Tag: Video Conferencing

Google Meet Testing Live Translated Captions

Google is testing live translated captions in Google Meet, making the feature available in beta.

Google Meet is the company’s video conferencing software, replacing the defunct Google Hangouts. As remote work has become the norm, video communication has become pivotal to everyday business.

The company is now testing the ability to provide live translation captions, with initial support for English meetings translated to Spanish, French, Portuguese and German.

Google sees the feature as an important step in improving inclusivity and making sure all parties are on equal terms within a meeting.

Translated captions helps Google Meet video calls to be more global, inclusive and effective by removing language ability as a barrier to collaboration. By helping users consume the content in a preferred language, you can help equalize information sharing, learning, and collaboration, and make sure your meetings are as effective as possible.

Those interested in trying the feature can apply to be part of the beta here.

September 28, 2021
Datadog CEO: 2020 Was Big Win For The Cloud

“This year we’ve seen fairly brutal changes in patterns of usage in the cloud,” says Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel. “As you can imagine, streaming (has increased). All of a sudden everybody’s kids are watching Disney+. Also, video conferencing, online gaming, and all of that spiked pretty quickly. The way we see that is it’s a big win for the cloud, in general.”

Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel says 2020 was a big win for the cloud:

This year we’ve seen fairly brutal changes in patterns of usage in the cloud. As you can imagine, streaming (has increased). All of a sudden everybody’s kids are watching Disney+. Also, video conferencing, online gaming, and all of that spiked pretty quickly. Even if you think of the domains that were negatively impacted by COVID such as travel when all of a sudden everybody had to cancel their travel, it actually meant a lot more activity for the online sites of the travel companies.

So you see all these patterns of companies pointing up and spinning down. The way we see that is it’s a big win for the cloud, in general. Companies could change their minds they could actually scale up. They could decide to shift different services to have them delivered at different scales instead of having to spend three to six months trying to retool everything and ship that to the data centers. They could do that very quickly in the cloud. We see that as a big win for the cloud.

Read: SolarWinds Hack Was Supply Chain Attack, Says Datadog CEO

Next year we still see some scaling from those customers. We see some of the industries that were negatively impacted coming back online and getting back up. Across the board, we see more and more renewed urgency around digital transformation and migration to the clutches precisely because the cloud made it possible for companies to react so quickly. Those who are not on the cloud were more impacted than the others.

Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel: 2020 Was Big Win For The Cloud

January 6, 2021
Dell Launching Video Conferencing Monitors With Microsoft Teams Support

Dell is launching three new monitors with dedicated Microsoft Teams buttons and support for Windows facial recognition.

Microsoft launched a Teams certification program in December for USB audio and video devices. As companies have turned to remote work to stay productive during the pandemic, Microsoft Teams has become an important component for many businesses. Dell has now become the first manufacturer to announce a line of monitors with a dedicated Teams button.

Collaboration is easier and more efficient with the Dell 34 Curved Video Conferencing Monitors, the world’s first 34-inch curved video conferencing monitor certified for Microsoft Teams. Also available in 24-inch and 27-inch sizes, the monitors offer secure facial recognition sign-in and hands-free commands to provide enhanced security and convenience.

As Microsoft continues to compete with Slack, programs like this give the company a significant advantage.

January 5, 2021
Microsoft Teams Taking On Zoom With 24-Hour Free Meetings

Microsoft is ramping up its competition with Zoom by offering 24-hour meetings with its free Teams plan.

Zoom quickly emerged at the outset of the pandemic as one of the top choices for virtual work, remote learning, worship and socializing. Although Microsoft’s Skype is one of the oldest video conferencing platforms, it has not enjoyed nearly as much popularity or use.

As a result, Microsoft has pivoted to promoting its Teams platform. Although originally more of a Slack competitor, Microsoft has increasingly been positioning Teams as an alternative to Zoom.

