If you weren’t familiar with web conferencing platforms before the pandemic, I bet you know all about them now.

如果您在大流行之前不熟悉Web会议平台，那么我敢打赌，您现在已经了解了所有这些信息。

The ongoing COVID-19 situation has many more people working from home than ever before, leading companies to use web conferencing as their primary means of communication between employees. And with much of the world on lockdown with social distancing measures in place, even spending time with family and friends is now largely restricted to video calls. From children’s birthday parties to high stakes business meetings, web conferencing and video call platforms are now commonplace for virtually everyone.

持续的COVID-19情况使在家工作的人数比以往任何时候都要多，这导致公司将网络会议作为员工之间进行交流的主要手段。由于世界上大部分地区都采取了社交疏远措施，因此即使与家人和朋友共度时光，现在也基本上只限于视频通话。从儿童的生日派对到高风险的商务会议，网络会议和视频通话平台现在几乎对于每个人来说都是司空见惯的。

Web conferencing was on the rise even before the coronavirus pandemic. According to a Valuates report, web conferencing has an estimated worth of $12.5 billion and is expected to hit $19 billion by 2025. And we are fortunate to have this software in place!

甚至在冠状病毒大流行之前，网络会议仍在增加。根据Valuates的一份报告，网络会议的价值估计为125亿美元，预计到2025年将达到190亿美元。我们很幸运能够安装此软件！

变焦臂 (The Zoom Boom)

Out of all the web conferencing platforms that exist, Zoom is the clear winner during the pandemic. Zoom has been the number one free app for iPhones in the United States since March 18, with daily downloads increasing an astonishing 30x year-over-year.

在现有的所有网络会议平台中，Zoom在大流行期间无疑是赢家。自3月18日以来，Zoom一直是美国iPhone的免费应用排名第一，每日下载量同比增长了惊人的30倍。

It is certainly no surprise that the usage of web conferencing platforms has increased dramatically since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, but why has Zoom raced so far ahead of its well-established competitors, such as Microsoft and Cisco?

自从COVID-19爆发以来，Web会议平台的使用量急剧增加就不足为奇了，但是为什么Zoom远远领先于微软和Cisco等知名竞争对手？

Overall, Zoom’s staggering success is due to the ease of getting started on the platform. Users can send a meeting link to anyone. When the recipients go to that link in their web browser, their Zoom client is automatically opened, and they are connected to the meeting. The easy-to-use meeting creation and intuitive functionality have made Zoom an extremely popular platform during the pandemic. Furthermore, one of Zoom’s design features-customizable backgrounds-has captured the attention of many people who enjoy seeing themselves in front of funny pictures or beautiful landscapes as a way to personalize their web conferencing experience. Another key to Zoom’s success is the platform’s ability to stream high-quality video reliably without many instances of freezing or crashing during meetings.

总体而言，Zoom的惊人成功归功于该平台的入门入门。用户可以将会议链接发送给任何人。收件人在其Web浏览器中转到该链接时，将自动打开其Zoom客户端，并将其连接到会议。易于使用的会议创建和直观的功能使Zoom成为大流行期间极为流行的平台。此外，Zoom的设计功能之一(可自定义的背景)引起了许多人的注意，他们喜欢在有趣的图片或美丽的风景面前看到自己，以此来个性化他们的网络会议体验。 Zoom成功的另一个关键是该平台能够可靠地流式传输高质量视频，而不会在会议期间出现很多冻结或崩溃的情况。

However, while Zoom’s ease-of-use is admirable, it does not come without a cost.

但是，尽管Zoom的易用性令人钦佩，但并非没有代价。

安全缺陷 (Security Flaws)

“We do not want to grow too fast,” said Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom, in a 2017 interview. “Our philosophy is we really focus on making our existing customers happy. We do not aggressively pursue the new prospect.”

“我们不想增长太快，” Zoom首席执行官埃里克·袁(Eric Yuan)在2017年的一次采访中表示。 “我们的理念是我们真正专注于使现有客户满意。我们不会积极追求新的前景。”

Well, Zoom may not have planned to grow quickly, but plans do not always work out as expected. And while the company’s meteoric rise is extremely impressive, the rapid growth did not happen without its shortcomings.

