Growth of Zoom

ZOOM IN! Okay, wait stay there. Zoom was just another word used generally by photographers to adjust their lenses that is, to zoom in to get a closer view of the object or to zoom out to get a wider frame, it had no connection with video conferencing for the people not in the corporate sector until the corona outbreak.

So what are your preferred apps for video calling? Okay well, rephrasing the question to what were your preferred apps for video conferencing before the pandemic?

Answer to which might be the video calling feature of Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp or Skype if you want to answer for a more formal meeting.

But the answer to the same question would now include Zoom App, Microsoft Teams and Google meet as well. That’s just a tiny insight into how zoom and other apps alike have crept into people’s lives and is making work from home convenient.

Also, before the pandemic kicked in, Zoom was probably not known to many as the video conferencing app. It had its majority application in the corporate bubble itself.

Pandemic has been catastrophic for the corporate world, with numerous business coming to a halt worldwide, some even shutting down. But interestingly, it has proven to be a boon for Zoom Video Communications Inc.

Now, what is Zoom?

Zoom was founded by former Webex executive Eric Yuan in 2011 and officially launched in 2013. The platform provides video services for the enterprise, consumer and educational customers, and its relatively simple setup (compared to competitors) took it to Unicorn status in 2017 and an IPO in 2019.

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

• Zoom has proven to fill the geographical void created by the lockdown as it has promoted remote learning.
• It has assisted in carrying out business online and minimizing adverse pandemic effects on the corporate sector by creating effective work from home environment.
• Also, it has been quite helpful in connecting family and friends who were stranded in different parts of the world as a result of a complete shutdown on a brief notice.
• It has helped schools and colleges to resume classes in online mode to minimize the effect of the unbeatable virus on academia.

What features differentiate Zoom from the traditional video calling apps and has contributed to its growth?

• The free version of Zoom can host up to 100 video participants at once unlike the group video conferencing features of popular platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook or Instagram which have a hosting limit of up to 10 people per meeting. The ability to accommodate a maximum of hundred people in a virtual meeting room has successfully managed to clear the roadblock to academic learning.
• The feature to split into breakout rooms, waiting rooms, and chat rooms, makes Zoom an ideal meeting place to carry out day to day office work remotely.
• The sharing screen feature has found a wide application for the entire user spectrum, from corporate meetings to colleges.
• It has an interesting feature that is we can choose a background for the viewer/ meeting attendees while our video is ON.
• All those people who could not attend the meeting, no longer need to rely on the minutes of the meeting to glance at the important takeaways, instead, they can watch the entire meeting as it has the Recording Feature.

Some numbers and stats supporting “The Zoom Boom”

Photo by Luke Chesser on Unsplash

1. Zoom was downloaded 2.13 million times worldwide on March 23rd, 2020, up from 2.04 million the day before, according to data analytics company Apptopia.
2. It has previously said that the count of meeting attendees has risen to 300 million per day, up from just 10 million in December 2019.
3. Currently, it has about 265,400 users with more than 10 employees, a figure that has risen by 354 per cent, and according to the organization reports, 175,000 new consumer licenses have been added.
4. On April 30, 2020, the company entered the NASDAQ-100 market index.

Final Thoughts

Although lockdown has catalyzed Zoom’s usage, it will keep on increasing even after the global condition is restored back to normal.

As the shutdown of human movement globally has activated the “work from home” culture, which earlier didn’t hold much of an importance in the corporate world, and now that the pandemic has it tested, it is here to stay contributing to an increase in Zoom’s usage.

“Unlike previous years, the growth of collaborative applications — including conferencing — enabled multiple market leaders, Zoom is well-positioned for such a position.”- Harvey Kurtzman.

As stated by Kurtzman, Zoom is here to stay as video conferencing is the new phone call! Also, Zoom has promoted distant learning to a scale that now seems to be the new normal, and it will continue to be so even after the pandemic is over.

Disclaimer: The thoughts shared on this blog are independent views of the Author and the E-Cell, NIT Raipur does not necessarily encourage it.