Tools To Conduct Personal or Business Video Conferencing

Video chats have grown in popularity as mobile and desktop devices have improved in video and sound quality and coupling this with high-speed internet many businesses and freelancers have been working remotely for years. As social distancing and the growth of global transactions online increase, we see a dramatic rise in online meetings, training, classes, tutoring and more. Digital get-togethers are becoming the norm in many businesses, as well as families who want to connect and feel closer despite the distance.

Video and audio streaming services are starting to beef up their facilities to accommodate the growing demand. As more people move to online gatherings, some platforms have risen to suit different needs.

If you want to start using video streaming platforms for business and private use we've put together a list of tools suited to various needs and amount of people you need to accommodate.

Check out the solitons below and see how it can meet your video streaming needs.

One on one sessions

The majority of video calls are personal one on one calls; this can be used for consulting, one-on-one classes and private training sessions as well. If you're keen on individual sessions and want to manage your contact list over who has access to call you directly, then these tools are excellent for

Skype

Skype is probably the most popular video calling platform that has been around since 2003, and since then, they've continued to provide new services and improved the user experience. Skype allows you to set you're a handle send it to clients and family members to add you to their contact list. You can then have text chat and video calls and its great for managing regular one-on-one video calls.

Google Hangouts

Google hangouts is a speculate tool but integrate reasonably well with your Gmail, and you can even find your contacts in Gmail. Google Hangouts allows you to bring in anyone with an active Gmail into a call and makes it pretty easy to set up group calls without having to download any app. All you would need to do is log in to Google hangouts with your Gmail, create a "Hangout" and invite anyone with a Gmail or the link into your call.

Facebook Messenger

If your clients or family members are all Facebook users, then Messenger should be your best bet. You can use Facebook to advertise your services or link up with users on Facebook and combine it with Messenger to set up video calls, and it makes this a seamless process as everything happens in the platform.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is one of the most popular instant messaging platforms, and while its predominantly used for text, it also offers video call services. Be warned WhatsApp isn't the best video service compared to the likes of Skype, Hangout or Messenger. However, it stands out as a great way to connect if all your family or customers are WhatsApp users, and you maintain a contact list of numbers to communicate with these people.

Group chats

If your classes or meetings require multiple users to take part, listen or contribute to the discussion, then group chat video call platforms are the ideal option for you. Digital conferences are probably the sector that is driving the most growth and its evident in the number of sign-ups and active users on the platforms listed below.

Skype for business

Skype for business is a bit of a bother as its a separate app that you will need to download. Still, it does provide a robust video conferencing platform that can manage quite a load of members all active and discussing online without a reduction in performance. The app allows for meeting links, and it has a simple user interface which makes it easier to manage calls, especially for users not used to this type of communication.

Microsoft teams

Microsoft Teams is a unified communication and collaboration platform that combines persistent workplace chat, video meetings, file storage, and application integration. The tool is highly robust and is excellent for corporates or businesses who do remote work regularly due to the additional features it provides like file sharing and storage and further app integration.

Zoom

Zoom Video Communication provides videotelephony and online chat services through a cloud-based peer-to-peer software platform. Zoom is offers teleconferencing, telecommuting, distance education, and social relations and It is by far the most popular tool of 2020.

It has exponentially grown as it provides an excellent video conference experience, it allows you to record your video calls, text chat, and you can invite users to your call by creating a link. You can also manage groups and split up groups online, and these options have made it a popular choice for business and personal use.

Town halls

In some cases, you may want to reach out to a broader audience that may want to listen in on a few who run the conversation, standard video and audio communication platforms have not yet cracked this niche. Still, there are options you can use to accommodate this type of communication.

Discord

If you're going to have a massive gathering with many passive participants who but still want to keep it to an invite-only forum, then discord is the ideal application for you. Setting up a discord server will allow you to invite users with a direct link into your server, these users can chat via text in your room. At the same time, you pull individual members into the primary chat for all to listen in on, think of this as a private radio station if you will.

Have a hot tip?

If you know of any video conferencing tools to use during the coronavirus outbreak, then please feel free to drop us a comment with the details in our comment section down below. We'd be happy to review them and if it all checks out, we'll add it to our list.

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Recommended reading

If you enjoyed this post and have a little extra time to dive deeper down the rabbit hole, why not check out the following posts on working during COVID-19.

• Small Businesses That Can Go Digital During The Lockdown
• 10 South African Sites Selling Essentials Online
• Your SMEs Survival Guide To Overcome The Impacts of COVID-19
• Trends In COVID-19 Affected Organic Search Results
• Marketing Tool Discounts Due To COVID-19

Tags: Live Streaming