Definition: Zoom videoconferencing

A very popular Internet-based videoconferencing application from Zoom Video Communications. Founded in 2011, the service was launched in 2013 and gained a million users in four months. Like Skype, Zoom features screen sharing, which lets one party see the full screen of the other party.

Zoom offers free one-to-one videophoning; however, group videoconferencing is limited to 40 minutes. During the COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020, one of the first things Zoom did was relax the 40-minute restriction to give education/academic users more access at no cost.

Longer multiuser videoconferencing sessions require paid subscriptions. Zoom video uses mobile devices and desktop computers but also supports hardware from major videoconferencing vendors.

Zoom Rooms
For room-size video conferences, Zoom Rooms integrates with existing videoconferencing systems. For organizations that want to create room systems from scratch, Zoom Rooms provides the foundation components that are used with recommended hardware from various partners.

An Integrated Phone System
Zoom Phone provides a complete Internet-based phone system for iOS and Android as well as desktop IP phones. Users can switch between phone and video in the same session. See IP phone, Zoom town, Zoom fatigue, Zoom party and Zoombombing.

Speaker and Gallery Views

Speaker View (top) makes the person talking the primary window. In Gallery View (bottom), every participant is the same size, which works if the group is relatively small.

Change Your Venue

Zoom's Virtual Environment option lets people change their background to one of several stock views or any image they have.