Everyone has been at home for several weeks now. Against this background, communication between people comes to the fore. Somehow you need to call each other and communicate. For some it is entertainment and longing for loved ones, while for others it is business. In the wake of what is happening, video communication services have gained great popularity. Especially often recently they started talking about ZOOM, which until then was mainly used only in business for conferences. Now this name is found so often that it has almost become a household name, which it once was Skype. But did the popularity of this service make it better? It seems to me that not, but this is my personal opinion. In general, what kind of beast is this – ZOOM?
Video communication is usually more convenient.
What is ZOOM?
ZOOM is a cloud-based platform for video conferencing, webinars and similar online events. For work, the user receives an identifier and uses it to hold meetings.
Standard registration window.
When registering for the service, you will receive your personal identification number (Personal Meeting ID, or PMI). You can choose this number yourself. For example, you can use a mobile phone number. Later you will send it to the conference participants as a link in the format 'https://us04web.zoom.us/j/conference_number'. Thus, any participant can get to the conference in one click.
And here is the link that can be found and changed in the profile settings.
To be honest, until recently I had heard little about this platform. I am sure that most ordinary people have not heard of her at all. The first time I encountered ZOOM was a couple of weeks ago, when one of the smartphone manufacturers decided to host a press event through this platform.
Pros of the ZOOM platform
The main advantage of this platform, although this feature is not exclusive, is the ability to invite up to a hundred users. They don't need to install any software to participate or watch. You can join a conference or webinar by simply opening the link in your browser. However, it didn't work for me and I had to install the application. We will talk a little lower about what does not work there yet, especially since there is enough of this in ZOOM.
It is more convenient to use video calling on a tablet than on a smartphone.
Another plus is the availability of applications for all platforms and extensions for all popular programs. For example, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Skype for Business, as well as Firefox and Chrome browsers.
The service interface allows all users to look at their interlocutors and listen to them. The picture automatically switches to the one who is speaking. If at some point you do not want to be heard or seen, you can turn off the video and / or sound. The conference itself can be recorded if you need it in order to later upload it somewhere, send it to the archive, or simply show it to employees for review. Many people do this so as not to take notes of what is happening and have an archive of meetings.
Another relative advantage of the ZOOM platform is that it is used by many people in the world and you can always make an appointment. True, this is also a disadvantage of the platform. In my opinion, very significant.
Cons of the ZOOM platform
When I came across the ZOOM service, everything went relatively smoothly for me, but there were still complaints. EVERYONE I have discussed with this platform has complained about it. Someone said that they could not create a conference, someone complained about problems with sound, someone about the quality of the picture, but almost everyone was indignant about the interruptions in work. That is, on the constant subsidence of quality and periodic “dumps”, which were a companion of users.
Why is everyone always so happy in standard meeting room pictures?
You can correct me, but I convey the opinions of those with whom I spoke about the ZOOM platform. As they say, for what I bought, I sell for that. My little experience of using has confirmed their words. Although, I admit that this may be due to the increased load on the platform. Of course, during the period of forced self-isolation, very many users have to work from home and get in touch precisely through ZOOM. Given the global spread of the service and the scale of the pandemic, the burden has increased around the world.
Is video conferencing worth it?
Here again, I would like to hear the opinions of our readers. You can leave them in our Telegram chat, but it's better in the comments to this article to make it easier to discuss everything, as they say, on the spot.
Based on my short experience of use and stories that I heard about the ZOOM platform, I decided that in general it can be used, you just have to be prepared for some quality loss. They are inevitable if there are many people attending the conference. For example, Face Time, which usually works well, can also fail when there are a lot of participants connected.
Now is the fate of all such platforms. Those who do not work and are in touch with the rest of the office staff are bored at home. The first few days everyone watched movies and TV shows, then they started doing household chores, and now even the most inveterate introverts want some kind of communication. Simple conversation in ordinary life long ago gave way to video communication, and now you want to communicate face to face even more.
Therefore, if you are using any method of video communication now, forgive him for its slowdowns and restrictions, one of which was the limit on the recording time for ZOOM (maximum 40 minutes). Even YouTube, Netflix and other platforms have lowered the quality of the stream. This suggests that all networks are currently overloaded. Nothing, it will pass and everything will work better.
Download ZOOM app for Android