With remote working becoming the new normal due to the coronavirus outbreak, video conferencing and virtual collaboration applications have witnessed exponential growth in the last few months.

Zooms rise is well documented by now. The Silicon Valley startup has become the default virtual meeting platform, earning the label of King of the Quarantine Economy from AdWeek. Its users have grown 30x since the COVID-19 outbreak.

But there are newer applications and tools being rolled out each day. There is consolidation happening as well. Also, several pre-existing cloud conferencing platforms are ramping up their offerings to make the most of the current demand.

YourStory drew up a list of some useful virtual meeting apps that go beyond Zoom.

Until recently, Googles premium video conferencing product Meet was available to G-Suite users only. It meant that only paying customers could start meetings, but anyone could join one.

The internet giant has also re-engineered Meet to make it more secure, easy to access, and reliable. So, anyone can log in to the app with their Gmail account or evenuse Meet directly inside Gmail.

Google claims that since Meet became free in March, its users have increased 30x and three billion minutes of video meetings are being conducted daily.

GoToMeeting has been one of the most-searched meeting tools since the lockdown. Searches in India grew 173 percent in April, reveals online search tracker SEMRush.

The app has been built by Boston-based SaaS startup LogMeIn. It launched in 2016, and has racked up more than five million downloads on Google Play Store.

GoToMeeting also offers features like calendar sync across devices, full band VoIP audio or phone call, screen sharing, hand-off presentation controls for other attendees to view, meeting alerts, and live chats with individual attendees or all participants.

Airmeet is a homegrown virtual meeting and online event platform. The Bengaluru-based startup recently raised $3 million in funding to push its offerings in the aftermath of the pandemic that forced widespread event cancellations.

Community managers can publish their event details online, manage registrations, and go live from the event through a single interface, without any additional downloads. Users can organise or join meetings on Airmeet through a browser link.

Jitsi Meet is a free, open source, and fully encrypted video conferencing solution. You can host and join meetings even without an account. It offers unlimited meeting minutes, participants, and conferences. Jitsi Meet can also be added to Slack channels.

It has high quality audio and video along with live chat and screen sharing features. You can install the Jitsi Chrome extension to log in to meetings from a browser too.

Jitsi Meet also provides Google Calendar and Office 365 integrations too, which lets you sync meeting invites, schedules, and reminders across devices.

MeetFox is a web-based video solution with integrated scheduling and payment features. It is tailored for 1:1 online meetings between businesses and clients.

Clients who want to meet with business owners can auto-fill their calendars directly. MeetFox also enables service providers to generate instant invoices and receive quick payments by reducing paperwork.

Businesses can also convert website visitors into new clients by adding a MeetFox booking button or a pop-up to their website, social media or email signature.

Reliances JioMeet is an HD video conferencing tool for mobiles and tablets. The app launched in 2018, but an upgraded version was rolled out in March 2020 to capitalise on the growing demand for e-meeting apps.

Users can answer calls in audio or video mode or toggle between modes. The call host has the option to manage participant audio and video feeds using host controls.

They can also selectively disconnect participants or end the entire meeting. JioMeet also provides conference history, and all the meetings are PIN protected.

Chinese internet giant Tencent is the latest to join the virtual meeting bandwagon. It recently launched VooV Meeting, a cloud-based remote conferencing tool for businesses. Conferencing is free for up to 300 members; charges apply post that.

Attendees can host or join meetings with ease anytime, anywhere. The tool is available across iOS, Android, Windows, and MacOS.

Like most remote collaboration tools, VooV Meeting enables real-time screen sharing, instant text messaging, live discussions, HD session recordings, and more.

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

How has the coronavirus outbreak disrupted your life? And how are you dealing with it? Write to us or send us a video with subject line 'Coronavirus Disruption' to editorial@yourstory.com

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Google Meet, GoToMeeting, and other Zoom alternatives in video conferencing apps - YourStory