Zoom Meetings - Review - PCMag Australia.PC Magazine ranks Zoom in Top 10 List - Follow The Wire
Looking for:
Coverage in PC Magazine - Office Hours - Zoom Community - A top video calling app for stability and features
A new piece from Rolling Stone magazine suggests Zoom is trying to crack down on digital orgies on the video conferencing service. But this probably won't be easy to do, considering the company's own privacy policies. Unfortunately, some features make your meetings susceptible to hijacking.
Learn how to stop bad actors and keep your calls secure. Video calls have become the norm for consumers and businesses alike during the pandemic. Several of Zoom's controversies have centered on encryption. First was the company's statement that Zoom used end-to-end encryption E2EE.
It had to amend that claim to clarify that end-to-end encryption is used only for calls among Zoom apps and Zoom Rooms, provided no one is recording the call. E2EE is not available for Zoom via other devices, such as when you dial in via telephone. In June , the company announced it would not provide E2EE to free account holders. After some backlash, the company reversed its decision saying it would encrypt all calls, but only if free users verified their accounts with a phone number.
The company then rolled back that decision, too. Another controversy was related to encryption keys. Zoom owns some servers located in China. These China-based servers had been generating encryption keys that were given to users in other countries, which is considered a security risk.
The company addressed the issue , so paying customers can now control through which countries their video conferences are routed. Another problem was Zoom-bombing , which refers to people hijacking in-progress meetings with inappropriate content. It mostly occurred when meeting hosts did not know that they had to opt into using certain features to fully protect their calls.
Zoom subsequently changed its default settings and made security tools more prominent so people would know to use them. Overall, the company has been quick to issue clarifications and fixes when problems have occurred.
In some cases, people have not found the solutions acceptable, however. Additionally, the more problems that have come up, the more some have felt their trust in the company has deteriorated.
If you use Zoom, we recommend taking a moment to get acquainted with the tool's key features. There are plenty of alternatives to Zoom should the app or company not meet your standards. To join a meeting via Zoom, you do not need an account. To host a meeting, however, you do. There are four tiers, plus upsells for each tier to add more features and functionality. Zoom's base prices are in line with other, comparable video calling services.
Basic is the free version. With a free account you can host up to participants, but calls are limited to 40 minutes unless you have only one other person on the call, in which case the limit is 30 hours. Calls can have up to people on them, and the time limit for any call is 30 hours.
If you need to have more people on a call, you can add on a Large Meeting feature for an extra fee. You also get social media streaming and 1GB cloud space for call recordings. This account type is limited to nine licenses. You can host up to people on a call, with the option to add on the Large Meeting feature for a fee.
This plan also includes company branding, the option to record transcripts, and single sign-on for users. You can host people on a call and get unlimited cloud storage for call recordings. Zoom offers other types of business-grade plans for specific use cases, such as a voice-over-IP service called Zoom Phone and a subscription for hosting webinars. Those services are sold separately from the core Zoom Meeting account types. Other business communication software packages, such as Webex by Cisco often roll together video calling with VoIP phones, webinar functionality, and other communication tools.
Zoom has become more fractured by comparison, though you may be able to cobble together the services you need and want through add-ons. Similarly, government agencies interested in Zoom should look more closely at its Zoom for Government plan.
If you're invited to a Zoom meeting, you don't need to create an account. However, you will see a prompt to download the Zoom Meetings application. Downloading the app is optional, as you can connect via a web app just fine. The installed app does give you an optimized experience, however. If you're new to the app, I highly recommend picking up a few Zoom tips before your first call.
The locally installed app and the web account contain slightly different settings, and it's in your best interest to explore both. We highly encourage new users to spend time going through the settings before using Zoom, not only for privacy and security reasons, but also to get the most out of what Zoom has to offer. For example, there are options to put attendees on hold, give remote control of your keyboard and mouse to another person while you give a presentation, touch up your appearance, and automatically adjust your picture in low light.
It's in your best interest to be familiar with these tools in advance of a call. If you want to host a session in Zoom Meetings and invite others to join, then you need to create an account. You can use the same PMI meeting link multiple times, which is convenient for small groups that meet regularly. In other words, you never have to generate a fresh link to meet. You always have the option, however, to create a unique meeting ID and link, which may be preferable for security reasons.
I've used Zoom as both a participant and host frequently, starting around Joining a meeting takes little effort. Connecting takes a few seconds if you already have the app installed and only about two extra clicks if you choose the web app instead of the desktop app. The mobile apps work fine, too, though I prefer to join meetings from a computer. One convenience that's relatively new is how and when Zoom updates. Instead of checking for updates upon launch when you might already be running late , Zoom checks for available updates when you're about to quit the app.
It's a nice detail. To set up or start a meeting using Zoom, you have several options. As mentioned, you can copy your Personal Meeting ID directly from the app and send it to participants. They either click the link or launch Zoom and enter the PMI, and you're off to the races. Alternatively, you can schedule a meeting in advance from the Zoom app or directly from a connected calendar—Google Calendar, iCal, or Microsoft Outlook.
Doing it from an integrated calendar is better because you can add an agenda or meeting description. When you set up a meeting from the Zoom app, you can't. Choose a date, start and end time, time zone, and a few other preferences, such as whether you'd like your video camera to activate automatically when you begin the call. If you give participants the option to join by phone, you can choose which country dial-in numbers to display.