Zoom made headlines Tuesday when it announced it was lifting the 40-minute limit on meetings with its free account, in an effort to help families remain safe and still be able to visit during Thanksgiving.

Microsoft has followed suit, announcing it is extending the time limit on meetings made with a free Teams account to 24-hours. In addition, only the person hosting the meeting needs a Teams account, making it even easier for others to join.

Microsoft’s announcement is good news for consumers and highlights the benefits of healthy competition in the video conferencing market.

November 23, 2020
Zoom Coming to Smart Displays

Zoom has announced it is bringing its videoconferencing software to smart displays.

As the coronavirus pandemic took off, Zoom quickly established itself as the videoconferencing solution of choice for professional, religious and personal use. As a result, the company’s business skyrocketed and it has been expanding its offerings to keep up with demand and improve the user experience.

Now Zoom is bringing its software to smart displays in an effort to make it even easier to use at home. The software will be available on Amazon Echo Show, Portal from Facebook and Google Nest Hub Max.

“With 42% of the U.S. labor force working from home full time, businesses can maintain their competitive edge by finding ways to increase productivity, enhance efficiency, and enable collaboration,” writes Zoom’s Jeff Smith. “With Zoom on your favorite smart display, you can connect with colleagues to work smarter together, using features like whiteboarding, content sharing, and co-annotation.

“As a Zoom Meetings user, all you’ll need to do is log in to one of our supported smart displays and integrate your calendar, status, and meeting settings. You’ll have access to all the tools you need to personalize your home office experience.”

It’s safe to say this latest move will help further cement Zoom’s position at the head of the pack.

August 19, 2020
Zoom Begins Offering Hardware as a Service

Zoom has taken the next step toward world domination of the video conferencing market by offering hardware as a service (HaaS).

As the pandemic has forced companies and individuals to change how they work and communicate, Zoom has become the clear favorite among video conferencing platforms. Although it has stumbled with some security issues, it has quickly resolved those and continued moving forward.

Now Zoom is launching its HaaS for US customers, offering a high-quality Zoom Phone, as well as hardware for Zoom Rooms, such as wide-angle cameras and touchscreen displays.

“Amazing hardware partnerships are a key part of Zoom’s ecosystem,” says Velchamy Sankarlingam, President of Product and Engineering at Zoom. “With many people globally coping with today’s unique challenges, easy access to hardware is critical for offices, distance learning, telehealth, and more. Zoom Hardware as a Service will help users adapt to new work-from-anywhere environments by making it easier than ever before to get access to the latest and greatest hardware for Zoom Rooms and Zoom Phone. “

“Hardware as a Service is a game-changer that addresses key IT challenges of heavy upfront hardware costs, complex deployments, high-touch support, and cumbersome device lifecycle management,” says Roopam Jain, Industry Director, Unified Communications and Collaboration at Frost and Sullivan. “It enables flexible and cost-effective OPEX-based end-to-end deployments that future proof technology investments, allowing business users to leverage cutting-edge communications.”

Launching Zoom HaaS is the next logical step, and allows the company to better control the user experience by taking low-quality cameras, computers and other equipment out of the equation. This will improve the overall experience for customers and likely improve brand loyalty.

July 9, 2020
Microsoft Rolls Out Together Mode to Improve Teams Meetings

Microsoft has rolled out Together mode to Teams in an effort to significantly improve video conferencing.

As social distancing and remote work have become standard, video conferencing and communication tools have become critical components for individuals and businesses alike. Whether its corporate teams keeping in touch, churches conducting services or individuals keeping up with family and friends, Teams, Zoom, FaceTime, Skype and others have become lifelines.

At the same time, video fatigue has taken its toll, with widespread reports of video conferencing being exhausting and draining on its users. Microsoft has set out to address that with its new Together mode.

Together mode uses AI segmentation tech to create the illusion that everyone is together in the same place, such as a meeting room, auditorium or coffee shop. This creates a much more familiar and comfortable experience, as opposed to the traditional grid placement.

