"Virtual escape rooms have limitless potential in bringing teams together, regardless of your choice of platform. "
There’s a fine art to executing an effective online escape room. Much like a painter needs a brush, a virtual escape room needs a platform to operate on. But how do you find the one that is right for you? With so many platforms out there, it can be hard to see the key differences between them. Discover the benefits of four major conferencing platforms and the functions that help us run successful virtual escape rooms.
How an Online Escape Rooms Works
Online escape rooms thrive in what we call “team play multi-rooms.” A space created in an online conferencing platform where groups can play through their online escape room activity together using augmented reality.
Teams are briefed by a Virtual Event Host for 10-15 minutes before dispersing into groups. Once in their assigned rooms, groups will begin their virtual escape room by participating in challenges, puzzles, and tasks. In a race against the clock, groups must decipher these clues and be the first to escape their confines in order to win.
Platforms and their benefits
While many platforms have similarities between them, there are unique assets within individual conferencing platforms that may stand out to you or your business needs.
Zoom
There’s no denying that Zoom has made an impact in the last few years. It’s easy to use for attendees and hosts alike. Its intuitive user interface makes for a great user experience. With the added capability of creating breakout rooms during existing meetings, we find zoom to be a flexible platform that connects everyone smoothly.
Google Meets
Google Meets is a great option, especially for those who work within a Google Workspace, much like us here at Wildgoose. The user interface is clean and straightforward, making it a simple and effective user experience. With the capacity for conferencing up to 100 people, Google Meets is a quick and efficient way to connect.
Skype
Despite its longstanding history as a conferencing platform, Skype now finds itself amongst the heady competition. Staying true to its roots, Skype is a cost-effective option for connecting teams. Integrations between Office 365 and even Bing have been implemented with Skype to create a similarly seamless experience that platforms such as Google Meets and Microsoft Teams provide. If you’re looking for a platform that is consistent in its ability to get people connected, Skype is for you.
Microsoft Teams
Similar to Google Meets, Microsoft Teams offers an integrated conferencing platform that fits with its existing offering of Office 365. Perfect for teams who are fully supported with Microsoft products, this platform provides an effective communication solution to connect teams using a direct user interface.
Wildgoose’s Preferred Platform
Our ultimate platform of choice is Zoom as this platform’s capabilities go above and beyond. We find the breakout room option to be most useful in our online escape rooms as we can randomize teams. Our Virtual Event Hosts can also pop in and out of breakout rooms to assist teams when they’re stuck on a puzzle or task throughout the activity.
The clean and simple user interface also plays an important role in our preference. The user-friendly nature of Zoom takes the guesswork out of running a meeting and executing functions such as screen sharing. We find the simplicity of this platform makes it an approachable tool, even for those who have never used it before.
By adopting Zoom as part of our offering we were able to cut our costs down significantly by providing real-time virtual briefings, as opposed to flying our facilitators out to events. Our events have become more affordable and flexible with the use of Zoom.
Virtual escape rooms have limitless potential in bringing teams together, regardless of your choice of platform. Their flexible nature allows teams to work together from anywhere with the sole purpose of increasing engagement. A platform should facilitate that need, not hinder it. In our experience, the most effective conferencing platforms are the ones you have a seamless experience with during an online escape room.
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