A link to all the dial-in options appears on the invitation, too. Your scheduled meetings and all the details for how to connect automatically show up on your connected calendar. An option to password-protect meetings is handy, but in practice doesn't feel that secure.
Ever since Zoom enhanced its security features, the unique meeting ID and passcode are selected by default, but the unique link that's added to the invitation makes it unnecessary for anyone you've invited directly to enter the password.
With a Pro account, you can require that attendees "register," meaning they must fill out a short form before they join. That survey lets you collect information about them. It's useful when you use Zoom for webinars and you aren't sure who might attend. You also need to enable this option if you want to run reports of who has joined meetings.
Another feature is a waiting room, which has two purposes. First, participants can log onto a meeting and see a hold screen until the host officially starts the meeting, which effectively prevents participants from interacting with one another before the host is ready.
Second, the waiting room allows the host to control who can join and when. Hosts, especially with paid Zoom accounts, get a lot of options. Aside from creating a waiting room, hosts can also control whether participants are muted upon entry to a meeting, whether their cameras are active or off, and whether people can chat with one another privately, or at all, or only as a group. As a participant, you can enable or disable your own video and microphone at any time, again, as long as the host allows you to turn them on at all.
One reason to intentionally disable them is for certain types of meetings, such as large presentations. Participants can use on-screen buttons or keyboard shortcuts for muting and unmuting as well as enabling or disabling the camera. Hosts can also disable any participant's microphone or camera at any time. Hosts see a Security button, which was added in and will show up on their toolbar during active calls.
This button gives quick access to important security features, such as locking the meeting, enabling a waiting room for additional guests who try to join after the meeting starts, and giving participants permission to share their screens, chat, and so forth. Hosts and people with permission can add new people to the call on an ad hoc basis.
For example, if you're already on a call and realize that you need to invite more people, there are tools for quickly copying your meeting ID and other information to send.
There's also an option to start drafting an email with the invitation information, too.
Zoom Review – Forbes Advisor - Background on Zoom's Controversies
Explore products and tools for seamless collaboration across office and home working spaces. Discover hybrid solutions. Discover new ways to use Zoom solutions to power your modern workforce.
Network with other Zoom users, and share your own product and industry insights. Get documentation on deploying, managing, and using the Zoom platform.
What's New at Zoom? Join our upcoming webinar to get a first-hand look into some of our exciting new product and feature releases. I have mentioned another external Zoom-related community here a few times, called "Office Hours", for which I am a member. Office Hours is a daily Zoom Webinar panel discussion about media and tech, and Zoom-based topics. Office Hours is held every day on Zoom.
It has been running for over episodes, continuously - answering now a total of around 25, questions. You can also watch Office Hours live, or watch past episodes at, on YouTube - if you don't want to register in Zoom.
Office Hours sometimes called the "show" runs normally for two hours. There have been guest speakers on the show from Zoom sometimes, and other vendors like Amazon. Sunday is not streamed to YouTube at all. But all can be watched directly in Zoom. Office Hours is produced using Zoom. Details Price EGP 1, EGP 1, Initial payment breakdown. Delivery cost, date and order total including tax shown at checkout. Add to Cart.
Details To add the following enhancements to your purchase, choose a different seller. Ships from. Sold by. Other Sellers on Amazon.
Not added. Details Sold by: Telecom. Sold by: Telecom. Only 1 left in stock - order soon. Only 3 left in stock - order soon. Image Unavailable. Brand: TP-Link. List Price: EGP2, All prices include VAT. Learn more Each bank has a different installments plan. You can choose a suitable installments plan based on your bank offers at checkout.
Click here to check your bank offers. Cash on Delivery. Delivered by Amazon. Secure transaction. What is Cash on Delivery? Cash on Delivery COD payment method allows you to pay by cash at your doorstep for fulfilled by Amazon and some seller fulfilled items. You will not see the Cash on Delivery as an available payment method on check out If you have at least one condition that is incompatible with cash on delivery eligibility. Learn more. Amazon directly manages delivery for this product.
Order delivery tracking to your doorstep is available. Your transaction is secure. We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. Find out more. This plan is aimed at small businesses that need between 10 and 99 licenses. It also requires a minimum purchase of 50 licenses. Enterprise is the only premium tier where annual agreements are mandatory; you can pay the total cost upfront or agree to pay month to month.
Enterprise is without a doubt the most pricey option available. However, features like unlimited cloud storage make the package enticing for larger teams. When integrated with your desired tier plan, these add-ons will undoubtedly boost your service. Related: Best Video Conferencing Software. One particular sticking point with Zoom is how it treats technical support. If you use the Basic plan, the best option you have is the Help Center.
As a Pro tier customer, you would be able to submit a ticket and get help via chat, but if you want to speak with an actual person, you must upgrade to Business or higher.
The annual agreement becomes mandatory for the Enterprise-level customer. It may be possible in some cases to edit your plan, switching from annual to monthly or the reverse. Otherwise, you will get charged automatically. As quickly as Zoom gained popularity, it also gained a fair bit of backlash over its privacy and security issues. As such, while Zoom remains a top-rated web conferencing platform, its spotty security history might make some reluctant to create an account. One way to avoid unwanted guests in your meetings is to have all participants join using a password.
As such, Zoom is great for small and large businesses alike. Although Zoom experienced various security and privacy issues during , the brand has since stepped up protection to make the platform safer to use. Select Region. United States. United Kingdom. Toni Matthews-El, Rob Watts. Contributor, Editor. Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor.
Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Our Verdict.
Comments
Post a Comment