“We’re social creatures, and the social and spatial awareness systems in the brain can finally function more naturally” within Together mode, says Microsoft’s Jaron Lanier.

Microsoft Teams Meeting

The end result is a more engaging experience “by helping you focus on other people’s faces and body language and making it easier to pick up on the non-verbal cues that are so important to human interaction. It’s great for meetings in which multiple people will speak, such as brainstorms or roundtable discussions, because it makes it easier for participants to understand who is talking.”

With no immediate end in sight to the pandemic, improvements like this will go a long way toward helping people stay productive and connected.

July 8, 2020
Discord Pivots to Chat, Downplays Gaming

Discord is working on repositioning itself as a chat platform, rather than a gaming messaging platform.

As millions of people have been sheltering in place, working from home and relying on communication tools to keep in touch, chat and video conferencing apps have become all the rage. While Discord started out as a messaging platform for gamers, it would appear it is growing far beyond that and moving into the general communication space.

In a blog post, CEO Jason Citron said the company has spent the last year finding out what mattered most to its users. Based on that information, it quickly became apparent that many individuals were using Discord to be part of an online community, engage in meaningful conversation and have a place to belong.

“You came to us and said Discord was this place. And for millions of you, it already felt like a home,” writes Citron.

“Today, many of you use Discord for day-to-day communication. You’re sharing thoughts about books, music, and art, creating servers to just be yourself and share moments with friends. Since we launched in 2015, Discord has grown to more than 100 million monthly active users. You spend 4 billion minutes in conversation daily across 6.7 million active servers. On a weekly basis, that’s 26 billion server conversation minutes across 13.5 million active servers.”

Citron then goes on to highlight the changes Discord is making to keep up with the way people are using it. These changes include improving the branding to focus on chat, making Discord “hostile to hate” and improving the onboarding experience.

It’s a safe bet that Discord will probably continue to grow and benefit from this move, especially as digital communication is more important than ever.

June 30, 2020
Zoom Charts Path Toward End-to-End Encryption For All Users

Zoom is adding end-to-end encryption (E2EE ) for all users, reversing a decision made just weeks ago to reserve the highest security for paid plans.

Zoom has been in hot water more than once in recent months over its encryption claims and policies. Originally, the company’s marketing led customers to believe it provided E2EE when it did not. Once the company finally rolled out the upgraded encryption, it said it would only be for paid subscribers.

The rationale for the decision was that free plans were more likely to be used for illegal activities, and the company wanted to be able to work with the FBI and local law enforcement. Needless to say, the stand was not a popular one.

It appears the company has changed direction, and charted what it believes will be a compromise solution that will allow it to offer E2EE to free users.

“To make this possible, Free/Basic users seeking access to E2EE will participate in a one-time process that will prompt the user for additional pieces of information, such as verifying a phone number via a text message,” writes CEO Eric S. Yuan. “Many leading companies perform similar steps on account creation to reduce the mass creation of abusive accounts. We are confident that by implementing risk-based authentication, in combination with our current mix of tools — including our Report a User function — we can continue to prevent and fight abuse.”

The move is measured solution that will likely satisfy most critics.

June 17, 2020
Microsoft Sets Its Sights on Zoom With Teams Upgrade

Not one to rest on its laurels, Microsoft has released an update to Teams that appears to have Zoom squarely in its sights.

Zoom quickly established itself as the video communication platform of choice for businesses and individuals alike in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It goes without saying, that hasn’t gone over well with Microsoft, especially since the company owns Skype, one of the oldest video communications platforms.

In recent months, however, Microsoft Teams has become the darling of the company, and it seems clear it views Teams as its best chance to take on Zoom. With its most recent upgrade, it’s clear that Microsoft is fighting back to reclaim some of the video conferencing market share.

The first eye-catching feature of the new release is custom background effects. Teams already had the ability to blur backgrounds, but this new feature allows users to upload their own images, or use one of the presets that come with the app.