好吧，Zoom可能没有计划快速增长，但是计划并非总能按预期进行。尽管公司的飞速发展令人印象深刻，但没有缺点就没有实现快速增长。

Zoom’s daily meeting participants grew from 10 million in December to a staggering 200 million in March and continued to rise to 300 million in April. The proliferation of the company’s platform resulted in the extension of Zoom’s privacy risks to massive numbers of users, leading to widespread concerns and several lawsuits.

Zoom的日常会议参与者从12月份的1000万增加到3月份的惊人2亿，并在4月份继续增加到3亿。该公司平台的激增导致Zoom的隐私风险扩展到大量用户，从而引起了广泛关注和数起诉讼。

Concerns about Zoom’s security vulnerabilities predated the pandemic, but these issues are now heightened due to the growing number of users on the platform. Some security researchers have described Zoom as “a privacy disaster” and “fundamentally corrupt” based on allegations of the company’s mishandling of user data. “Zoom-bombing,” as it is widely known, is a serious problem, as hackers successfully infiltrate video meetings to disrupt and sometimes threaten participants.

对Zoom的安全漏洞的关注早于大流行，但是由于平台上用户的数量不断增加，这些问题现在更加严重。一些安全研究人员根据公司对用户数据处理不当的指控，将Zoom形容为“隐私灾难”和“严重破坏”。众所周知，“缩放炸弹”是一个严重的问题，因为黑客成功地渗透视频会议以打乱甚至威胁参与者。

Additionally, there are allegations that recordings of some Zoom calls have been accessible on the web, while uninvited people have apparently found ways to join calls at times, which certainly poses major security and privacy concerns.

此外，有指控称一些Zoom通话的录音可以在网上找到，而不请自来的人显然已经发现了有时加入通话的方法，这无疑带来了主要的安全和隐私问题。

According to the report by the Washington Post, thousands of Zoom recordings can be found on the web due to the platform’s practice of naming all of its recordings in an identical manner. The report claims that over 15,000 Zoom recordings were discovered via a search engine that is capable of accessing cloud storage space, uncovering recordings of therapy sessions, business meetings, elementary school classes, and much more. Although Zoom claims to be working diligently to remove its vulnerabilities, concerns about the company’s security practices remain.

根据《华盛顿邮报》的报道，由于该平台以相同方式命名其所有记录的做法，因此可以在网上找到数千个Zoom记录。该报告称，通过搜索引擎发现了超过15,000张Zoom录音，该搜索引擎能够访问云存储空间，揭示治疗会议，商务会议，小学班级等等的录音。尽管Zoom声称正在努力消除其漏洞，但仍对该公司的安全实践表示担忧。

成功的网络会议平台的要素 (Ingredients of a Successful Web Conferencing Platform)

People now rely on web conferencing far more than ever before, which leads them to greater clarity about the features that are most important in a platform.

人们现在比以往任何时候都更加依赖网络会议，这使他们对平台中最重要的功能有了更清晰的了解。

Overall, I believe that the primary ingredients for achieving widespread success with a web conferencing platform are as follows:

总体而言，我相信通过网络会议平台获得广泛成功的主要因素如下：

Easy to access: as proven by Zoom, it is highly advantageous to provide a platform that can be used without the need to sign-up, combined with offering a version that can be accessed via a web browser without requiring an app download.
易于访问：经Zoom证明，提供无需注册即可使用的平台以及提供可通过Web浏览器访问而无需下载应用程序的版本，这是非常有利的。
Intuitive and simple UI: people of all ages and levels of computer knowledge should figure out how to use the platform relatively easily.
直观，简单的用户界面：各个年龄段和计算机知识水平的人都应该弄清楚如何相对轻松地使用该平台。
A standout free version: as an example, Cisco provides most of the features required for widespread success, but its expense limits the platform’s reach.
一个出色的免费版本：例如，思科提供了获得广泛成功所需的大多数功能，但其费用限制了该平台的覆盖范围。
Comprehensive security measures: such measures are required to avoid problems such as “Zoom-bombing” and to ensure the trust of users and the confidentiality of private information.
全面的安全措施：需要采取此类措施以避免诸如“炸弹爆炸”之类的问题，并确保用户的信任和私人信息的机密性。

