{"id":104099,"date":"2018-07-19T17:10:30","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T15:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=104099"},"modified":"2025-07-01T23:16:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T06:16:15","slug":"why-you-should-be-using-zoom-for-all-your-video-chats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/why-you-should-be-using-zoom-for-all-your-video-chats\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you should be using Zoom for all your video chats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As social networking and remote job industries become increasingly popular, so does the software we use. Webinars, conference calls, and vid chats have existed for years. We practically have more than we can keep track of &#8211; <strong>FaceTime, WebinarJam, Skype, Facebook,<\/strong> and <strong>Gchat<\/strong> to name just a few.<\/p>\n<h3>How do you know which one is for you?<\/h3>\n<p>Tech expert Steve Dotto explains, the best way to find out is to &#8220;take a step back and look at how the webinar software is designed.&#8221; That way you can tell if its strengths align with how you intend to use your webinar. For specific comparisons you can check out the man himself comparing WebinarJam, Skype, and &#8211; most notably &#8211;\u00a0<strong>Zoom<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-GTNo5M4fyE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>For all the benefits and uses of Skype, the webinar software that really caught our attention was Zoom. You can download here for free:<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Zoom\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-cover-l,f_auto\/p\/94257bfe-2a5d-47af-89f4-d6be631de54e\/2600333419\/zoom-for-chrome-screenshot.jpg\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Zoom<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/zoom-for-chrome.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download Free<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--100\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"100\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"10\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\">10<\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/zoom-for-chrome.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<h3>Why choose Zoom over the competition?<\/h3>\n<p>While Skype is great for casual chatting, gaming, or video calls, Zoom&#8217;s specialty is a little more business-oriented. You can tell from its straightforward presentation and the lack of any bells and whistles that you&#8217;d find on a program like Skype. Made with a focus on\u00a0conferencing, Zoom is the preferred webinar software for consultation, teaching, mentorship, or one-on-one business calls.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_104105\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-104105\" style=\"width: 1926px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-104105 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/zoom61.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1926\" height=\"1386\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/zoom61.jpg 1926w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/zoom61-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/zoom61-768x553.jpg 768w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/zoom61-1024x737.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/zoom61-1200x864.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1926px) 100vw, 1926px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-104105\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">https:\/\/online.unimelb.edu.au\/support\/current-students\/learning-management-system\/zoom-webinar-tool<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That&#8217;s not to say that Zoom can&#8217;t handle a group chat &#8211; far from it. Zoom can actually hold <em>up to 100 people<\/em> in a single vid chat at any given time. And it&#8217;s still free. Guests can be added simply by clicking <strong>&#8216;invite.&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can also make another person in your chat the co-host, giving them equal control. For instructions on how to do this, check out\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/support.zoom.us\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/206330935-Enabling-and-Adding-a-Co-Host\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this article<\/a>. Zoom&#8217;s screen-sharing capabilities are also straightforward, accessible instantly and at any point during your call. It&#8217;s not buried under menus like it is with some other tools.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_104106\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-104106\" style=\"width: 2868px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-104106 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/co-host.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2868\" height=\"1523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/co-host.png 2868w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/co-host-300x159.png 300w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/co-host-768x408.png 768w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/co-host-1024x544.png 1024w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/co-host-1200x637.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2868px) 100vw, 2868px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-104106\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">https:\/\/support.zoom.us\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/206330935-Enabling-and-Adding-a-Co-Host<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Like Gchat, Zoom can be used for either video or phone; picture is optional. All the essential options for customization are clearly visible during the chat, and can be accessed at the click of a button. We were surprised at how fast and easy the download process was for Zoom, and how quickly we were able to jump into a chat.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_104107\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-104107\" style=\"width: 1500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-104107 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/583a893f65e89bb4b7ce96a923b17928.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"873\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/583a893f65e89bb4b7ce96a923b17928.png 1500w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/583a893f65e89bb4b7ce96a923b17928-300x175.png 300w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/583a893f65e89bb4b7ce96a923b17928-768x447.png 768w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/583a893f65e89bb4b7ce96a923b17928-1024x596.png 1024w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/583a893f65e89bb4b7ce96a923b17928-1200x698.