Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has led to the forced implementation of the ‘work from home’ policy for majority employers and employees across the globe, easy-to-use video calling apps such as Zoom, Google Duo, Google Hangouts and the likes have come to their immediate rescue.
The Coronavirus is turning out to be an increasingly glaring catastrophe that has brought the world to a standstill. While it is viciously disseminating its upshot across the globe, the ongoing virus has forced various companies to implement work from home policies, thanks to the diverse restrictions on movement that have been put in place by the Central and State Governments. Having said this, it is also true that most people today possess smart-phones which are perfectly well equipped to place video calls and conference calls with multiple people at various locations at the same time. To encourage users to further make use of these apps, most of them offer end-to-end encryption, thus securing the information that is being shared and stored within their devices.
“As incoming President of Rotary Club of Panaji Riviera, I have used the Zoom app extensively. The months of March to June would have been filled with training seminars for which travel to various places in Maharashtra & Karnataka would have been necessary. But with the lockdown, all these training seminars have moved to the virtual space. The Zoom app has helped us get trained as effectively as if we would have been in a physical classroom, yet by being in the safety of our homes. International speakers were also brought for the seminars, who otherwise would have sent a pre-recorded message played out at the venue. Today, our regular club meetings have also gone virtual on video apps” Ryan Costa, President Elect, Rotary Club Panaji Riviera
Here are few such video calling apps that have been of immense assistance to companies, businessmen and employees across the world:
1. Zoom (supported by Android, iOS, Windows, macOS)
This popular video calling/conferencing software allows up to a whopping 1,000 participants. This is practically a cloud-based app that can be used by anyone and everyone to conduct virtual meetings. Zoom permits unlimited meetings; however, it limits group sessions to 100 people with a duration of 40 minutes.
2. Google Hangouts Meet (supported by iOS, Android, Windows, Linux, Chrome, macOS)
Google Hangouts Meet is a free video conferencing platform that permits various teams to collaborate and carry out virtual business and official meetings through their smart-phones, laptops, tablet devices and so on. This app supports up to 50 participants with high-quality video and audio. Additionally, because of the COVID-19 outbreak, Google has given free access to its ‘advanced’ features for hangout meets for its G Suite and G suite for Education customers globally which means that such users can now carry out meetings through this app with up to 250 people, live stream the meeting to about 1,00,000 viewers within a single domain and further record the meetings and save them directly to Google Drive.
“Previously not many knew what an online meeting was. But now with enablers like the Zoom app, people have got used to this new innovative ways of doing business and slowly but surely activities have started to gather momentum, largely because of video apps. We have to ‘act on change’ by adopting new things immediately – as change is the only constant” Mahesh Pai, Financial Consultant / Business Coach
3. CiscoWebEX (supported by iOS, Android, Windows and macOS)
This is another frontrunner video conferencing app that is particularly popular amongst the business communities, that is capable of providing High Definition quality videos. This app, although is a paid one, it has also has its free-tier version. The free WebEX plan enables users to have meetings in HD with up to 100 participants along with the feature of a personal room. This package also includes 1 GB of cloud storage, unlimited number of meetings and also enables meetings to be recorded in the MP4 format.
4. Google Duo (supported by Android, iOS, Google)
Google Duo is yet another free to download video calling app that works with Android devices and iOS. This app enables users to have video calls with up to 8 people with a ingenious feature called ‘Knock Knock’ that lets users view a live video preview of the caller before you can attend the call.
“We have been using various online video calling and conferencing tools to keep in touch with our clients and associates across the country and abroad. Maintaining social distancing and having online meetings and video conferencing to avoid in-person close contact are becoming more of a necessity; thus, we’ll soon have more such effective and safe-to-use tech tools” Denzil Xavier, Real Estate Consultant
5. Skype (supported by Android, iOS, Xbox, Alexa, Windows, Linux, macOS)
Skype is yet another popular and probably the most widely used video calling app in the world. It is available for access across almost every platform and operating system. This app permits Skype-to-Skype calls free of cost with group calls/meetings of up to 50 people is supported.
“The concept of video conference calling is not new. These apps are instant, easy, reliable, recordable and highly affordable. Using these apps provides access to a full spectrum of clients placed at various locations across the globe. With instant connectivity and better bandwidth, this is already a huge management tool that is almost indispensible. My travel to at least 5 countries were all successfully wrapped up in about 8 to 9 Zoom video conferencing meetings” Amin Ladak, Vice Chairman,
Goa Management Association
That having been said, the Zoom app, in particular has been of maximum benefit to most business persons out there. With millions of employees being compelled to work from home, they are left with no choice but to rely on Zoom video conferencing and virtual meetings to keep their businesses running! The Zoom app was already quite trendy and favoured as against other apps and now with the outbreak of the virus, its popularity and demand has soared new heights thereby becoming the most downloaded app on both Google Play Store as well as iOS Apple Store.
Zoom has been gaining more and more mileage during these pandemic times simply because it is easy to use and serves the purpose in the most efficient way possible. Since the COVID- 19 pandemic is rapidly evolving, business persons are struggling to adjust to this sudden transition. With concepts such as lockdown, quarantine, self isolation, movement restrictions, travel ban, etc becoming the new normal, it is obvious that a lot of business routines are going to go for a toss and would be highly affected.
“I have been using Google Meet and Zoom for my business meetings and attending loads of work webinars! In my personal opinion, Google Meet is really great with better quality streaming. I believe digital is the new way out during this lockdown and online video conferencing platforms is the new ‘in’ thing! I wish we have better and faster internet to make these online business meetings better and uninterrupted” Shruti Tiwari, Managing Partner, VLW Global
Fortunately, Zoom has proved to be an excellent online tool that has given business owners a faint sign of relief that they needed. The Zoom app is principally handy when conducting sales related calls or services. Further, the video conferencing feature makes training sessions a possibility without the need for booking special venues or requiring participants to travel to those locations! Still better, customer grievance calls can be handled from anywhere across the planet and businessmen who have partnered with other people for running their businesses can conduct their meetings with one another virtually without having to sit across each other anymore. That aside, outstanding features such as live text chat and Q&A, sharing web links, enabling online polls, sharing and playing videos with high definition audio, transmission of content, etc has led to the rising reputation of this app.
“Till a few months ago I had been hearing about the Zoom video conferencing app. I attended few such Zoom meetings using the free version. Soon thereafter, I signed up for a professional account and have been using it every day for at least a couple of hours. Its easy usage and navigation makes it a lot friendlier and better for a first timer! It’s great for conducting internal business meetings during these trying times when your team members can see you one-to-one and reciprocally you are available to them on a chat bar to answer work related questions and assure them that the Management and Directors are doing their best to steer the company out of this lock-jam, bring in revenue and save jobs” Vivek Mendonsa, Director Marketing, Lawrence & Mayo
According to Zoom, consumers who have switched to Zoom have reported a 92% increase in performance, 91% increase in sense of engagement, 85% increase in video conferencing usage and an 81% increase in the sense of trust among businesspersons and employees.
Thus, during these tough times where revenue crisis is at its peak, integrating video apps into the business workflow has managed to keep businesses going and has also enthused them to continue usage of these video conferencing apps even after the pandemic ends!
