Video conferencing is a virtual meeting using real-time audio and visual communication between participants in different locations. The aim of video conferencing is to provide face-to-face meetings without the cost of travel. Video conferencing applications are available for computers, smartphones, and tablets. Basically, video conferencing has become a widespread business and educational tool.
Video conferencing differs from videophone calls in that it's designed to serve a conference or multiple locations rather than individuals, using web-based applications. It can be used in conjunction with other communication systems, such as email.
Video conferencing uses digital compression of the video signals to enable transmission over conventional digital data networks, such as the internet. As with voice communications, the highest quality video requires the greatest bandwidth; however, lower quality video requires considerably less bandwidth.
Video conferencing helps companies cut costs by reducing travel expenses, improve productivity by simplifying collaboration, enhance customer service by increasing availability, and improve employee satisfaction by promoting work-life balance through telecommuting options.
Besides, video conferencing is no longer just about meeting clients overseas or having virtual meetings with colleagues from other offices. The integration of video conferencing apps into corporate environments has boosted productivity at workplaces and improved customer interactions. Furthermore, it has also helped maintain physical distancing in times of lockdown and social distancing as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic.
There is no doubt that 2020 has been a revolutionary year. It has changed our habits and the way we perceive the world at large. The COVID-19 pandemic has turned everything upside down, from education to business.
The virus has forced companies to move their offices to people’s homes, where they can continue working remotely. In this situation, video conferencing apps for remote work have become an indispensable tool for efficient collaboration.
By 2025, 70% of the workforce is estimated to work remotely at least five days a month. The respective work model will be enacted with the help of an effective video chat application. Consequently, with such a model, organizations can improve collaboration and communication among their employees. Factually, according to the research conducted by Global Workplace Analytics, remote working can reduce operational costs for businesses by up to $11,000 for each employee per year.
The aforesaid analytics means that developing video conferencing software will be one of the most profitable ideas in 2022!
Steps to Take Before Building a Video Conferencing App
If we could go back in time a little more than a decade, there would be no need for video conferencing apps.
It’s not that people didn’t feel the pain of productivity loss or lack of face-to-face communication. It was just that, until a few years ago, technology was not advanced enough to make video conferencing a seamless experience.
Now things have changed. People around the world have started making the most of video conferencing apps (from Skype to Zoom). As per statistics published by Lifesize, 66% of people use video conferencing apps at work every day.
If you are also planning to build your own video conferencing app, this article is for you! Especially if you are still in the initial stages and want to understand what it takes to build one.
There are many video conferencing apps available today. Some of the most popular include Skype, Zoom, and Google Meet. These tools offer a great way to connect with colleagues, friends, and family members and can also be used for work meetings or business conferences.
If you're interested in building your own video conferencing app, here's what you need to know about developing one.
#1 Consider the Goals for Your App
Before starting any project, it's important to think about the goal of your product and who will use it. This consideration can help you decide if creating a new app is really the best way to solve the problem at hand or if using an existing platform would make more sense.
#2 Define Your Target Audience
After you have considered your goal for the app, the next step is to define the audience to which you’ll offer your video conferencing app. You can do in-depth research to create several customer personas and an ideal customer profile (ICP) to facilitate targeting.
The customer personas and ICP can serve you data-driven analytics, such as whether the customers use Zoom for work meetings and webinars because they need flexibility and ease of use. Or the customers pay for features like personal meeting rooms and cloud recording because they need their meetings to be available on demand. Also, if they are concerned about privacy — Zoom has reported three privacy breaches since 2018.
#3 Decide on How to Get Revenue
After defining your target audience, move on to decide on revenue generation. The most popular application monetization method is in-app purchases. The idea here is to offer a basic version of the app for free but charge for additional features or content.
Another thing you need to consider is your application’s monetization model. You can choose between the following three options:
- Free with ads (Freemium). This model includes a free version of the application that displays advertising. The main advantage of this model is that it requires no upfront payment and is the easiest to implement.
- Paid download. This approach involves charging a one-time fee for users to download your mobile application. While this model has a higher barrier of entry than freemium, it has the advantage of providing users with an ad-free experience and a higher level of trust.
- In-app purchases (IAP). With IAP, users can purchase virtual goods within the app at various price points. In-app purchases are typically used in games where users can purchase extra lives, levels, or other digital goods to help them advance in the game faster and more easily.
#4 Build an Operational Flow
The next step is to decide how your business will operate. The Lean Canvas is a great tool that allows you to see the whole picture of your business operations, detect weaknesses in your solution, and discover new business opportunities.
The Lean Canvas is an exceptional model that is a one-page visual summary of the customer problem (or customer profile), key metrics, solution, unfair advantage, unique value proposition, channels, and cost structure of a startup or business idea.
#5 Ensure High Video and Audio Quality
High-quality video calls are what your target audience will primarily expect of your video conferencing app. To meet their expectations, make sure your application has enough bandwidth and CPU capacity to support HD video. Higher bandwidth will allow for a higher resolution, which is a must-have for today's users. In addition to that, you should also consider the number of devices your audience will be using. With more participants joining your video conferencing app, it's important that they get a smooth user experience on all the devices they use. See if the video conferencing software you choose can support multiple device types and operating systems.
#6 The Convenience of User Experience
Last but the most important thing that makes a video conferencing app popular is how easy it is to use it. A Video Conferencing Xamarin App Development Company should create an interface that's intuitive enough for anyone to use. This can be done by ensuring that there are no unnecessary features in the apps and all relevant information is displayed clearly.
#7 Ensure the Software Security
Use strong passwords for all systems and accounts. Consider using a password manager like LastPass or 1Password. Set up two-factor authentication on all accounts that offer it. This will prevent an attacker from easily taking over your account even if they get your password. Common two-factor methods include text message verification, email verification, and apps like Google Authenticator or Authy. Keep all software updated. Developers are usually quick to fix known vulnerabilities in their software so it’s important to keep everything up-to-date. If you don’t have automatic updates turned on, make sure to check for updates regularly.
Many organizations are using a combination of encryption, anonymization, and pseudonymization to protect their data. Encryption protects the confidentiality of personal data by scrambling it so that only authorized parties can decrypt it. Anonymization is a process for removing personally identifiable information from data sets, making it impossible to identify a certain individual from the remaining data. Pseudonymization is a process for replacing personally identifiable information within a data set with one or more artificial identifiers (pseudonyms).
#8 Choose Proper Technological Stack
When choosing the proper tools for building your app, you should also take into consideration the following:
- The number of users that can be supported in a group called
- The number of simultaneous calls that can be handled by an application server
- The availability of mobile versions for iOS and Android devices
- Compatibility with web browsers and operating systems
- Keep compliance in mind
