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Thomas Köppner - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Consultant at Apptio
Real User
Top 5
A highly stable solution that can be used for video conferences and webinars
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of Zoom are the audio and video quality and the ease of use when setting up meetings."
  • "The solution is not very useful for chat and lacks highlighting functionality."

What is our primary use case?

We use Zoom for video call sessions.

How has it helped my organization?

Zoom drastically reduced the amount of travel because most customer meetings can be done via Zoom meetings. It makes training and webinars quite interactive with the help of breakout rooms, which is quite nice.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of Zoom are the audio and video quality and the ease of use when setting up meetings. Interacting during the meeting by highlighting things, using whiteboards, and chatting makes it an interactive and good experience. The webinar functionality and the interaction options during meetings are useful features of Zoom.

What needs improvement?

I often use a highlighting feature in Slack Huddles, which makes it easier to point someone in someone else's screen share. Zoom should include a highlighting feature like in Slack Huddles. The solution is not very useful for chat and lacks highlighting functionality.

Buyer's Guide
Zoom
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Zoom. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zoom for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Zoom is a highly stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Zoom is a scalable solution. We have a couple of hundred Zoom users locally, and we have worldwide around 1,000 users.

What other advice do I have?

We use the cloud version of Zoom. Users should really focus on the video conferences and webinar functionality. Zoom is not designed for chats, channels, or discussions.

Overall, I rate Zoom a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
HammadRaza - PeerSpot reviewer
Lecturer in Computer Science at National College Of Business Administration & Economics
Real User
Top 20
Easy-to-use platform with good scalability
Pros and Cons
  • "The product's most valuable features are chat and video streaming."
  • "There must be an option to ask permission from the host to record the Zoom meeting."

What is our primary use case?

I use Zoom for scheduling work meeting purposes.

What is most valuable?

The product's most valuable features are chat and video streaming.

What needs improvement?

There must be an option to ask permission from the host to record the Zoom meeting. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Zoom for more than a year. We are using the latest version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate Zoom's stability a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is highly scalable. I rate its scalability an eight out of ten. Our organization has more than ten users, and we use Zoom at least once a week. I might plan to increase the usage depending on the business requirements.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used Skype before. Later, I switched to Zoom, which is more convenient, easy to use, and set up. It has multiple options for chat. It also has more features overall compared to Skype.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy. I rate the process a nine out of ten. It takes ten minutes to complete. I implement the updates manually.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten. It is not affordable for small businesses.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have evaluated Microsoft Teams. In comparison, Zoom is convenient to use.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Zoom an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Zoom
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Zoom. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.
ManishBhandari - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Technical Specialist at Redington India Limited
Reseller
Remote engagement solution that offers stability and scalability
Pros and Cons
  • "Zoom is interoperable and user-friendly."
  • "The free version of Zoom could be improved and offer more functionality. We would also like to have whiteboard and drawing functionality."

What is most valuable?

Zoom is interoperable and user-friendly.

What needs improvement?

It would be great if Zoom could continue to enhance all of its features to keep up with other solutions on the market. The free version of Zoom could be improved and offer more functionality. We would also like to have whiteboard and drawing functionality. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have used this solution for three years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution but I am not sure how many users it is possible to have on one call. 

How are customer service and support?

The technical support for this solution is good. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Sachindra S - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
MSP
Top 10
Good communication, reliable, and easy to download
Pros and Cons
  • "The performance is good."
  • "In the next release, I would like to see better security."

What is our primary use case?

We are service providers. If a client has some of those licenses, they will arrange for a Zoom meeting. We share whatever storage the clients have, but we do not purchase storage.

Zoom is used for video communication.

What is most valuable?

The performance is good. 

We are satisfied with this solution, it's good.

What needs improvement?

Security is required, and I assume that it is already in place. Aside from that, we are not utilizing Zoom's high-end capabilities.

In the next release, I would like to see better security.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Zoom for three years.

It is dependent on what the client does on their end in terms of deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We haven't had any problems with Zoom in our limited use.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not had any issues with the scalability of Zoom.

How are customer service and support?

I have not contacted technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Jaeger, Teams, and Grafana are the tools used in the company for remote monitoring.

We use a variety of operating systems, including Linux, Unix, and Windows.

We also use the network storage for office purposes and I personally use Google Drive, iPhone, and iCloud. 

I don't work with the Enterprise edition; instead, I use the open edition.

How was the initial setup?

It doesn't require installation, we use a link, but sometimes we have to download from the browser. This process is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

I was able to complete this process myself.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend Zoom to anyone who is thinking about using it.

I would rate Zoom an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Managing Consultant at Business and Technology Consulting, LLC
Real User
Convenient, easy to use, and simple to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "It's not a big deal to set up a meeting."
  • "One thing I do wish was that there was more visibility. Sometimes I have to click into a reply-all to find out who is in the meeting and whether they've accepted or not."

What is most valuable?

It works. It's easy to use and it's easy to set up.

