The Future for Zoom after COVID-19

Written by Claire Chen on Thursday, 08 April 2021. Posted in RMHS

Photo Courtesy of Chris Montgomery via Unsplash

In 2020, Zoom took over the world. The video communication service became a household name. With everyone stuck in lockdown, Zoom became the place to hold a company meeting, teach a class, or host a party.

Business was definitely booming for Zoom. In April 2020, the app peaked at over 300 million daily participants. It was even the most downloaded iOS app of the year, surpassing popular ones like TikTok and Instagram.

However, more and more businesses and schools are beginning to reopen their buildings for people to go back in person. Furthermore, now that multiple vaccines have been created to combat the virus, it brings up the question: what will happen to Zoom after the pandemic?

For schools and businesses, many are transitioning back to in person learning or work. However, this does not mean that video conferencing will be completely gone after the pandemic. The majority of offices and schools have a hybrid model, where people can opt to either stay online or go back in person. So, in this aspect, Zoom usage may decline a little, but video calls will definitely continue to be a component of meetings. In fact, some school districts have considered getting rid of snow days completely, since those can be replaced by online learning through Zoom.

But, since more and more companies have had to move online, many have decided to allow employees to work completely at home. Therefore, those with more permanent work-from-home arrangements may continue to use Zoom. However, the jobs that cannot be done remotely will most likely resume to in person environments.

Although the number of people that use Zoom for school or work on a daily basis will decline once situations become less severe, video conferencing will stay forever. Zoom has changed the world and how we communicate. Because of Zoom, video communication services are now evolving and adapting to people’s needs. Zoom has even inspired other companies like Google and Microsoft to develop their own video calling software.

However, the other video conferencing services out there are competing with Zoom, which may be another reason why Zoom usage may decline. Services like Google Meet, Cisco Webex Meetings, Slack and Skype are some alternatives. Many have resorted to other conferencing apps due to some disadvantages of Zoom’s features and costs. For instance, Zoom has a maximum of 40 minute meetings in its free plan, whereas other services like Google Meet are free or have cheaper plans.

In order for these different video conferencing softwares to stand out, the competition is all about new features. Microsoft introduced their own Together Mode, which is similar to Zoom in that it provides virtual meetings. However, unlike Zoom, Together Mode has the function to map out each person’s face and place all attendees against a shared digital background to create a more engaging virtual environment and limit background distractions. They have also added noise cancellation softwares, in order to deal with unwanted background noises such as children crying, dogs barking, or neighbors mowing their lawns.

As for other video communications services, Webex created a feature that replicates the process of voting on laws, which was made to accommodate legislators and other governmental customers. Meanwhile, Facebook has even created and improved its own video chat service. With all these other video conferencing companies making their products bigger and better, Zoom definitely has some competition.

So, Zoom has been rolling out new products as well. Last October, they launched OnZoom, which is a platform that specifically helps businesses and entrepreneurs. OnZoom is similar to a virtual marketplace, where users can create and monetize events like classes, concerts, and shows. Zoom intended to make the experience more simple and efficient for businesses to carry out transactions online, and for people to pay or donate through OnZoom. Zoom has also created Zoom apps, which allows people to navigate to other workspaces like Dropbox and Slack within Zoom.

In the end, Zoom was the reason for all these new and improved features in video communications. Without Zoom, other video conferencing services might not have been as advanced as they are today.

With more social distancing guidelines lifted and vaccines distributed, we can finally begin to resume our lives before the pandemic. Although Zoom may be out of our lives by then, we will always have the memory of attending Zoom meetings during such an unusual time.

About the Author

Claire Chen

Claire Chen

Claire is a Business Staff Writer at the RMHS chapter of Girls For Business.

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