Rivals for Zoom sprout, now Airtel readying an app SMEs
Just the other day, JioMeet was launched. And already we have Bharti Airtel, which as a telecom service provider has a tieup with Zoom, on the verge of launching a video conferencing tool of its own.
The Economic Times, quoting a person ‘close’ to Airtel’s plan, said that they are going to launch several enterprise-grade products one of which is a unified video conferencing tool.
While it is going to be launched for start-ups and enterprises, Airtel might roll it out more broadly depending on the kind of reception it gets, the source was quoted as saying.
Airtel’s putative video conferencing tool will work on smartphones and desktops both and will use the latest AES 256 encryption along with multiple authentication layers for security.
Airtel, incidentally, already provides a slew of video conferencing solutions along with 4G, MPLS and FTTH connectivity. It has tie-ups with Zoom, Cisco WebEx and Google Meet under its ‘Work@Home’ solutions for enterprises.
JioMeet shows its intent
Airtel’s videoconferencing app will highlight as its USP localization and security — the two purported weak spots in Zoom, the market leader whose videoconferencing app has topped the charts in the lockdown phase when work from home culture became the norm.
Sensing an opportunity, a variety of players are keen to get into the space. and as it happens, Indian telecom giant Jio has already rolled out its free conferencing platform JioMeet last week.
Though panned for its uncanny similarity to Zoom’s offering, JioMeet is already seen as a major emerging threat to Zoom and other main players. For one, it has the famed Jio aggression in the market. For another, it backs the Prime Minister Vocal for Local campaign.
JioMeet offers enterprise-grade host control and security and can be used for 1:1 video calls and hosting meetings with up to 100 participants. The application has reportedly been downloaded more than 1,00,000 times on Google Play Store.
JioMeet allows for easy sign up with either mobile number or email ID, and offers meeting in HD audio and video quality.
It offers support where the users can click on a JioMeet invite link and join from their browsers without downloading the application.
JioMeet, which is free, allows unlimited meetings per day and each meeting can go uninterrupted up to 24 hours.
Zoom is ready for the battle
Zoom, of course, is no pushover. Though it has received some bad press for its supposed security vulnerability, Zoom has time and again reiterated its enhanced safety features.
Knowing that competition is hot on its heels, it is getting itself battle ready, too.
“We know what it takes to become the unified communications platform we are today, including the immense amount of work and focus required to create our frictionless user experience, sophisticated security, and scalable architecture,” Zoom said in a press release.
In a statement earllier this week, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said his company would put mechanisms in place to make sure that security and privacy remain a priority in each phase of its product and feature development.
Buffetted by privacy and security snarls, Zoom took a 90-day pledge on April 1 to make a number of enhancements to address security and privacy.
“We cannot and will not stop here. Privacy and security are ongoing priorities for Zoom, and this 90-day period while fruitful was just a first step,” said Yuan.
Source: Economic Times
Just the other day, JioMeet was launched. And already we have Bharti Airtel, which as a telecom service provider has a tieup with Zoom, on the verge of launching a video conferencing tool of its own. The Economic Times, quoting a person ‘close’ to Airtel’s plan, said that they are…
