Zoom question

[Dan Murphy]

Since the national/global shutdown, Zoom seems to have come out of nowhere to being everywhere. I understand for sure the idea of the app, and the current ubiquitous need for such an app now. Prior to the shutdown, I had never heard of it. And I do pretty much keep current on tech stuff.

Question is, weren't other similar apps in use and popular prior to the shutdown? If so, what made Zoom the current king of the hill?

 

[kdonnel]

If so, what made Zoom the current king of the hill?

They were free, up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees.

Plus their lax security made it easy to use, but they are having to close some of those security concerns which will make it a little more difficult to use.

 

[desertgirl]

I work for a yoga teacher training school that meets for nine weeks online and then ends in a retreat setting with hands on learning. We have been using zoom for years to teach curriculum and weekly small group meetings. Very user friendly.

 

[gillep]

My university has been using Zoom for years but we have a business account so we don't have the limits on time or attendees like the free version. Our version is also HIPAA compliant because we do clinical work at our university, so hasn't been subject to the same security issues.

 

[JimMIA]

DD's high school uses Zoom and several other instructional apps. They solved the "Zoombombing" issue pretty quickly by requiring approval from the host (teacher) to enter a session. I'm sure there are other security issues, but they fixed that one immediately.

DD's college is using a program called Canvas for our extensive parent orientation program, and it is also user-friendly.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Okay, thanks for the answers. I guess it has been around, just made much more visible with current shutdown. Thanks.

 

[Kelandsam]

Hi Dan,

My company had already converted all locations from Creston video conferencing to Zoom just prior to March. Definitely user friendly and we have it set to auto generate a password for each meeting that is only available to attendees. This stops the zoom bombing.

I also use it to keep in touch with DD22 as she has an android and can’t FaceTime. She’s 1.5 hours away and our governor just ext the stay home order until 5/28 So Zoom keeps us close

 

[tvguy]

They were free, up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees.

Plus their lax security made it easy to use, but they are having to close some of those security concerns which will make it a little more difficult to use.

I think that was a brilliant marketing move on Zoom's part. Same way Slack has gotten a lot of customers. Got our company to sign up for pay accounts. Not sure WHAT people are doing on Zoom that security would be a concern. We'd welcome someone hacking in our calls. However, I can see for school use where porn popping in a school lesson would be a problem.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I've always used Google Duo for personal family and friends calls.

 

[Simba's Mom]

40 minutes? We just participated in a Zoom chat (a Happy Mother's Day for Mom) that lasted 60 minutes. I admit I don't know about cost vs. free, but she said it was free. How did that happen for 60 minutes?

 

[morgan98]

My firm (a good sized CPA firm) has been using ZOOM for a few years now. We had converted to it as our preferred method of video conferencing. Not only did we use it from our laptops, but we converted conference rooms in each of our 30+ offices to "ZOOM" rooms where by you could easily book the room and schedule the corresponding conference.

We also have started to have passcodes to all ZOOM meetings.

 

[kdonnel]

40 minutes? We just participated in a Zoom chat (a Happy Mother's Day for Mom) that lasted 60 minutes. I admit I don't know about cost vs. free, but she said it was free. How did that happen for 60 minutes?

https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/05/07/40-minute-limit-lifted-mothers-day-weekend-zoom-with-mom/
For Mothers day weekend you could start a meeting at 7 a.m. EST Saturday, May 9, and talk until 7 a.m. EST Monday, May 11.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

40 minutes? We just participated in a Zoom chat (a Happy Mother's Day for Mom) that lasted 60 minutes. I admit I don't know about cost vs. free, but she said it was free. How did that happen for 60 minutes? and its still free. They dd

On your first free session, they extend the limit past 40 minutes as a courtesy. You get a little pop up that says it's been extended. If the same host sets up anther free Zoom session, it will time out at 40 minutes.

For all schools who set up Zoom accounts, Zoom lifted the 40 minute limit, and the account is still free. It is a tremendous public service!!!.

 

[GreatLakes]

Zoom was the teleconference app used by most of our vendors and partners before the shutdown.

Many, though not all, of the security issues were due to lazy implementations. If you went through and hardened your account, meetings, and seminars, and didn't use their cloud recording you had a much lower risk of problems. They also have contracted with some of the best security companies in the business over the last 2 months so, unlike many tech companies, they are addressing any remaining problems.

We use a combination of Teams and Zoom ourselves. Both fill different needs.

 

[RamblingMad]

Since the national/global shutdown, Zoom seems to have come out of nowhere to being everywhere. I understand for sure the idea of the app, and the current ubiquitous need for such an app now. Prior to the shutdown, I had never heard of it. And I do pretty much keep current on tech stuff.

Question is, weren't other similar apps in use and popular prior to the shutdown? If so, what made Zoom the current king of the hill?

We switch from Webex to Zoom about a year ago. What's fascinating about Zoom is that since its popularity blew up with the crisis, its development team have done a lot to make it far better than it was even a month or two ago.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I just learned Zoom after all this happened, and I love it!

...what made Zoom the current king of the hill?

1) It's pretty user friendly, and there's an actually-functional free version (that also doesn't constantly prod you to upgrade).

2) I think it was already poised to take off before all this started, and it was a case of "good" timing.

3) The tech teams there really stepped up to handle the new traffic and security questions, and the powers that be did the right thing by schools.

 

[_19disnA]

Have used Zoom a few times to video chat with friends/relatives who are out of state. Very easy to use, reliable and good quality sound/video . The free version has automatically extended our time beyond the 40 minutes so not sure if that will always be true, but that has happened several times. Used to use Webex at work and the meeting setup features are very similar. Apparently, it didn't use to require a meeting password which caused some issues with uninvited people attending. We prefer using it on our PC's since the screen on most phones is too small to see everyone, particularly if you have multiple people online.

Have used Skype in the past and the free version used to only allow for 1 on 1 meetings, but think that has changed. It didn't work very well, lots of interference, video drops, bad sound, etc. and then started causing start-up issues on one of our PC's, so we stopped using it. Perhaps these newer products just work better.

We will continue to use it as long as it is free. As with most things on the net, use common sense and don't post meeting links in public places or on social media where random strangers can see it.

 

[mikehn]

Google hangout and Houseparty, a couple other popular free video conferencing apps.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Thank you all for the replies, information and ideas. Very helpful.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

My company has been using Zoom for 3 1/2 years.