We use Zoom a lot for meetings. We schedule regular meetings in advance, sometimes even a month in advance. Sometimes, we have last-minute meetings, too. For those, we use personal meeting links. Our work setup is a mix of in-office and online, so even in the office, we still use Zoom because some team members work remotely.
The tool has made remote work possible for us. It's not just about the technology but also about staying connected with colleagues. When everyone works from home, using Zoom for meetings becomes very common. One great thing about the product is its ability to cancel out background noise. This helps a lot, especially when construction or other noise surrounds your home.
The Zoom recording feature is really useful. Sometimes, when you need to interview sensitive users, they might not feel comfortable if you record a video. We might have used a phone or another recorder in the past. However, it records only the audio of the meeting, not the video or screen sharing. This makes customers feel safer because they know only the audio is being recorded, which can be more effective for sensitive interviews.
I can share documents directly in the chat during meetings, which is helpful, especially when collaborating with my project team. Before, I had to download the chat manually, but now I can see all the chat directly in the Zoom application. Plus, I can automatically save the meeting chat to my computer.
We use screen sharing, but sometimes it can be awkward because you might accidentally share the wrong screen, including personal ones. It's a common function in Zoom meetings but can lead to some uncomfortable moments.
Even though we use screen sharing a lot, it can still be awkward because we don't always know what the other person's screen looks like. Technical issues often arise during screen sharing, especially in hybrid meetings where some people are in physical meeting rooms, and others are online. In those cases, it isn't easy to know which screen is being shared, especially if multiple screens are connected.
One area where the tool could improve is providing better clarity during screen sharing. It would be helpful to have a feature where participants can see what others see on their screen, especially when sharing presentations like PowerPoint slides. Sometimes it's hard to know which screen is being shared. Additionally, indicating when screen sharing has stopped would be beneficial. Another aspect that could be enhanced is noise cancellation. While Zoom does have this functionality, it's not widely known among participants.
Maybe the solution could promote noise cancellation features more effectively, especially for users in open office environments where background noise can be problematic. Users could access noise cancellation with just one click, which works well in my experience. However, having a dedicated button on the dashboard might be helpful for quick access rather than navigating through the audio settings. The noise cancellation feature also has different levels, like low, medium, and high, depending on the background noise level. But if you set it too high in a quiet environment, it can also cancel out your voice.
One thing I'd like to see in a new version of Zoom is better control over Otter.ai. If someone is invited to a meeting but doesn't attend, Otter.ai will join the meeting and record it without the host's consent. There's no way to block or prevent this from happening, even though Zoom works with Otter.ai for transcription purposes. It would be helpful to introduce settings allowing hosts to block or manage Otter.ai from joining meetings without permission. This would prevent situations where meetings are recorded without consent.
While attaching a link to a calendar invite for personal meeting rooms is straightforward, it's not as smooth for dedicated meetings created within Zoom. Sometimes there are issues with logging in or stability when connecting Zoom with Outlook calendars. As a workaround, I often create a quick Zoom meeting in Zoom itself, copy the link, and then add it to my calendar invite. It would be great if Zoom had smoother integration with calendars like Outlook or Google Calendar to streamline this process. Similar to the integration between Google Calendar and Google Meet, having everything in one environment would be much more convenient for scheduling meetings.
I have been using the product since 2019.
I rate the solution's stability an eight out of ten.
The tool is scalable since I haven't faced any issues with big meetings. My meetings usually consist of 10-20 users.
I haven't contacted the tool's technical support yet.
Compared to other products like Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, Zoom is pretty great overall. My experience with Microsoft Teams hasn't been very smooth, as I often encounter issues with turning on my camera, hearing clearly, or using the chat functions. While this might be due to my computer, it's still frustrating. As for Google Meet, although it's not necessarily bad, I prefer Zoom because I'm more familiar with its layout and settings. I've gotten used to Zoom, so Google Meet feels a bit harder to use in comparison.
It's hard to give Zoom a specific reliability rating because it can vary depending on factors like internet issues or technical glitches. Sometimes, updates occur, which can cause delays when joining meetings.
I use the tool's desktop version. I rate it an eight out of ten.