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President at SystemLink
Real User
Popular, with a web-based interface, but does not support file sharing
Pros and Cons
  • "It's popular. Many people use it not only personally, but also in businesses."
  • "It would be useful to be able to share files with my colleagues."

What is our primary use case?

We use Zoom to communicate with colleagues and hold meetings with colleagues and clients.

What is most valuable?

It's popular. Many people use it not only personally, but also in businesses.

What needs improvement?

When you have a large group of people on Zoom, the focus becomes hazy. When there are larger groups, people can become easily distracted.

When you have 10 people and three or four of them are primarily engaged in the conversation, the rest of the group has ventured or wandered off. I am not sure if it's a complaint. It's simply a fact.

I would like to see better video quality, especially when it's being used by a large group of people using it.

I'm not aware of any file transfer capabilities with Zoom. It would be useful to be able to share files with my colleagues.

There are some things that we require that Zoom does not have.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zoom for approximately one year.

Buyer's Guide
Zoom
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Zoom. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
831,071 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our company is small. 

When we use Zoom, we may have one client and possibly another group of participants who are not affiliated with the organization. 

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

Because we are in the software development and implementation business, we use other tools in addition to Zoom.

While we are on a call, we use Go to Assist, and Fast Support to track our time and transfer files.

How was the initial setup?

We access it through the Zoom web application. We don't install it or publish it.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Zoom a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

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

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
VMware Senior Client Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
High-level video quality, plenty of features, and highly scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "There are many valuables features of Zoom. The visibility is very good. The ability to see everyone that is talking and the indication spotlight of who the primary speaker is helpful. The solution is interactive, the participants are able to raise their hand, comment, give gestures, such as thumbs up or down."
  • "The solution can improve by having the option to be able to lock the primary speaker on high definition the entire time. Additionally, it would be a benefit to have easy Zoom room-like features for individuals using lightboards. There should be quick invitations and integration with Slack and Outlook."

What is our primary use case?

I use Zoom as a communication solution. I am an active user of the solution and I use it for approximately six hours a day.

What is most valuable?

There are many valuables features of Zoom. The visibility is very good. The ability to see everyone that is talking and the indication spotlight of who the primary speaker is helpful. The solution is interactive, the participants are able to raise their hand, comment, give gestures, such as thumbs up or down. There is the option to record, the quality of the video is great, the quality of the desktop sharing is clear, easy scheduling, and overall ease of use.

What needs improvement?

The solution can improve by having the option to be able to lock the primary speaker on high definition the entire time. Additionally, it would be a benefit to have easy Zoom room-like features for individuals using lightboards. There should be quick invitations and integration with Slack and Outlook.

In an upcoming release, I would like to have a push-button screen capture of what I am doing. I do not want to record the whole process, but I want a push-button screen capture. For example, if we are doing a PowerPoint or lightboard and I have edited it and I want to capture the change, having a push-button that records it to my laptop would be a large advantage.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zoom for approximately two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good but I noticed quality issues for people who are using cell phones. There should be a note somewhere that says landline preferred. It is best to use WiFi rather than mobile data. This is more of a user issue than it is a platform issue.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is highly scalable. We have zoom sessions that include tens of thousands of people.

How are customer service and support?

I have never had an issue with Zoom to have the need to contact the support.

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

I have used WebEx and Teams previously. The video quality is poor, I cannot do screenshots easily or see what my lightboards are doing. When I am looking at myself on Teams, Teams flips my video around and there is no option for me to do a screen capture on Teams. If I am on a Teams call, I open up Zoom, I flip to Zoom video, I do my screen capture there and then I flip back to Teams for the call. I dislike Teams.

What other advice do I have?

The additions I have suggested are to make an already amazing platform even better. My utilization of Zoom is better than everybody else in my organization as far as how many features are being used. I do training, teachings, and client-facing workshops and I have a lightboard integrated with Zoom, I use it extensively.

I rate Zoom a ten 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
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Zoom. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
831,071 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer973497 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Simple to use, cost-effective, and is highly available to everybody
Pros and Cons
  • "The biggest advantage with Zoom, compared to other similar products, is the simplicity."
  • "We would like to have the ability to connect people using phone numbers so that non-Zoom users can join conversations."

What is our primary use case?

I am primarily using Zoom for web-based training. I'm providing it as part of my job or instead, learning myself. Right now, I am taking Excel training.

What is most valuable?

The biggest advantage with Zoom, compared to other similar products, is the simplicity. 

There are a large number of users because it is very accessible to people in organizations. Other similar products are sometimes blocked but so far, we have not had any firewall-related issues with Zoom.

What needs improvement?

We would like to have the ability to connect people using phone numbers so that non-Zoom users can join conversations. For example, on my side, I can be using Zoom but on the other side, the person is using their phone.

Integration with Microsoft products such as Outlook would be great.

For how long have I used the solution?

I began using Zoom within the past three or four months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Zoom is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability seems pretty good and we haven't faced any issues. We have had training seminars with more than 60 participants and everybody was successful. Nobody reported any technical issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not faced any technical issues and have not had to contact support.

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

Our main tools for internal communication at the company are Microsoft Teams and Skype. Zoom is mainly used for training sessions and does not have as many users. I am not aware of any plan to increase our usage of it.

The popularity of Zoom is the primary reason that we switch to using it for training sessions. It is accessible by everybody because it's a free tool.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. I received a link to join a meeting, the software downloaded, and everything was fine. There was nothing special and I didn't have any problems.

What about the implementation team?

We have a few people who are responsible for maintenance.

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

Zoom can be used for free.

What other advice do I have?

My advice for anybody who is considering Zoom is that it's a great tool, I don't have any complaints, and I recommend it.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Specialist at CSS Corp
MSP
Simple to use, and many people can join meetings without degrading performance. I prefer it over Skype for Business.
Pros and Cons
  • "Compared to any other platform, Zoom has been very stable for meetings and conference calls."
  • "I would like to see support for transferring files."

What is our primary use case?

I use Zoom for internal meetings.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is stability. Compared to any other platform, Zoom has been very stable for meetings and conference calls.

Zoom can be used for video calls where you are sharing the screens and giving control to the other participants, which is something that I really like about it.

This tool is not complicated and simple to use.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see support for transferring files. Sometimes we discuss things in a meeting and once the meeting ends, I would like to be able to consult my electronic notes and then send a file later on. This happens when I am not in the office when a meeting takes place and I would like to send a file to one or more of the participants later on in the day.

If the web conference is a training session then it would be helpful if the instructor could send materials to the other participants in the meeting.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zoom for almost a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is great. As we scale up in terms of meeting size, it keeps its reliability. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not had very large meetings yet, but with respect to scalability, our meetings with between 10 and 20 people have been great. There were no issues and everyone was able to speak.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have not had to contact technical support. Also, I have seen a lot of training links sent out from Zoom to help people learn how to use it. I don't think that there should be many issues on the technical side.

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

I have used other products but the stability and reliability of Zoom keep it on top of them.

Skype for Business is one solution that I have used, and I would say that Zoom is far superior to it. Specifically, when it comes to reliability, but also ease of use and scalability. I don't know if Skype for Business breaks at a certain point, but the quality of calls is reduced as more participants join the meeting. In fact, from what I can tell, meeting quality is generally lesser in Skype for Business. Screen sharing is also more convenient in Zoom.

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

In the basic version, there is a 40-minute time limit on group meetings. This is something that I like and I don't think that it should change.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 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
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