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-104107\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">https:\/\/zapier.com\/apps\/zoom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Efficiency was clearly the main goal when Zoom was designed, and it does its job so seamlessly without calling attention to itself with banners, spammy emails, or gaudy screen borders. It was meant for no-nonsense business calls and it shows.<\/p>\n<h3>Sharing contact info is not necessary<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-104102 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/JoinWebinar.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"698\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/JoinWebinar.jpg 698w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/JoinWebinar-300x193.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 698px) 100vw, 698px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s what might be Zoom&#8217;s best feature: all you need to invite someone to a Zoom chat is their email. It&#8217;s as simple as that. Recipients will find their invites in the default inbox, and when the time comes for the meeting, all they need do is click the big &#8220;join webinar&#8221; button like the one above. Zoom will take care of the rest. For step-by-step instructions, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/oit.colorado.edu\/tutorial\/zoom-host-meeting-and-invite-participants\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Is there a downside?<\/h3>\n<p>Our biggest gripe with Zoom was that chats <em>only last for 40 minutes<\/em> at a time. After that, another invite needs to be sent and the chat needs to be restarted. Annoying for sure, but we can only see this being majorly inconvenient if you&#8217;d been trying to talk with a dozen people at once and then suddenly had to re-invite them all. At that point, you might consider upgrading to the paid version. And yes, there&#8217;s a paid version:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_104104\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-104104\" style=\"width: 1131px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-104104 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/DifferentPlans.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1131\" height=\"842\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/DifferentPlans.jpg 1131w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/DifferentPlans-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/DifferentPlans-768x572.jpg 768w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/DifferentPlans-1024x762.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1131px) 100vw, 1131px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-104104\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">https:\/\/zoom.us\/pricing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you&#8217;re interested in seeing more detail as to what each plan offers, you can look <a href=\"https:\/\/zoom.us\/pricing\">here<\/a>. For the average Joe, however, we don&#8217;t see any reason for Zoom to cost a penny. There&#8217;s no trial period for Zoom either, so go ahead and give it a shot.\u00a0See firsthand whether it&#8217;s the best webinar software for you.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-related-articles-white\">\r\n<p class=\"sc-related-articles-white__title\">More from Softonic<\/p>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"The best ways to collaborate in Google Docs\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/the-best-ways-to-collaborate-in-google-docs\/\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-13-at-6.35.21-PM.png)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>The best ways to collaborate in Google Docs<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"How to create an easy budget in Google Sheets\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-create-an-easy-budget-in-google-spreadsheets\/\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/sheets.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>How to create an easy budget in Google Sheets<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"Tips and tricks for writing a novel in Google Docs\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/tips-and-tricks-for-writing-a-novel-in-google-drive\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/06\/Screen-Shot-2018-06-28-at-12.03.52-PM.png)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>Tips and tricks for writing a novel in Google Docs<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"Things you didn\u2019t know you could do with Google Drive\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/things-you-didnt-know-you-could-do-with-google-drive\/\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/06\/GOOGLE-DOCS.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>Things you didn\u2019t know you could do with Google Drive<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<!-- Shortcode [playwire] does not match the conditions -->\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As social networking and remote job industries become increasingly popular, so does the software we use. Webinars, conference calls, and vid chats have existed for years. We practically have more than we can keep track of &#8211; FaceTime, WebinarJam, Skype, Facebook, and Gchat to name just a few. How do you know which one is &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/why-you-should-be-using-zoom-for-all-your-video-chats\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Why you should be using Zoom for all your video chats&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9155,"featured_media":104108,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[2518,2441],"tags":[2397,1040,1035],"usertag":[781],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-104099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides","category-how-to","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionzoom","tag-messaging-apps","tag-social-media","usertag-purchaser"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327661,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104099\/revisions\/327661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104099"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=104099"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=104099"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=104099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}