What is Zoom?
Zoom is a service for conducting audio and video conferences, webinars, and online chats. The developer company Zoom Video Communications was founded in 2011 in San Jose, California. In 2013, the platform itself was released. As of 2020, the cloud service is used by over 200 million people.
Zoom can be downloaded for free on computers or mobile phones.
Features
With the online application, users can:
- organize conferences for up to 1000 participants with support for up to 49 videos on the screen in HD format;
- use built-in collaboration tools (notes, whiteboards);
- record to local storage or cloud storage;
- use group chat, file sharing, search history, and archive;
- schedule or launch a conference through Outlook, Gmail, iCal.
The user has access to 2 subscription options: free or paid. The free version contains basic features, limits the number of conference participants to 100, and allows for a 40-minute recording. Paid packages offer advanced capabilities.
Working features
It is necessary to download the client program to the device: PC, smartphone, tablet. Zoom is available on Windows, MAC, Linux, iPhone, and Android. For independent developers, there is an SDK and REST API.
Registration is required to use the service. After registration, the user is assigned a permanent personal conference identifier. It can be used to invite participants, for example, by sending a link in the format https://zoom.us/j/conference_number.
Those who wish to join the video session do not have to download the client, as the application will be available in the web browser.
Pros:
- a wide range of tools and functions for the conference host (chat management, microphone on/off);
- the presence of an interactive whiteboard;
- the ability to record a video conference;
- the presence of extensions for Outlook, Google Chrome, Microsoft Skype for Business;
- the presence of a free package.
Cons:
- periodic glitches in the program's operation;
- the presence of vulnerable areas that can pose a threat to confidentiality.
Summary
Today, this program is the most popular online tool for creating free video conferences with a huge number of people connected simultaneously. You can download the latest version of Zoom from the official website using the link below.