I like that it is easy to record. 

To me, it's like using your iPhone. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal to set up a meeting. 

Screen sharing is important. Being able to pull up spreadsheets, system presentations, PowerPoints, whatever, is very helpful. The tool's pretty effective that way.

People like it to be light. They like it to be not so technical that it's hard to learn or hard to use. One of the reasons Zoom grew so fast is that kids could learn it, old people could learn it, workers could learn it. It takes a little more learning curve to have the license and host meetings. Set up meetings, to host, there's a little bit more there, however, even that's pretty simple.

What needs improvement?

One thing I do wish was that there was more visibility. Sometimes I have to click into a reply-all to find out who is in the meeting and whether they've accepted or not. It's not convenient to check on that while you're in a meeting.

Teams is better about that. Teams is better about posting up right in front of you so you can see who was invited, who clicked in or not, who's on the call. 

Also when people are talking, you see either their image, if they've got an avatar, or at least their initials, and a little round fake avatar that's blinking when they're trying to talk, or they're raising their hand. That is the only thing I'd say that's really a frustration for me with Zoom, is I'm not always sure who got invited.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for a while. I use it every day.

I'm working virtually and my clients are all over the country. I don't visit them more than maybe once every six weeks each. I'm on the phone in Zoom or Teams probably 15 to 20 hours a week.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is quite good. I haven't dealt with bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is good. Expanding it is not a problem. 

As consultants, there's only usually a few of us that are engaged with a client. We don't send an army in. We're very senior consultants, and our rates are really high. We're like hiring an attorney or something. We're not a bunch of bodies coming in to do all the leg work. We're advising them on how to do a lot of things properly in terms of ERP selection and implementation.

That said, we're engaging with a lot of people though. For example, in this one client I have, they're in Baltimore, I'm often on a call with 20 people. I may be the only one on my side and there's all of them. I have to know who they are and get familiar with their voices. A lot of the time, more people aren't necessarily doing the video thing where they're displaying themselves. It's just is less common that people do that. That's because more people are working virtually and maybe they're still in their t-shirt or you haven't taken a shower that day. If people aren't displaying themselves, you use the tool more like a phone in a sense, as you have to know, "Okay. That was Jackie speaking. That was Lisa speaking. That was Alice speaking."

We get familiar with each other, we get to know each other. However, we typically deal with maybe 10 or 12 people on a call. They may be in different locations. With one client I have, they're in 23 states. Various key people are in different places. Other kinds of meetings I have oftentimes been a three or four-way, where you've got a client and you've got a vendor who's maybe doing something for them. We can have essentially three or four companies represented in a call, and we're having maybe calls two or three times a week.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've also used Microsoft Teams.

The larger the client, the more likely it is that they're going to use Teams instead of Zoom. Oftentimes, they're setting up the meetings and they prefer to set them up. I have this one large client where we're recording every one of our sessions, as they're reusable then for walking back through and revisiting deep discussions we've had and requirements and so on.

I don't happen to like Teams, it's clunky. Teams is clunky and it's also just harder to use. Particularly if you're using it also is a repository for documents, folders, recording, and so on. It's just not as usable.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very simple. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I have a subscription to Zoom.

What other advice do I have?

I am a customer and an end-user.

What my partner and I typically would do if we are in control of that is we use Zoom. We'll use Box for our repository of the artifacts, requirements, recordings, and so on. Box is also very, very easy to use. However, we find Teams clunky on both sides now. However, even though we prefer Zoom if a client prefers a different conference system, and they've got dozens of people inside that are married to that, well, we'll go with what they use.

We are on the latest version of Zoom. Zoom actually forces that. If you get a Zoom subscription, it pops up a patch or an update or whatever, and it's no big deal to click that and update.

What Zoom is, is it's a very convenient, easy to use, quick to set up, simple to learn tool. It works pretty effectively. 

However, people aren't using it so visually anymore as they used to. A lot of times it's really just a meetup where you're all on the same call, and people won't even post their videos too much anymore. Sometimes, if we're at a first-time meeting, we'll have our visual presence there, however, then we'll hide it away behind an avatar. People just aren't in need of that facial thing too much.

The main thing for me was just knowing who's scheduled for a call. Sometimes I don't know who's going to be on the call until I get on the call. There's a list there, however, you don't know who's accepted. We need a clear list. That would be an improvement.

Keeping it light is important. Everything is getting more and more like that. Even the system designs, major ERP systems, most of them when you log in, you feel like you're in a box. It feels boxy. That's the way Teams feels. It's got a structured menu architecture and so on, and frames around everything. The way things are going - and this is how Zoom is - it feels like you're in an open space. It doesn't feel like a box of things. It's an open flow. Keeping it that way is going to be important.

