If you're dealing with talkative crowds or you're looking to pass the mic over to someone else, there are some rich controls for muting, volume control, and speaking rights. And in case anyone has existing obligations, the free Zoom plan supports local video recording - though you have to pay for a subscription fee if you want a cloud-based video archiving solution. Screen sharing allows for a more advanced method for sharing content with your conference room guests. Hosts have full control over who has privileges to the whiteboard, so you can decide exactly how collaborative your presentation can be. Also valuable for classrooms is the inclusion of a whiteboard. Breakout rooms allow you to segment your chat off into independent groups - an especially valuable option for an online classroom environment. Some of these are designed to add functionality to the chat experience. Because while the features aren't always presented well, they work pretty handily in action. That's especially true of the phone version, but this is a piece of software that really shines once you start to dig a little deeper and discover what's all available. If there's one main complaint that can be levied against Zoom, it's that its features are sometimes hidden away too much. Zoom's standard video format is 720p, but users with more advanced plans can opt for an upgrade to a 1080p plan. Average latency and frame rates test better than any other software under comparable testing conditions. It also tends to outperform other video conferencing apps in regards to speed. The maximum attendance size of 500 is double that of the closest competition. In terms of raw performance, Zoom tends to stand head and shoulders above over video conferencing apps. The limited layout compared to the desktop version means that a lot of the more advanced features are tucked away, but they're generally accessible. A simple swipe interface allows you to change between different views, whether that be a tiled layout of all participants or materials that the presenter is sharing in the conference. This app packs most of the features and functionality of Zoom into a small mobile platform that's suitable for both hosting and attending calls. And while there are some problems with the overall Zoom interface, it consistently hits high marks in most of the essential categories for video chat software.Īnd Zoom is changing video conferencing by changing the idea of what a remote conference room even looks like. Whether you're simply trying to get in touch with family or coordinate your corporation's global strategy, Zoom can scale to your needs. Zoom's overall reliability and smart interface makes it one of the best video conferencing tools on the market.

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