Video conferencing apps have seen a phenomenal rise in the past few months, mostly due to the social distancing constraints required because of the Covid-19 contagion.
The space is fairly crowded, populated to a large extent by well-known favorites such as Zoom, Google Hangouts & Microsoft’s Teams, but issues such as the recent security concerns surrounding Zoom have led to businesses seeking alternative applications. We’re going to take a look at some of the freshest players in the field.
So here are some of the new video conferencing apps:
IfMeets
Brand new app, offered by the developers at no charge during the xoronavirus pandemic, sports more than a few features only seen in paid products. This Cloud-based app works in any browser, supports screen sharing and is free for up to 3 hours for 100 users.
The app also supports webcam sharing, password protected meetings, pin dial-in, chat, & breakout rooms. It’s lightweight, allows participants to be invited without registration, & can be used with no more than a mobile phone in hand.
Spatial
Although not “brand new”, Spatial, an AR (augmented reality) & VR(virtual reality) app, is well suited to video conferencing applications. Spatial meetings can be held from HoloLens, MagicLeap, Quest, PC or Phone, & “teleports” 3D representations of participants right into a shared space. Avatars can react, move & share information in the shared space as if they were really in the room. This is a refreshing take on ordinary video conferencing. It also gets a lot of votes for the opportunities this immersive experience offers, that outstrips all other current apps.
Spike Video Chat
At the other end of the spectrum is Spike, a very simple video chat app that offers easy convergence when it comes to conferencing needs. Spike is different in that it stores zero data about its users — there’s no registration, no logging in, & anyone can join a meeting based on a simple shared link. Naturally, this type of application might find enormous popularity in an environment where security data breaches are a growing concern. Spike is also free, so what’s not to like?
SamePage
Much more than a video conferencing tool, but with all the benefits seen in many others, SamePage, is a project management tool that incorporates video & audio chat. The idea behind the app was to combine all the tools normally associated with apps such as Slack, with the communication convenience of a tool such as Zoom – SamePage, believes they’ve solved the problem of having to swap between apps when managing teams & projects, it’s an all in one solution.
In conclusion:Weighing up all the pros & cons, the specifications & constraints of various applications & situations, businesses can select tools that best fit their varying needs.