If you add more features, you have to keep it easy to find, easy to hide. Don't throw them on your whole menu. Don't throw everything at me. Just what I'm using is all I need. I'll give you another example of that. There's a system called CRM, Customer Relationship Management, such as Salesforce. Salesforce made a major strategic mistake. They built the thing that is a very complex functional solution. It's expensive due to the fact that it's so overbuilt. I don't know where Salesforce is at, however, I've got a lot of clients that I've run into that say, "Yeah, we put in Salesforce a few years ago and we're going to replace that now as too costly and we don't use it all."

They didn't do a very effective job of layering functionality so that you only see what you use, and make it simple, make it easy. Also, they didn't scale the pricing to what they're going to use. Salesforce is probably still pretty ubiquitous, however, it's probably going to get beat out by a bunch of these smaller, lighter, more open solutions. The challenge for Zoom would be to stay Zoom, and don't fix what isn't broken. It is a great tool. I really have very little, almost nothing but praise for Zoom. The only thing I'd say is that competitively, they're going to have to think about, well, what else does it have to be able to do?

In my opinion, it's going to be making the visual collaboration, not from people to people, and instead, the people to content, whether it's websites, systems, logins, spreadsheets, whatever, making that so easy to do that it's almost natural. We can more quickly say, "Oh, okay, let me pull that up."

Layer number one is, it ought to be as natural as sliding your fingers across the screen in some magical way to be able to show what you want to show. The next layer is going to have to have more social collaboration from inside and outside of the system.

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten so far. In comparison, I might rate Microsoft Teams at a six or so. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Principal | CTO at IBE Global
Real User
Very easy to deploy, simple conference room feature, and works on any device
Pros and Cons
  • "Simple and user-friendly; works on any device."
  • "Lacks an indicator on chat to show that a message has been read."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution as part of our corporate communications system. I'm principal CTO and we are customers of Zoom. 

What is most valuable?

It was easy to deploy Zoom and it's a product that was easily accepted throughout the company, even by our management team. Zoom is just very simple for the user and it works regardless of where you are and the device you're using. The ease of integration of the conference rooms for our leadership was probably the most valuable aspect. With WebEx or Teams where you need converters in the middle and things didn't always work, the leadership team was always complaining about those solutions. 

What needs improvement?

One issue I have is that there is no indicator on chats to let you know whether a message has been read so you're never sure if it's been seen. They could implement something like Whatsapp with the two check marks. I also think that the integration with Microsoft is not as good as it was with Jabber. It's not the end of the world but it could be better. In a similar vein, I think that when it comes to document sharing the integration could be improved.

What other advice do I have?

I think that if your main focus is on communication between team members, especially with people working from home, this is a simple solution. We need to recognize that not everyone is an IT person and we're working with people at all levels in the company, whether they're in the field, the warehouses, or in fabrication. For all of them this is, quite honestly, more user-friendly than WebEx or Teams will ever be.

Based on our use cases, I rate this solution nine out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1361406 - PeerSpot reviewer
Regional Councillor at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Has good screen sharing capability but is difficult to collaborate on the spot
Pros and Cons
  • "The screen sharing feature is valuable. It is easy to set up a meeting if you are on a call with a non Teams user if you need to do screen sharing."
  • "It is difficult to collaborate."

What is our primary use case?

Right now for meetings, we are using Zoom. We use it for video communications. Since the pandemic started we started using Zoom. Our first experience we had a problem with security. We got people bombing the meetings. 

What is most valuable?

The screen sharing feature is valuable. It is easy to set up a meeting if you are on a call with a non Teams user if you need to do screen sharing. COVID-19 is showing us a new way to communicate, that everything doesn't have to be face to face meetings. And so the more you can really understand the capability of the software, the better you are.

What needs improvement?

It is difficult to collaborate. You have to book a meeting first before being able to do anything. We have had experiences where the meeting has frozen. We had to shut it down and get back on again to keep going. Zoom has privacy issues and also stability issues. I would like to see integrations into other applications. It would be nice to have multiple people be able to collaborate on the same screen.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Zoom for three or four months. Since the Pandemic started.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I would much rather be using Teams and be able to dial up anybody. With Teams, you can collaborate and share files with anybody. Teams are more dynamic. We have also used Skype.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Zoom at a five on a scale of 10. I don't think it has all the integration. This is also because of security issues.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Business Analyst at Highland Ventures Group LLC
Real User
Easy to setup meetings with great stability
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features are the video conferencing and the whole invite to set up a meeting is really easy to figure out and use. The chat functions are pretty simple as well."
  • "Zoom needs to address the privacy issues I've heard about."

What is our primary use case?

I use it for school mostly. I use it for remote meetings with one or more people.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the video conferencing and the whole invite to set up a meeting is really easy to figure out and use. The chat functions are pretty simple as well.

What needs improvement?

Zoom needs to address the privacy issues I've heard about. There have been multiple breaches that have made the news. That would be something to address.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Zoom for a year and a half.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Connectivity is surprisingly good. I've had upwards of 90 people on a call and with no issues noticed, and seems pretty easy to manage people, seeing as the host of the call can usually mute everyone.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Zoom at a nine on a scale of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user