“No need for a green screen, or even a blank wall. Teams uses a highly trained model that differentiates the subject from their background and can impose a custom background over everything else, making it easy and fast to start expressing yourself in all your meetings,” writes Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365.

The second Zoom-like feature is the ability for free accounts to schedule meetings in advance. Like Zoom, Teams users can either copy the invitation link or send an invitation for Outlook or Google calendar.

Another feature that will greatly benefit users is live captions.

“Teams free users can now turn on live captions during their calls and meetings,” Spataro continues. “This feature makes meetings more inclusive, giving participants another way to follow along with the conversation and address the needs of participants with different hearing abilities or language proficiencies. It’s currently available as a preview in U.S. English.”

Overall, this is a welcome upgrade to Teams and will likely go a long way toward helping Microsoft make a dent in Zoom’s lead.

June 16, 2020
The Case For Paid Zoom Plans: Free Plans Don’t Have End-to-End Encryption

Following Zoom’s addition of end-to-end encryption, the company’s CEO made it clear that only paying customers benefit from it.

Zoom has become one of the dominant video communication platforms during the coronavirus pandemic, going from 10 million daily users to well over 200 million, and hitting 300 million at times. In spite of its dominance, Zoom has faced significant criticism for weak security. The company was forced to put a 90-day moratorium on new features, as it pivoted to security fixes.

One of the biggest criticisms was the type of encryption Zoom used, with its marketing giving the impression it was end-to-end when, in fact, it was not. Zoom quickly moved to address the issue and offer true end-to-end encryption.

In spite of that, not everyone will benefit from the upgrade. According to Bloomberg, in a call with analysts, CEO Eric Yuan indicated free users are out in the cold.

“Free users for sure we don’t want to give that because we also want to work together with FBI, with local law enforcement in case some people use Zoom for a bad purpose,” said Yuan.

The move is already receiving criticism and it will be interesting to see if Zoom sticks to its guns or upgrades free users as well.

June 3, 2020
Google Announces Chromebox For Meetings

Are you a quickly growing business with employees all over the nation or even the world? Do you have a hard time setting up meetings between these employees separated by land and sea? If so, Google’s new hardware might just be what they need.

Google announced this afternoon that it’s working with Asus to create what it calls the Chromebox for meetings. The Chromebox itself is just a tiny desktop PC that runs Google’s proprietary Chrome OS. The “for meetings” part means that it comes equipped with all you need to host video conference calls between your office and another halfway around the world.

Here’s what Google says you’ll get with the Chromebox for meetings:
Instant meeting room. Chromebox for meetings comes with a blazing-fast Intel Core i7-based Chromebox, a high-definition camera, a combined microphone and speaker unit and a remote control. Set up your entire room in minutes and easily manage all meeting rooms from a web-based management console. All you need is the display in your room, and you’re good to go.
Simpler and faster meetings. Walk into the room, click the remote once and you’re instantly in the meeting. No more complex dial-in codes, passcodes or leader PINs. Share your laptop screen wirelessly, no need for any cords and adaptors. Integration with Google Apps makes it easy to invite others and add rooms to video meetings, directly from Google Calendar.
Meetings with anyone, anywhere. Up to 15 participants can join the video meeting from other conference rooms, their laptops, tablets or smartphones. Need to meet with a customer who doesn’t use Chromebox for meetings? That’s easy too—all they need is a Gmail account. You can also connect to rooms that have traditional video conferencing systems using a new tool from Vidyo, and participants who prefer phones can join your meeting with a conference call number from UberConference.

Google says the Asus Chromebox for meetings is available today in the U.S. for $999. For that price, you’ll get the Chromebox, all the accessories and the first year’s management and support. After that, management and support will cost $250 a year.

If Asus isn’t your thing, Google says Chromeboxes from HP and Dell will be available in the coming months. The Chromebox for meetings will launch in more countries later this year, including Australia, Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the U.K.

Image via Google

February 6, 2014