The video conferencing market is suddenly seeing some big action by technology giants including Google and Facebook in a bid to counter the rising popularity of Zoom. While Facebook is releasing a new feature that allows you to video chat with multiple people through Messenger even if you don't have a social media account, Google has announced that it will offer premium video conferencing product, Google Meet, free for everyone, with availability rolling out over the coming weeks. Facebook-owned WhatsApp is also planning to expand group calls so you can voice or video call up to eight people.
Video calling has skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic as more people stay at home to combat the spread of the virus. From online classrooms to church services to board room meetings, video applications are seeing the biggest spike in usage in history.
The biggest beneficiary of this rise is US-based application Zoom, which has seen a phenomenal increase in users since the global lockdown began in March. Zoom has surpassed 300 million daily Zoom meeting participants in April. That’s up 50 per cent from the 200 million the company reported earlier this month, and a huge jump from the 10 million back in December.
In a recent interview, Abe Smith, International Head at Zoom told BusinessLine, “The Covid-19 experience has created an awareness for people. People are working from home. Students and children need to learn from home. I think that it's made them aware that it's not as hard as it looks. Our hope is that we can be a part of this transition.”
Zoom’s sudden popularity had caught the big tech firms on the backfoot. “Zoom did to video conferencing what Google did to email. It’s about making solutions and services available that are convenient to use and also affordable,” said a market analyst.
But the big tech is not ready to cede ground quickly. Over the last few days, there has been a spate of announcements by Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams. Google, for example, is betting on offering a secure platform even as Zoom is facing criticism on this front. “We’ve invested years in making Meet a secure and reliable video conferencing solution that’s trusted by schools, governments and enterprises around the world,” Javier Soltero, Vice President & GM, G Suite said in a blog post.
Starting in early May, anyone with an email address can sign up for Google Meet and enjoy many of the same features available to business and education users, such as simple scheduling and screen sharing, real-time captions, and layouts that adapt to your preference, including an expanded tiled view.
Last week, Facebook launched Messenger Rooms that allow users to invite anyone to join a video call, even if they don’t have a Facebook account. Rooms will soon hold up to 50 people with no time limit. Between WhatsApp and Messenger, more than 700 million accounts participate in calls every day.
In many countries, video calling on Messenger and WhatsApp more than doubled, and views of Facebook Live and Instagram Live videos increased significantly in March. Facebook also announced that users on WhatsApp will be able to have group voice and video calls with up to eight people, up from a limit of four currently.
When asked if the competition is a big worry, Zoom’s Smith said, “Video conferencing market and the market for Unified Communications is massive. And there's plenty of room for everyone. For us, it's about creating the absolute best product in the market and continuing to innovate on that product and do it in a way that offers the highest level security Our focus is to be 100 per cent committed as a video first quality company.”