Zoom is once again set to remove its 40-minute limit for the holiday season. The popular video conferencing app will remove the 40-minute limit of free Zoom accounts for all meetings globally on the final day of Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year as well as the last days of Kwanzaa. The idea is to let users connect with friends and family virtually during the holidays without interruptions given physical meetings have been restricted in many parts of the world owing to COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID-19 has changed how we live, work, and celebrate in 2020, and like everything else this year, the holiday season doesn’t look the same. As a token of appreciation to our users during an extraordinary time, we’re removing the 40-minute limit on free Zoom accounts for all meetings globally for several upcoming special occasions,” Zoom said in a blog post.
Zoom removes 40-minute limit: Date and timings
Zoom will automatically lift its 40-minute limit on designated date and timings. This means a Zoom user need not do anything to avail the benefit. Here’s a look at the date and timings when the restriction will be removed:
- 10 am ET Thursday, December 17 to 6 am ET Saturday, December 19. This translates to 8:30 pm IST, December 17 to 4:30 pm IST on December 19.
- The 40-minute limit on Zoom meetings will also be lifted on Christmas Eve as well as Christmas Day. The timings are from 10 am ET Wednesday, December 23, to 6 am ET Saturday, December 26. On conversion to Indian Standard Time, the timings are 8:30 pm, December 23, to 4:30 pm, December 26.
- Finally, it will also be offered on New Year from 10 am ET on Wednesday, December 30, to 6 am ET on Saturday, January 2. In India, the timings will be from 8:30 pm on December 30 to 4:30 pm, January, 2021.
Notably, this is not the first time Zoom has removed its 40-minute limit on meetings. The restriction was temporarily removed globally on Thanksgiving as well from from midnight ET on November 26 through 6 am ET on November 27.
For those unaware, Zoom is a group video conferencing app that puts a limit of 40-minutes per session in its free version. The temporary removal of 40-minute restriction will essentially save people the hassle of disconnecting the call at 40-minutes and asking all participants to rejoin in a new session.
