into sub-groups.
• Max 200 participants in a breakout room (requires Large Meeting add-on).
• Breakout room participants have full audio, video and screen share capabilities.
• If another form of recording is being used, you can only record the room you are physically in.
• Multiple participants can record locally.
• HD Video and Audio.
• One-touch to join meetings with both video and audio.
• Calendar integration.

Plans: Zoom Rooms, for annual subscribers, it costs $499 per year, per room or $41.58 per (break out) room per month. Additional add-ons include cloud recording (starts at $40/month) and H. 323/SIP room connector ($49+/port/month). It is important to note, with Zoom you must download and install software to get started.

In a nutshell: Functionalities of Zoom's breakout room

• You have to download and install Zoom software.
• You have to pay an extra $499 per year, per room to get Zoom Breakout Rooms and create group discussions.
• Up to 200 people can join a room.

Remo breakout rooms:

A Remo room, is similar to a Zoom Breakout Room but with additional features to optimize an interactive networking experience. Attendees can imagine themselves in a real-life networking experience with a visual map of themselves moving from table to table.

This is topped with free networking add-ons and features such as:

• A virtual business card.
• Connect with attendees on LinkedIn.
• Sell coaching or consultations by adding your very own booking link.
• Move freely from table to table.
• Make use of your mic, camera and screen share options.
• Custom floor plans, visuals and banners.
  

In a nutshell: Functionalities of Remo's breakout room

• No download or installation required, join from the comfort of your browser
• Create an interactive networking experience
• Up to 20 people can join a room
• You can connect with peers with a virtual business card
• Connect with peers on LinkedIn
• Schedule and book meetings
• Networking countdown timer
• Shuffle table options: perfect for networking events, speed dating or games.
• Remo's plans start for free for up to 30 minutes per event, with 15 monthly guest-days and as many rooms as needed.

Free Remo Breakout Room Features

It's like networking in real life, but online"
Ayumi Moore Aoki, Founder Women in Tech.

One of the metrics online event hosts use to measure the success of their event is engagement. Traditional webinar software limits attendee engagement to a chat box during a live event. Remo on the other hand, not only offers the chatbox feature but a lot more. In fact, more features than any other webinar software platform. Here are some of them:

1. Online Networking

Connect with peers, colleagues and friends at a table as if you were sitting in a cafe or bar. But instead, you are joining from the comfort of your own home or office. You have the option to switch tables whenever you want.

2. Speed Networking

The concept of speed networking relates to meeting as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. In general, it's an offline experience, something that can only be done in person. That is until we developed a feature allowing you to add a speed networking timer. Similar to a real-life experience of networking but offline.

3. Virtual Business Card

Do you find networking difficult to navigate? Are you tired of reading the introvert's guide to networking? You no longer need to hide. We make it easy for you to get started with networking. All you need to do is update your profile by connecting your LinkedIn and adding a booking link.

4. Chatbox

Isn't it frustrating when wanting to private message another webinar attendee? But the webinar software only allows for group chat. It's time to change that. At Remo, you can have 3 types of chats.
1. Group chat for all attendees
2. Table chat for your group
3. 1:1 chat with only one person.

5. YouTube Live Integration

Go live with your events with an in-built YouTube Live integration, directly from your browser. Save on time and go live faster.

6. No Downloads or Installations

Do you remember the last time you downloaded and installed software? Did this slow your desktop down, did you have trouble navigating, did you just want to give up? We take the pain out of downloading and installing software. Create or join a Remo event live on your browser.

To keep in mind:

• Opti-level communication, use the online chat, your video, and mic asynchronously.
• Fast and smooth webinars, easy to use and get started
• No installation or download required.
• Simple and straightforward interface
• See where other attendees are hanging out
• Post announcements during networking
• Add a countdown timer during networking
• Less bandwidth than any other tools in this category
• Slack integration
• Forge a stronger connection with your attendees
• Connect on Linkedin
• Easy to engage your audience

Remo Conference Plans

There are three different plans under Remo Conference, each is designed to offer you the most flexibility to fit your event budget. All core features are included on all plans, so the main differences are just your expected number of attendees and event duration. For more information, you can check out our pricing plans here – or, better yet chat with our Sales Team to explore how Remo can meet your event needs and fit your budget.

STARTER

Starting at $380/month

Best for frequent events such as townhalls, briefings and virtual meetings where engagement is a top priority. Great for small businesses, new creators and professional networking groups. Use cases include webinars, workshops, online community building, and online networking.

‍Features included:

• Starting at 200 Attendees/event
• Starting at 1 hr 15 mins
• Move freely between tables & floors
• Shuffle guests for networking
• Immersive 3D floor plans
• Polls, quizzes, Q&A

Key Features

• Networking and presentation mode
• Breakout rooms
• Countdown timer,
• General announcements,
• Broadcasting,
• Virtual business card (connect on Linkedin and book meetings)
• Youtube live integration
• Customer Support
• Library of floor plans
• Whiteboarding
• Guest lobby
• Shuffle guests

Check it out

ONE-TIME EVENTS

Starting at $900/month

Ideal for one-off events such as virtual conferences, poster sessions and virtual summits.

• Starting at 100 Attendees/event
• Ability to scale your event size, layouts,and rooms based on event needs
• Flexible team members + content slots
• Only pay for what you need by selecting the features that matter most
• Choose your level of customer support
• Simple floor plan customization service

Key Features

• Everything in Starter plan
• Upload your custom floor plan
• Add more team members
• Add more content banners for interactive content
• Dedicated Customer Success Manager

Check it out

ENTERPRISE

For Pricing: Contact Us

Ultimate flexibility and capacity for rich and engaging virtual events, meetings and conferences.

• Starting with 5 event managers
• Unlimited “always open” event spaces
• Customizable branding and SSO options
• Dedicated Customer Success Rep
• Enterprise ready security
• Audience engagement analytics

Key Features

• Everything in Starter and One-Time Events plan
• Custom event branding
• Custom SSO
• Floorplan design services
• Advanced Analytics

Let's Talk

Conclusion

Zoom Breakout Rooms offer a great experience for small group meetings, but lacks in creating an interactive networking experience.

With one room starting at $499 a year, Zoom Breakout Rooms can begin to get quite expensive if you are looking to host multiple rooms.

If you are looking to create an interactive online meeting space, a virtual space where attendees are encouraged to network and engage we recommend Remo.

Remo is also a cost-effective solution since you can create multiple rooms and host short online events for free.

People join webinars, online summits, and other virtual events to not only learn from their peers or colleagues. They want an opportunity to host a two-way conversation, an opportunity to network and be part of a professional networking environment.

Remo delivers on this experience by creating a platform that optimizes peer to peer engagement in a fun and friendly space. Join a table, walk around – just like networking in real life but from the comfort of your own home or office. Book a Free Demo to See Remo In Action!

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