Covid-19 pandemic affected everyone’s working patterns; some were stuck miles away from their families for a long time. However, life has almost become stable for everyone but still there have been some after-effects of pandemic-19. This gave people a new way to think and operate.
Technology is one thing everyone depends on more than ever and we still have people around us who depend on video calls to keep in touch with work, colleagues, family, and friends.
Here we list down the best applications for free video-calling which will make your daily tasks easy to communicate online.
Zoom:
Zoom is the most popular video calling application. Before the pandemic, Zoom was the application commonly used for the corporate sector. Though, for individuals, it provides a free basic version. Of course, in the initial months of 2020, Zoom did not expect to become popular in a short period among non-business users.
The free version of Zoom allows a maximum of 100 participants at a time, but the users can conduct a meeting for only 40 minutes at max. The host of the meeting can share a screen and can also record the meeting. The person who starts the session can appoint any participants as hosts if needed. Zoom has a page for its new users that offers help and advice to provide a better understanding of using the app.
Skype:
People have been using skype for long one-to-one conversations. Since its beta was released in 2003 with modern features to cater maximum needs of an individual. Whereas on the left side of the app there is a “Meet-now” option, after clicking on it, a maximum of 100 participants can do a video call for almost 24 hours. One-on-one meetings can also be conducted for the same time period. Skype participants can share the screen and record the meeting if they wish to do so.
Google Meet:
Google meet offers an easy and well-organized procedure to video chat with your colleagues, friends, family, and others. However, there is a compulsion for using the app, that all hosts and participants must have their Google accounts. Nowadays, Google is persuading people to use its video conferencing feature for meetings as Google Meet is more reliable and flexible to use. If you want to arrange a meeting via Google calendar, you can find the link to the meeting in the Gmail app.
Like Skype, Google Meet also allows a maximum of 100 participants to meet online at a time. A group meeting can be conducted for an hour, while one-on-one meetings can be conducted for 24 hours. Besides, you cannot record meetings, while using Google Meet but you can share the screen though.
Microsoft Teams:
Microsoft Teams initially only used for businesses, introduced its free personal version of Teams A few years ago. Though, it was built to give competition to slack and is a good option for those workplaces which are widespread. Microsoft Teams allows you to chat, talk or organize video meetings. What you need is to create an account with Microsoft.
Moreover, the subscribers of Microsoft 365 can access video chat for 30 consecutive hours with a maximum of 300 people. On the other hand, the free version allows a maximum of 100 participants and a 60-minute long meeting. In contrast, one-on-one meetings can only be conducted for as long as 30 hours. The host can share the meeting, but it cannot be recorded.
Cisco Webex:
Webex is an application for video calling, introduced in the late 90s. Cisco purchased its application in 2007. Though Cisco Webex is mainly a business application, which several companies are using nowadays. You need to check out its free version for a self-purpose. When the pandemic hit the world back in 2020, Cisco Webex introduced some new features. For example, increasing the limit of participants from 50 to 100, allowing one-to-one and group meetings for 50 minutes.
Furthermore, you can also create breakout rooms and share screens. At the same time, only the local device can record the meetings.
Zoho:
Zoho provides various online daily applications like email, calendars, and notebooks to business and development, mostly in marketing, finance, and HR. Firstly, the free version of Zoho only allowed two participants, but currently, it allows a maximum number of 100 participants. On the other hand, its free version allows you to conduct webinars with a maximum of 100 attendees as well as one-on-one and group meetings, both for sixty minutes. Zoho free version users can share the screen but cannot record the meetings.
Jitsi Meet:
The Jitsi Meet is another video-conferencing application that is pretty simple to use. To use the app, just go to the website of Jitsi Meet and click on the “start meeting” option. It caters to both, the features of sharing a screen and recording the meetings. There is no time restriction for both one-on-one and group meetings. However, Jitsi Meet allows a maximum of 100 participants.
Moreover, people love to use its web version because of its plenty of features like chat, temporary fake backgrounds, session recordings (to Dropbox), and even you can exclude disobedient participants. Besides that, the developers can build their conferencing apps via the Jitsi video bridge.
