Zoom to build customised products for education, medicine segments

Plans to launch 'most secured' version with best in class security algorithms by year-end

Following the large scale adoption of its technology platform amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, video-conferencing major Zoom is looking at building customised products and solutions targeting niche segments such as education and medicine.

It is also planning to come out with highly secured vdeo conferencing solutions to cater to specific requirements such as corporate board meetings, said Velchamy Sankarlingam, president of Product and Engineering at Zoom.
 

"We will now focus on vertical markets to look at industry-specific needs like education and healthcare. These would involve product customisation and regulatory compliance," he added.
 

Speaking at a convention, organised by the All India Management Association on Tuesday, Sankarlingam said that while the technology has been there for a while, previously there was a preference to be physically present and do a lot of things in person. “The pandemic has created the need for us to work remotely using all these technologies." Some of the ‘disruptions’ that have happened in the form of remote learning and telemedicine may never go back to the pre-Covid traditions.
 

Zoom has seen huge success during the ongoing pandemic with its daily active user numbers surging 300 times when compared to the pre-Covid-19 levels. The brand name has become eponymous with video calling similar to what Google is for an internet search. The San Jose, California-headquartered company's product has not only seen a huge demand from enterprises, but also retail consumers such as schools and families.
 

"There is a lot of consumer adoption due to the ease of use. I attended the reunion of my school in Yercaud (Tamil Nadu) and college in Chennai recently. I had more reunions during Covid-19 than in the last 10 years," Sankarlingam said.

According to Sankarlingam, the company has built a platform called 'Zoom App Marketplace' for certain in-house and third-party applications. These can be integrated into the main video conference app for use in cases such as real-time translation, CRM (customer relationship management) tools and even weddings.

The number of such add-on apps has grown to 600 from 100 applications over the last two months. "People are now missing the fun part as people get stressed out after sitting in day-long meetings. We have added some filters and touch-ups to Zoom and we are also looking at how virtual reality can play a role in this," he said.
 

The company is also planning to release a ‘most secure’ end-to-end version of the tool by the end of the year. "It involves technicality regarding how the keys get exchanged between hosts and the attendees. The current version is also secure, but this is the next-gen version where there is no way anyone can break-in because it is backed by best class security algorithms," Sankarlingam added.
 

According to a report by Global Market Insights, Inc, the size of the video conferencing market is set to exceed $50 billion by 2026. Factors such as disruptions in large gatherings and increase in demand for remote training are expected to boost the market, said the report.