On April 13, 2020, the Government of India launched a challenge for Indian tech startup companies to come up with alternatives to already existing video conferencing apps. With the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc, video conferencing in every field has become the new norm (as students are studying online, most people are working from home, conferences and meetings are being held online, etc.). Against this backdrop, major player in video calling app, Zoom, gained prominence. However, it showed some glaring problems with respect to data privacy and security. It was found that Zoom was sending data from users of its iOS app to Facebook for advertising purposes. Moreover, the data servers of Zoom were set up in China.
The need and urge to use a video calling app has been topped with the need to go for an Indian app, mainly ignited by the ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ vision. This has opened up a huge opportunity for Indian companies to come up with a viable video conferencing option. With the push from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), many made-in-India video chatting apps have emerged and others are in the process of emerging.
Following are some of these chatting applications, that are offering a competitive choice:
VideoMeet: VideoMeet is a video-calling app developed by Rajasthan-based IT firm, Data Ingenious Global Limited. This app has received a certificate of appreciation from the MeitY in the ‘India Video Conferencing Innovation Challenge’ held in July 2020. It is available for Android, iOS, and even web. It supports a number of features, such as recording, screen sharing, music sharing, flip cameras, chat, etc., during a video call. It provides no restrictions on the number of participants. It can support more than 2,000 people and has been designed keeping in mind the structure of Indian businesses, ranging from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to large corporations. It is a free app and comes with data compression technology, which helps the users to optimise their data usage.
It enables webinars and conferences and has a ‘sensitive meeting’ option for different people in a webinar to get different codes and links to join the virtual meetings. The app ensures privacy, data security, and fully encrypted video calling with no personal data of the users being shared with third parties.
A smartphone without a SIM card (subscriber identification module) and only with a Wi-Fi connection is the requirement for attending a video call through VideoMeet app. As this app is integrated with Facebook and YouTube, live streaming on these social media platforms can be done through this app. The makers of this app are working on customised branding features for hosting events, webinars, intra- and inter-office meetings.
JioMeet: JioMeet is one of the most popular video conferencing apps developed in India. A product of Reliance Industries, it gives a tough competition to the Zoom app. The interfaces of both, JioMeet and Zoom, look almost the same. This app is easily available for Android and iOS users to download and is very simple to use. It offers up to 24 hours of free-video conferencing. Moreover, it has end-to-end encryption and can be protected with password. It can be used to make high-definition audio and video calls. It can accommodate up to 100 participants in a single calling session and does not have any call duration limit.
To use this app, the user has to create a JioMeet account either using their phone numbers or with their E-mail ID, a process common to all apps. It also has additional features including scheduling meetings, active speaker layout, password-protected meetings, waiting room, screen sharing, etc. Another important feature is the ‘safe driving mode’ to video call, which enables the user to attend video calls while driving. It has multi-device support and can support up to five devices. The safety feature of this app restricts guests from joining the meeting without signing-in and disclosing their identity.
UDo Now: UDo Now is a mobile app through which one can connect with experts in real time through mobile phone. It was launched in 2019 by Hyderabad-based leadership consultant, Tajas Gudluru. It is a one-to-one expert-advice freelancing app that enables freelancers to connect with a wider range of clients. The predominant users of this app include professional freelancers, such as doctors, lawyers, educators, etc. UDo Now has opened itself to multiple users in a single meeting. With this app, one can get connected to an expert instantly or can schedule an appointment. It has an integrated payment gateway for video conferencing. This feature helps any registered expert on the app to create live sessions/events/classes, within the app itself, and earn money. It can be downloaded for free from Google Play Store and is currently available for Android versions above 4.0.
No meetings are recorded by the vendors, and the user can record meetings according to payment plans. The important feature of the app is that it can stream or broadcast up to 3,000 people at a given point in time. At present, this app is available only in India, though, the company has plans to go international soon.
