Video Conferencing

Video conferencing enables teams to communicate and collaborate in real time from any location. With advanced APIs, companies like yours can easily add high-quality video conferencing features that are secure, scalable, and easy to customize.

What Is Video Conferencing?

Video conferencing is a technology that allows participants to communicate in real time through video from different locations. It enables users to connect to devices that support video over the internet and send audio and video in real time.

There are two types:

• Point-to-point conferencing: This is where only two parties participate in the video call. For instance, this could be personal calls or one-on-one meetings and interviews.
• Multipoint conferencing: This is often a group video call with three or more participants. Examples include meetings, live streams, classes, or larger conferences.

Most video calling applications often come with optimized user interface(UI) features that help to accommodate multiple participants in one call.

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For instance, you can switch between different views in Skype depending on the number of participants in a call. Skype's grid view accommodates up to 10 video and audio streams simultaneously.

Additionally, their large gallery view accommodates up to 49 video feeds using a feature known as Together mode. Users can also toggle the Speaker view on Skype to focus on the current speaker.

How Does Video Conferencing Work?

Video conferencing relies on the real-time compression, transmission, reception, and decompression of audio and video data. Here's how it works.

Data Capture

When you join a video call, the app you're using starts by establishing a connection between participants. Then, the source device, often a camera and microphone, captures analog audiovisual (AV) input.

The audio and video data collected are continuous waves of varying frequencies and amplitudes. To use less bandwidth, codecs usually compress data before converting it into digital packets.

Data Transmission

Several protocols, including Real-Time Protocol (RTP), Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC), and RTP Control Protocol (RTCP), are used to transmit compressed audio and video signal over the internet.

The data packets are transmitted through your network infrastructure to reach the other participants in the call.

Decoding and Playback

On the receiving end, the video chat software decompresses the audio and video data.

To ensure the audio and video streams are in sync, the software transcodes the digital packets back into an analog signal.

The video chat app handles data packets to keep latency low and communication running smoothly. The video is then displayed on the screen, and the audio is played through either the speakers or the headphones.

What Are the Features of Video Conferencing?

Video conferencing software comes with several functionalities that make it easier to communicate and work together. Let's take a look at some of them.

Chat and Messaging Capabilities

The chat feature enables members to send messages concurrently while the meeting is taking place. They can share files, links, and images directly within the chat to facilitate collaboration.

Moreover, the meeting host can manage the chat activity with moderation capabilities such as restricting chat access or muting certain participants.

Real-Time Video and Audio

One of the core components of video calling applications is that they leverage real-time video and audio components. Video chat apps typically come with high-definition video and audio, low latency, adaptive bitrate streaming, and video transcoding. Additionally, video chat comes with options to customize the video layout.

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Participants can switch focus dynamically according to their preference. For instance, as shown above, Zoom has a multi-speaker view that lets participants view more than one speaker at a time.

These features collectively influence the quality of the video calls for end users. One way of leveraging such features without having to build them from scratch is with APIs and SDKs. All you have to do is extend them so as to deliver high-quality video calls.

Screen Recording and Sharing

Video chat apps allow users to record and save meetings to view or share later. Once the meeting host begins recording, all participants get notified to maintain transparency and privacy. For instance, applications like Skype remind the host to notify the attendees when they start and stop recording.

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Alongside screen recordings, some video chat apps also feature automated transcription and time-stamped annotations for recorded sessions. Both of these features help to make recorded sessions easy to search and find important reference points.

Additionally, during video calls, participants can share their screens to present documents or slides in real time. Users are able to share browser tabs, specific application windows or even documents. Shared screens allow for easy collaboration and interactivity during video calls.

Enhanced Security and Encryption

To protect user data and to uphold privacy, video calling apps often include features such as End-To-End Encryption (E2EE) , Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and Transport Layer Security (TLS). These features assist by providing robust security against unauthorized access.

Additionally, there are role-based controls where the host can lock a meeting, mute, or even remove participants from a meeting. There is also a waiting room feature in which users have to wait for the host to admit them, thus limiting who has access to the call.