Although online meetings used to be the main reason people used web conferencing platforms, the coronavirus pandemic has changed this fact dramatically, bringing a multitude of new applications to light:

尽管在线会议曾经是人们使用Web会议平台的主要原因，但冠状病毒大流行已大大改变了这一事实，使许多新应用程序崭露头角：

Event industry: The event industry is relying heavily on streaming and web conferencing to avoid canceling everything during this challenging time. Conventions can continue with speakers and guests connecting through web conferencing platforms, allowing the industry to remain productive during the pandemic.
活动行业：活动行业严重依赖流媒体和网络会议，以避免在这个充满挑战的时间内取消一切。演讲者和来宾通过网络会议平台进行连接可以继续举办会议，从而使该行业在大流行期间保持高产。
Education: Formal education could not continue during the pandemic without web conferencing. Fortunately, web conferencing technology allows students to continue learning during the lockdown while staying connected to their teachers and classmates online.
教育：如果没有网络会议，在大流行期间不能继续进行正规教育。幸运的是，网络会议技术使学生可以在锁定期间继续学习，同时保持与老师和同学的在线联系。
Media outlets: By utilizing many innovative and creative ideas, media outlets are managing to keep things afloat through the use of these platforms, allowing late-night talk shows, news programs, and other entertainment and information shows to continue producing content while respecting social distancing regulations.
媒体机构：通过利用许多创新和创意，媒体机构通过使用这些平台设法使事物保持浮动，允许深夜脱口秀，新闻节目以及其他娱乐和信息节目继续产生内容，同时尊重社会距离规定。

Automation processes in web conferencing platforms are extremely valuable to many, and particularly to small event organizers who can save money on camera crews by using automated recording features. While the quality is far inferior to content derived from professional camera operators, automation allows those with low budgets to bring their ideas to fruition without breaking the bank. Furthermore, conference coordinators can benefit from solutions like Omnipress, which assist users through the automation of organizational processes.

网络会议平台中的自动化流程对许多人来说非常有价值，尤其是对于小规模的活动组织者而言，这些活动可以通过使用自动记录功能来节省摄制组的钱。尽管其质量远不如专业摄像机操作员提供的内容，但自动化技术可以使那些预算较低的人在不中断资金的情况下实现他们的想法。此外，会议协调员可以从Omnipress等解决方案中受益，该解决方案可以通过组织流程的自动化为用户提供帮助。

The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging for us all. Thankfully, web conferencing platforms are rising to the occasion to provide the essential tools that allow our business and social endeavors to continue while we wait for the coronavirus outbreak to settle down. Through it all, I believe that we have learned a lot about the value of web conferencing in many aspects of our daily lives. Although there is nothing that replaces in-person contact, there are many things that can be accomplished easily and quickly via web conferencing, so I expect that the usage of these platforms will continue proliferating even once COVID-19 becomes a distant memory.

COVID-19大流行对我们所有人都具有挑战性。值得庆幸的是，网络会议平台正在兴起，以提供必要的工具，使我们在等待冠状病毒爆发稳定下来的同时继续开展业务和社交活动。通过这一切，我相信我们已经在日常生活的许多方面学到了很多有关网络会议的价值。尽管没有什么可以代替面对面的联系，但是有很多事情可以通过网络会议轻松快速地完成，所以我希望即使COVID-19成为遥远的记忆，这些平台的使用也会继续增加。

What are your thoughts about COVID-19’s effect on the video call market? Please share your opinions with us.

您对COVID-19对视频通话市场的影响有何看法？请与我们分享您的意见。

By Max KalmykovVP, Media & Entertainment at DataArt

通过 最大Kalmykov DataArt 媒体与娱乐 副总裁

Originally published at https://blog.dataart.com.

最初发布在 https://blog.dataart.com 。