In light of the digital transformation imposed on many institutions and companies as part of social distancing measures to confront the outbreak of the new Corona virus, which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, many of these institutions found themselves forced to search for the best ways to manage work teams remotely. Perhaps one of the most important problems in controlling remote work teams is the process of meeting with team members, especially since some organizations are forced to hold multiple meetings during one day to control the workflow and cover the main tasks, and the most prominent question is always: Which digital application can do this task, while providing the option of speed and ease of use? For this reason, the Waei Foundation for Research and Development offers a group of video conferencing applications that will facilitate video conferencing during quarantine, all of which are characterized by fast performance and large capacity, as well as easy software that enables users who are not familiar with the digital world to use it easily.
1. Zoom
Despite what is said about its poor privacy, the Zoom application is an excellent choice for meeting with co-workers, as it offers a wide range of features, most notably sharing the prominent screen for calls, a chat box that allows messages to be sent to a host or chat group, and the option to record the call for later review. The application’s software also allows hosting up to 100 participants, in addition to endless individual meetings, and group calls are limited to a maximum duration of 40 minutes.
2. Cisco
Cisco Webex is a smart choice for remote workers, as it has a platform and pricing model similar to Zoom. If your company already uses Cisco communications tools, this platform easily integrates communications for web conferencing, webinars, and cloud phone systems. It’s free to sign up for and hosts up to 100 video call participants.
3. Teams
The “Teams” video conferencing application provided by “Microsoft” will allow you to host events for up to 10,000 people with high-quality audio, video, and screen sharing. The “Teams” system offers a good option for companies whose employees work remotely and already use other products, similar to the “Outlook” program, but its drawback is that all users must have at least a “Microsoft Office 365 Pro Plus” subscription.
4. Google Hangouts and Hangouts is Dead
Anyone who has a company Google account or anyone who uses the Gmail application can have free access to the “Google Hangouts” service, which is a basic option for messaging and video chats with up to 10 people, as well as the “Hangouts Meet” application, which allows hosting between 100 and 250 people in one meeting, which can be accessed with the same account.
5. House Party
The new free video chat app House Party is the perfect choice if you’re trying to stay in touch with friends and younger family members. It’s a mix of Snapchat and Skype. But its downside lies in the fact that it can be a bit confusing for people who aren’t familiar with the latest social apps and games.
6. FaceTime
Anyone who has an iPhone can resort to this application, which is among the easiest applications out there for holding video conferences. It is considered a very simple application, and all you have to do to make a call via FaceTime is to do one of these three things: either use it to enter your contact’s phone number, or click on the video icon next to the names saved in your contacts, or click on the FaceTime icon in the middle to make video calls.
7. Google Duo
If you want to make a video call with a colleague who uses the Android system, you can resort to the Google Duo application, especially since it is the latest free application for video chats from Google, but its drawback is that you cannot add more people to the calls, but you can use it any time you want to make the call more secure.
8. Skype
This app is a very basic video conferencing tool that works for chatting about business or communicating with family and friends, and it offers a unique feature of subtitles that makes it ideal for communicating with elderly people who may suffer from hearing loss.
9. Instagram
Instagram provides video calls, with six people at a time through the direct messaging feature in it, and all you have to do is click on your messages, and on the video icon at the top right of the screen, then select the person or group you want to contact, who in turn will receive a notification that you are calling him.
10. Facebook Messenger
This application is a free and reliable option for chatting with more than fifty friends simultaneously around the world, and you can use this application on an iPhone or iPad. Once you’ve already started messaging with a person or group of people, simply tap the video button to start chatting.
