Zoom how does it work? Plus Top Tips

While Covid-19 has undoubtedly brought about severe disruption and frustration to those who rely on audience engagement, face to face meetings, or visual promotions to get their message across, all is far from lost - there are still many ways to bring people together.Online only – or ‘virtual events’ not only provide opportunities to expand brand awareness, educate, hold webinars, conduct interviews and build networks online, but also enable you to reach far more people in a simple yet effective manner. And the best part about it – all you need is an Internet connection!  So, let’s Zoom into the world of hosting virtual events and see how they can open the door to new ways of organising events.

What is Zoom?

Put simply, Zoom, is a popular cloud based video conferencing application. The free basic level offering features high quality video, audio and collaboration facilities, and gives up to 100 participants up to 40 minutes of livestream capacity. (For longer events, simply log back in). For extra functionality, Zoom offers the following subscription based options:

  • Zoom Pro – Create recurring scheduled meetings with recording options for either personal devices or Cloud, plus the ability to host meetings with duration times up to 24 hours.
  • Zoom Business – Suitable for small to medium sized businesses where multiple teams may wish to schedule regular meetings. Extra features include the ability to brand Zoom meetings with URLs and company branding, dedicated customer support, plus transcripts of meetings recorded and stored in the Cloud.
  • Zoom Enterprise – Suitable for businesses with more than 1000 employees, this service offers unlimited Cloud storage for recordings, dedicated customer support and discounts on webinars and Zoom rooms.  

What are its benefits?

With no date set for physical events and meetings being able to resume, or any real indication of how the logistics of large gatherings will play out, Zoom – and similar video conferencing applications such as Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business  -  are now the next best thing to a ‘business as usual’ service.  However we believe there are other benefits to hosting online events.

It’s simpler for your attendees

Virtual events make life so simple for your participants that it’s likely you’ll have a greater ‘virtual’ attendance than an event held in a traditional venue. Your guests won’t have to worry about traffic or parking issues, and of course it’s a time saver too – it eliminates time spent commuting from meeting to meeting as in effect you’re bringing the event to them.  

It promotes greater real time engagement

We believe real time engagement can significantly improve with a virtual event.  People are less likely to feel nervous about asking questions or interacting, plus simply clicking on an on screen video image is an easy way for guests to network and build contacts. Don’t forget that you can also record virtual events too – an invaluable means of storing information to help you build your business strategy.

Cost and time efficiencies for you

Physical events tend to need greater planning time, and therefore incur greater costs. Cost savings on elements such as catering and associated items, hiring extra staff, venue hire and décor will make your budget stretch further – a real incentive in times of economic uncertainty.

How can we help you?

Events and meetings bring people together. In today’s current climate where people may be facing travel restrictions, it really is time to reach out with a virtual event.  So why not share your skills and expertise to an online audience or host gatherings the easy way with Events by Knight’s Virtual Event Planning Service?We’ll help you plan and shape your virtual event, co-ordinate a schedule or running order, advise on any extra elements needed and solve any virtual planning issues you may have.Please feel free to give us a call on +44(0)20 3130 4040 or email info@eventsbyknight.co.uk