With roughly half of the world’s population out of school due to COVID-19 mitigation measures, the pandemic has resulted in a rapid shift to online education. However, many universities are focusing on surviving this temporary shift and complying with the protocols of reducing face-to-face interaction.
With a growing portion of the global population now living under government lockdown, many organizations have had to shift students and employees to embrace a work-from-home culture on a scale never before attempted.
Unsurprisingly, the demand for video conferencing apps has surged in recent weeks, with enterprise-focused mobile app downloads reaching 62 million during the week of March 14- 21 — the highest number ever seen.
As of the current situation, people are trying to go along with virtual interaction. A desktop computer, laptop or even just a smartphone is enough to meet one-on-one or with a group, no matter how dispersed your team is.
The question is what platform is the best to use for better and smooth-sailing classes? Here are examples of video conferencing software that are all capable of high-definition video and group collaboration tools.
Zoom is the leading platform in the video communication industry, having unified communication with their cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat, and webinars across different computers.
Simplified UI (user interface) and UX (user experience). 100 participants with 40 minutes of group meetings. Unlimited one on one meeting. AES 256-bit encryption, for security. Call recording. Available on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android, iOS.
Google Meet, known earlier as Google Hangouts Meet plays across the whole of Google’s ecosystem. It integrates different tools (e.g. docs, sheets, and slides) for easy group collaboration among the users.
Uses meeting IDs that are 25 characters long to lessen the chances of trolls and meeting hijacks. Maximum of 24-hrs time limit and up to 100 members on basic subscription. G Suite subscription includes a maximum of 300 hours of conference and 150 participants and dial-in phone and call recording. Available on Android, iOS, and Web Browsers.
Microsoft Teams is Microsoft’s collaboration tool that is used with linked communications platforms.
Complex UI and UX. Integration of Office 365 application stack for group collaboration. Broader area of workspace for teams and file sharing. Proximity Detection. Available on Windows, Mac OS, and a limited function on mobile operating systems.
