With the Coronavirus running rampant in over 213 Countries, Business meetings, sales appointments and family gatherings have moved from a physical environment to a virtual one.

The use of Video-chat applications like Zoom skyrocketed with over 300 million daily participants and services like Microsoft Teams, Skype and Google Hangouts offering new features and free tiers to keep people connected.

In May, Facebook launched a new video-chat feature called Messenger Rooms, offering a way for people to create a video-chat room from within Facebook or the Messenger app.

How do they compare? Let’s find out.

Facebook Messenger Rooms

Messenger Rooms are free to use and there is no time limit on calls.

Facebook users can create a video chat room via Facebook or the Messenger app and invite up to 50 people to join a video call even if the participant doesn’t have a Facebook account.

This feature can be accessed from the Messenger app on your phone or desktop, the Instagram app, or WhatsApp.

As opposed to Zoom which was originally targeted to business customers but picked up by consumers during the pandemic, Messenger Room is firmly aimed at consumers and meant for connecting with friends and family.

In Messenger Rooms you can leave a room open to your whole friend list or to a certain group of people.

You can still share a screen or schedule a meeting ahead of time.

For privacy protection, Messenger Rooms have the ability to control who sees your room and you can choose to lock or unlock your room.

If your room is unlocked, anyone with the link can join and share the room with others.

You can control who can join the room and remove participants at any time. People can also report a room for violating Facebook rules.

The room will only be active if the Room creator is present to start the call.

In the near future, you can expect to see additional features such as 360-degree backgrounds, Mood lighting effects, and AR filters

Zoom

In the Corona-age Zoom is an app we’re all familiar with.

Zoom offers both free and paid plans for the use of their video conferencing app.

For the free plan, you are able to host a meeting with up to 100 participants.

For paid options, depending on your plan you can host up to 1,000 users on a single call.

Zoom offers HD video and audio, collaboration tools like simultaneous screen-sharing and co-annotation, and the ability to record meetings and generate transcripts.

If your mic and camera are off, Zoom has the option to communicate via chat. This feature can also be helpful if it's a massive all-hands meeting and the opportunity for questions is available.

Zoom's meteoric rise during the pandemic led to the discovery of a number of privacy and security issues, including Zoombombing (where uninvited attendees break into and disrupt meetings).

However, you can take certain steps to protect your meetings, like using a per-meeting ID and enabling the "Waiting Room" feature so you can see who is attempting to join a meeting before allowing access.

Zoom's video-chat service still has millions of daily users and offers a good experience for small and large group chats, thanks in part to the ability to use "gallery view" to see all of the meeting participants at once, which others like Google Hangouts do not.

And the ability to change your Zoom background is an added bonus that can spice up any meeting.

It's free to sign up with Zoom -- you can either manually create an account with an email or sign in with Google or Facebook.

Facebook Messenger Rooms vs Zoom

Facebook Messenger Rooms is entirely free. Zoom has a free service, but also a premium subscription offering enhanced features and fewer restrictions.
Facebook Messenger Rooms allows up to 50 people to join a room. Zoom supports up to 100 people regardless of whether you’re using the free or premium version. With the premium version Zoom can support up to 500 people with the proper add-ons.
Facebook Messenger Rooms has no time limits for conversations. Zoom has a 40-minute time limit for conversations between free users and 24-hour call sessions for premium users.
Both services allow users to block other users, create private rooms, and utilize other basic security features.
Facebook Messenger Rooms is built into the Facebook Messenger app and allows for non-members to join. Zoom requires you to download a separate app.
Both services collect technical information from participants.
Facebook Messenger Rooms currently does not support recording of meetings. Zoom allows you to save and record meetings.
Zoom allows you to easily upload custom backgrounds. Facebook Messenger Rooms currently does not (but offers some preset backgrounds options).
Neither service has promised full end-to-end encryption but Zoom has recently upgraded its encryption system to a more secure alternative.

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Facebook Messenger Rooms

Zoom

Facebook Messenger Rooms vs Zoom

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