Fokuz: Fokuz is another made-in-India video conferencing platform developed by Kerala-based tech startup company, Skyislimit Technologies. Manodh Mohan is the founder of Fokuz, which is an advanced, secure, and flexible video conferencing platform. Fokuz can be customised to an experience, where the host can see all the participants, while individual participants cannot see each other. Fokuz also features user experiences, such as live streaming options on various social media platforms, screen sharing, built-in recording, and remote support apart from having unlimited participants. It also has provision for automated meeting report generation via E-mail, which could provide details about username, browser details, IP address, and location of every participant.
The app is available across Android and iOS devices as well as Windows and macOS computers. Fokuz was launched in June 2020, and by September 2020, the daily active user count grew to more than 8000. The users can use the basic version of the app for free for the first two months. At present, it is available in India, though, the company is planning to spread its accessibility globally.
Say Namaste: Say Namaste is another made-in-India audio and video conferencing app developed by a Mumbai-based tech startup, Inscripts. It is fully compliant with ISO 9001:2015 certification. It was launched in April 2020. It is both an Android and iOS supported app. It can be accessed through its website version. It supports 50 participants in one call. It has options for screen sharing, media chat, messaging, and easy file sharing of documents, such as PDFs, presentations, images, video files, etc.
This app is easy to download and use, as it does not require users to create an account. Depending upon the situation, the users can either create a new meeting or join an existing meeting. Say Namaste is privacy-focussed and the entire platform infrastructure as well as data transmission is on servers located in India. All customer data is end-to-end encrypted and the app does not store any conversations or videos. The company also aims to apply two-factor authentication by using one-time password (OTP) technology to verify the identity of the participants who join a video call. The company is also in the process of getting a third-party independent security audit to ensure there are no loopholes.
It had been downloaded by more than one lakh users by August 2020.
FLOOR: FLOOR is a video-conferencing platform made by an Indian company 10times. Atul Todi is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder of 10times. It is a platform for large webinars and interactions, such as buyer-seller meets, trade shows, conferences, seminars, summits, and meetups. While FLOOR is not available as an app, it still can be accessed via the Indian apps. 10times is available on both the Google Play Store and the App Store.
The platform includes other features, such as audience polls, live question-answers, social forum, artificial intelligence (AI) driven user matching algorithms and content sharing. Additionally, the platform can host multiple sessions simultaneously, with up to one million participants. This app is end-to-end encrypted and the data is stored in secured servers like Amazon Web Services. FLOOR maintains user privacy and every now and then upgrades their security parameter to meet global requirements.
Webkonf Meetings: Webkonf Meetings is another web platform video conferencing app in support of ‘Vocal for Local’ initiative. It is available in both web version and android app. Webkonf Meetings app ensures its users utmost security and claims that it does not share any personal information of its users with third parties.
KL Meet: KL Meet by KnowledgeLens is a Bengaluru-based solution, aiming to integrate big data, AI, and Internet of Things (IoT) functionalities into video conferencing. KL Meet provides customisable, secure, cost-effective option for hosting meetings and conferences. This app aims to stand out by getting rid of the hassle of subscription, providing full control of the video conference to the host enterprise. It uses locational services to implement unique features, such as pinpointing nearby kirana stores and aiming to build a KL Meet community network for its users to interact with one another.
Using AI technologies and by incorporating a virtual conference assistant, KL Meet implements minutes of the meeting and meeting actions. The app is designed to achieve a high degree of customisation to allow its users for social meetings, consulting applications, and even virtual shopping. The entire data is kept in its server with options for customised encryptions. The company can also offer hosted model for enterprises, which would eliminate the need for third-party servers. The app is going to be available for small businesses soon.
Lauk: Lauk is a video conferencing and web streaming platform and solution, purely made in India for Indians. It is a result of the call for AatmaNirbhar Bharat. It is developed by Park Media Private Limited, headed by senior journalist-turned entrepreneur, Anuranjan Jha.
Lauk offers two services; Lauk Classroom, a video conferencing platform for educators and Lauk Studio for live streaming, webinars, and other services. It comes with an essential ‘end-to-end encryption’ feature. It offers optional password protection on each call and multi-device login support. It also has a screenshare option.