It seems like the meteoric rise of the Zoom video conferencing app amid the work from the home situation caused by the global outbreak of COVID-19 has not only caught the attention of Facebook alone. The Microsoft owned Skype has also set its eyes on the fast-growing market.
It has been recently discovered that widely popular video calling platform Skype has released a new feature called ‘Meet Now’ which is now being advertised by the former go-to-app for video calls as a ‘hassle-free way to connect’.
This new feature of Skype will enable its users to record calls, view participants on a call, share screen and more. Much like Zoom, using ‘Meet Now’ an admin or a host can generate a unique link and share it with their friends or colleagues after which participants can join in either using the Skype app or web browsers such as the Google Chrome or Microsoft’s Edge. It also allows the users to open recent chats and send a reaction to the call.
Skype has mentioned that the ‘Meet Now’ feature has been made accessible to all the users for any time it is needed. The company has also reported that the feature will be facilitating the holding of call recordings for users up to 30 days along with making the duration of the media share in chat longer. Meet Now is absolutely free and will be perfect for hosting webinars as well as work interviews and conferences.
Meet Now: Is Skype Trying To Replicate Zoom’s Success?
In the tech business, replicating another successful business is often the ‘law of the jungle’ and therefore, it isn’t surprising that Microsoft’s Skype along with Facebook’s new Messenger Desktop app is trying to do the same after witnessing the massive spike in the usage as well as in the stock price of the video conferencing app Zoom amid the lockdown due to the outbreak.
Although Skype remains a shadow of its former self due to Microsoft’s mishandling of the platform post-acquisition, the app’s new ‘Meet Now’ feature comes at the right time for many people looking to host and attend meetings remotely, while Zoom has now halted its new feature developments and is busy sorting out its privacy and security issues.
While it is true that Skype’s link-based Meet Now seems somewhat similar to Zoom’s Meeting ID feature because it easily lets anyone join in on the conversation with just a small bit of information, however, its security measures are likely more robust than Zoom’s. Skype’s Meet Now calls could still be susceptible to ‘Zoom bombing‘ as it hasn’t yet been tested to be completely secure and reliable.
What remains to be seen now is if Skype is able to strike while the iron is hot. With Zoom being in hot water, Facebook’s Messenger Desktop App being very early and the lockdown still being in motion, Skype’s Meet Now feature has very much of a fighting chance to come out triumphant and get popular enough to put Skype back on the map. It will be interesting to observe how the whole video calling/conferencing space evolves with the introduction of revamped competitors along with new ones. We will keep you posted.
