Video conferencing becomes a Zoom boom

Video conferencing could be set to overtake emails as the number one business communications tool, according to a new report.

David Sapsted

14 May 2020

Travel restrictions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic have resulted in a boom in business video conferencing for those forced to work from home and for those unable to attend face-to-face job interviews.

Millennials flourishing in the new high-tech world of work lockdown

By contrast, a report from the UK's graduate careers website Milkround says that email is the only communications platform to have seen a fall in usage during the virus outbreak.The report says that tech-savvy, younger workers have found it easier to adapt to using the likes of Zoom and Skype than older colleagues, more than a third of whom needed help to use the platforms.Georgie Brazier, graduate jobs expert at Milkround, said, "Gen Z and Millennials are now benefiting professionally from their use of social media platforms. Despite not having as much experience in the workforce as other colleagues, they are leading the way during isolation by leveraging their innate, tech-savvy skillsets.”The extent to which video conferencing use has skyrocketed since much of the world went into lockdown is illustrated by the fact that Zoom recently revealed its video conferencing app now has 300 million daily users globally after seeing a 50% increase in use over the past month.Facebook has responded to the boom in demand by launching Messenger Rooms, a group video calling service, while Google Meet has been reinvented as a free service this month.

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Who's zooming who: What is the market share of the top three web conferencing platforms?

The top three web conferencing platforms in the United States hit more than a 70% market share during April, data gathered by LearnBonds have revealed. With 42.8% market share, Zoom ranked as the leading conferencing platform among American users, followed by GoToWebinar with 18.7% and Cisco’s video conferencing business Webex with 11.2%.In the UK, the Zoom app commanded a 35% market share and 1,195 domains last month, followed by GoToWebinar and Cisco Webex with 27% and 11% market shares respectively.However, the rapid growth in popularity of video conferencing has revealed some security flaws, including a vulnerability that has allowed hackers to remove attendees from meetings, hijack shared screens, and send spoof messages.As a result, Zoom has been banned by governments for use on official business in Canada and Taiwan and by organisations such as SpaceX and Nasa. Zoom, which was founded in 2011, now says it is working to eliminate the problems.As a result, Zoom is now offering an update to the app which provides a range of security fixes including an upgraded encryption standard, a new, clearer security icon to access the safety settings, a tool to report users and new password controls.According to tech experts, Google Meet offers more features and a better level of security than Zoom, but the latter is simpler to access and better understood by most people.