Tool Integration

Tool integration in video conferencing is an important feature that upholds productivity by integrating different services and applications into the conferencing platform.

Video call apps often integrate with other tools like project management software and calendars for improved productivity. For example, you can integrate Zoom with Google Calendar, Slack, Salesforce, and even MailChimp.

Through tool integration, it's easier for teams to sync meetings with calendars, collaborate on projects and tasks directly, and launch video calls directly from team chats.

Tool integration makes processes easier, cuts down on context switching, and makes meetings run more smoothly by combining important tools into a single platform.

Annotation, Live Transcription, and Closed Captioning

Video calling applications often come with annotation and transcription features. Participants are able to add notes on shared screens to better interact with those in the meeting.

You can use drawing tools or type text to highlight important sections in presentations. What's more, you can easily erase annotations and redo them in case you make any mistakes.

Moreover, live transcription allows individuals with hearing impairments to participate fully by providing a text representation of the video call in real time.

An additional level of accessibility, closed captioning, displays either live-generated text or pre-recorded text at the bottom of the screen. Live captions are vital for inclusivity, especially in a diverse meeting setting. 

Participant Management Features

Participant management features make the administrative parts of video conferencing easier.

Some of these features include the ability to add, mute, or remove participants. Hosts can also give roles to co-hosts, run breakout rooms for smaller group discussions, and use waiting rooms to control who comes in.

Additionally, meeting attendees can set virtual backgrounds and filters for privacy when needed.

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It's also easier to keep things in order with advanced features like chat moderation, hand raising, and screen-sharing permissions. 

What Are the Pros and Cons of Video Chat?

Like any technology, video chat has its benefits and challenges.

Here are some of the pros and cons of video conferencing.

Pros

Video chatting is a useful feature in applications and forms an integral part of modern communication. So, what are the benefits of video conferencing?

• Cost savings: Video calls eliminate the need to commute to the office to attend meetings, meaning more cost savings on transportation. Additionally, the possibility of collaborating virtually gives more room for remote work and reduces the need for companies to spend on large office spaces.
• Efficient communication: Video calls play an integral role in the modern business world. Teams that work fully remotely are able to collaborate and work on projects through video chats. With video chats, key stakeholders can hold meetings no matter where they are, thus streamlining the decision-making processes.
• Flexibility: One of the benefits of video chat features is it allows your users to join from any location. If you are collaborating on a project with someone living across the world, you can hop on a call regardless of the different time zones.
• Improved collaboration: Most platforms come with extra features, such as document and screen sharing. Through video calls, your users can have quick and effective communication fostering better relationships and enhancing collaboration.

Cons

While there are many advantages to video conferencing, there are also some disadvantages. Here are some of them:

• Connectivity problems: One of the major drawbacks of video calls is that poor internet connections can disrupt meetings. Connectivity issues on the user's end may result in buffering and lags in audio or video causing them to miss important points.
• Security concerns: Video chat apps with limited security measures risk unauthorized access to sensitive data. Attendees may become susceptible to phishing attacks or even having unauthorized persons joining the meeting.
• Higher learning curve: Some users may find that different video calling apps have a higher learning curve. This means they may need some training to familiarize themselves with different app features.
• Equipment costs: For high-quality video streams, hosts require several pieces of equipment, such as cameras and microphones. Purchasing good quality equipment means the initial setup may be costly.
• Potential for miscommunication: Video calling requires a stable and fast internet connection. Suboptimal connectivity means that the calls may buffer, and users may miss out on what's being discussed. Additionally, background noise and environmental distractions may affect the clarity of calls resulting in miscommunication.

Leveraging Video Conferencing Capabilities for App Retention

Providing a more personalized and engaging video calling experience can significantly increase app retention. Using APIs and SDKs with pre-built functionalities can reduce the time and cost needed to build complex video call features from scratch. To ensure a dependable video calling experience, most APIs and SDKs providers extensively test and build solutions with a robust infrastructure.

Frequently Asked Questions