Zoom, a cloud based video conferencing, online chat and business telephony app designed for office, school and any online meetings is now shifting its focus on reliability and stability, even as more people sign up for its services.
Using the app is free for video conferences of up to 100 people with a time limit of 40 minutes. Zoom uses a cloud platform for their video and audio conferencing and strives to keep the experience safe by incorporating waiting rooms and an option to lock meetings.
In the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, many companies had to suspend operations or encourage their employees to work from home. Unfortunately, about three months down the line, the situation is still the same as the virus continues to spread from country to country. The figures for those infected are currently at about 2 million worldwide with 225 cases confirmed in Kenya.
Read: Porn Hack, Privacy Issues Reported On Videoconferencing App Zoom
To deal with the pandemic, several employers have had to lay off staff or send them on unpaid leave. Almost all industries have been affected including those supplying essential items. Restaurants were the worst hit and just recently, more companies including supermarkets are giving redundancy notices.
Some employees are however able to work from home and still avail the much needed services to a population that has been grounded in their houses for the better art of the year.
Zoom has proved to be an essential tool in keeping office meetings and studies going. According to Zoom Chief Finance Officer, the company is experiencing an increase in cost with increased user growth.
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said that in March, the app had 200 million users per day compared to 10 million in December. The company is therefore focused on keeping the software reliable, stable and sustainable.
Read: Demand For Safaricom Home Data Up 70PC As Kenyans Adapt To Stay-at-home Directive
The sudden influx of Zoom users also sparked some criticism over its security and privacy where ‘zoombombing’ attacks have been reported. Instances reported include meeting participants hijacking a call to bombard others with toxic and sometimes pornographic material.
The company was also accused of sharing some users’ data with Facebook and admitted to re-routing some phone calls through China while trying to deal with network congestion. Due to these, the use of zoom has been banned by some companies and some schools while others have filed a class-action suit against the company.
Several companies in Kenya use the zoom software to hold meetings for colleagues working from home and with their overseas counterparts.
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