VIDEOCHATAPPS
ISSUE392|COMPUTER SHOPPER|OCTOBER 2020 77
sociable,though obviously it’s not an issue
when you’re making one-to-one calls rather
than forming group chats.COUNTING DOWN
Another limitation to consider is maximum call
lengths. Again, this might not be an issue if
your calls will tend to be small, short and
sweet, but what might be unlimited on some
services maybequitetight on others. The free
version of Zoom is the stingiest, capping video
meetings to 40 minutes, and the free version
of Google Meet currently limits video calls to24 hours: long enough to practically not be
worth thinking about, but this will drop to one
hour once Google’s temporary premium
payment waiver offer expires.
Fortunately,most services allow foratleast
afew hours of video calling even on their free
versions, which should be enough to outlast all
but the most talkative relatives. Exceeding a
video call time limit won’t necessarily just
shunt you out of the conversation, either: in
Skype’s case,itmerely switches from avideo
call to avoice call.SHARING IS CARING
Most softwarewill augment the central video-
calling feature with text chat and file-sharing
tools. These are essential forusing such
softwareinany kind of work situation, as text
chat logs provide arecord of information you
can refertolater,and dragging and dropping a
file intothe application while you’re on camera
discussing that file is great forproductivity.
These benefits can also carry over intomore
leisurely use,even if instead of an important
file it’safunny photooraninteresting web
link you want to share with your friends.
Screen sharing is similar: the ability to
mirror your displaysoothers can see it was,
no doubt, added to most suites so business
users could conduct presentations more
effectively.Athome,though,screen sharing
can be used to host aquiz, or even to
demonstratetoaless technology-minded
relative how to fix aPCproblem.
Regularly using these sharing and
communication toolsintandem with video
calling can become second nature to the point
where it feels limiting to go without them, as
will be the case with more simplistic software
such as Facebook Messenger Rooms. Tryto
think in advance whether you’ll want to share
text, links and your own screen on calls before
settling on aspecific piece of software.PERSONAL PROTECTION
As useful as video calling is right now,italso
introduces certain security concerns: you will,
after all, be using the internet, amicrophone,
and either awebcam or your phone’sortablet’s front camera all at once.That’s alot
of material that could be compromising if not
secured properly.
None of the services we’re covering here
will actually listen in or peep on your calls, so
you don’t have to worry about that, but most
security-focused users should stick to those
with end-to-end encryption. In this system,
your message –whether it’s in video,voice or
text form –isencrypted at your end and only
unencrypted once it reaches the receiver’s
device,leaving no window foranunencrypted
message to be intercepted along the way.Other forms of encryption exist, such as
Google Meet’s transport encryption, which
encrypts messages at the sender’s end but
unencrypts them at Google’s servers rather
than at the receiver’s end. This also makes
snooping extremely difficult, but formaximum
security,end-to-end is the gold standard.BE OUR GUEST
Apotential difficultyofsetting up big group
calls is ensuring everyone has the right
software downloaded and accounts set up,
but this can all be bypassed if the calling
service supports guest users. With these –
which include Zoom,Skype and Teams –the
host can generateaninvitation link, which
others participants can use to access the call
without needing to set up afull account,
usually by simply entering atemporary
username when joining. If aweb client is
available,theyusually won’teven need to
download and install an app,astheycan just
join via their preferred browser.
Guest invites are therefore agreat tool for
getting people involved with aminimum of
fuss. Services that require averified account
could be seen as more secure,asit’sharder for
troublemakers to repeatedly hijack acall, but
the risk of this happening on privatecalls to
friends and family is vanishingly low.UPGRADE PATH
We’ll mostly be looking at what the free
versions of each service provide,though
several have premium paid-for versions with
enhanced functionality.This can range from
the aforementioned call time extensions to
entire features such as the ability to record
calls, shared cloud storage folders, and
extra admin toolsfor hosts.
Whether or not you should payfor
video-calling softwarewill depend on how
heavily you use it. We think the free versions
will suffice formostusers, but you can always
treat these as trial software forthe paid
versions if you want to try out afew different
services. Just be aware that most use a
subscription model forpricing, so you maybe
asked to commit to payment forayear.examine the kinds of toolsand features you
can expect from the best video chat apps,
including those that mayhaveevolved in
recent months, then take acloserlook at
specific products to see what each one offers.
ASSEMBLETHE CREW
The maximum number of participants fora
video call can vary wildly between services.
Zoom, Google Meet and MicrosoftTeamscan
all handle triple figures at once,mainly
becausetheywere originally built for
businesses that might need to hold multi-
departmental meetings. By contrast,
WhatsApp maxes out at eight people per call,
and that’s only arecentdevelopment. When
the lockdown first took effect,itwas four.
Of course, if you’re looking to keep in
touch with friends and family –asopposed to
giving speeches to acompany’s worth of
employees –then such aseemingly small
number might be enough. If you do end up
with alarger group,however, it’s also worth
knowing how many fellow callers can be
shown onscreen at once,sono-one is left
out. Higher-population software will again
tend to have room formoreparticipants on a
screen at once,particularly if theyhavea
grid-style gallery view; otherwise,group calls
mayonly show the video feed of whoever is
currently speaking, as Google Hangouts did
until recently.Inour view,thisfeels less
Mostservices allowfor afew hoursofvideo calling, whichshould be enough to outlastthe mosttalkativerelatives