Please, just ‘Zoom’ to stay in touch

In the wake of the coronavirus crisis, “interesting” is the word often used to describe the situation we are all in.

The online dictionary defines the term “interesting” to mean something that “puzzles or arouses curiosity”, or something that “catches one’s attention”.

Coronavirus is interesting. Its diagnosis is interesting because of its unusual symptoms, which can be mistaken for other diseases.

Its epidemiology is as interesting as its spread. It is forcing us to adjust our lives in interesting ways.

There is no better way to put it; coronavirus has devastating consequences, and it continues its tidal wave with unfathomable numbers.

Besides lost lives, businesses have closed, economies haemorrhaged, and people condemned into unprecedented misery.

But we are also learning new ways of life, which, when coronavirus is finally tamed, will become our new way of life. One thing is for sure, novel tech tools will become the rule, not the exception.

Social distancing has forced most people to stay at home. In a bid to stay connected, millions of people are learning how to use online communication tools.

Zoom — an online communication channel — has become almost a must-have.

ZOOM FEATURES

According to figures published in February, Zoom added over two million users to its stock of more millions of users. Other communication platforms, including Skype, Google Hangouts, and Teams have benefited from surging numbers.

Part of the reason why Zoom is preferred over other platforms is that, compared to Google Hangouts or Skype for Business, it is relatively user-friendly.

It has few bugs and connects well with other tools like Outlook calendar. It also offers video conferencing features.

It enables participants to share their screens. Participants can dial in from a telephone; hence, it can work even with limited internet bandwidth.

It also has a recording feature for meetings, among several other features. But make no mistake, Zoom is not without problems.

It has had security flaws in the past, including a vulnerability that allowed an attacker to remove attendees from Zoom meetings, spoof messages from users, and takeover shared screens.

OUR NEW LIFE

If you are not used to using Zoom and other conferencing applications, note that when you turn them on, your computer camera and mic may be on by default.

A viral video on social media shows a woman at a conference, who, oblivious of the fact that her camera was on, went to the toilet to answer the call of nature. It was an embarrassing scene.

To avoid embarrassing hot-mic moments, set your camera and mic to the “off” mode by default.

Here is my point: coronavirus has upended our lives in interesting ways. We are getting used to using online communication tools to stay on track and to stay in touch.

In preparation for the life after Covid-19, get used to these novel tools. It’s our new life.

Mr Wambugu is an informatician. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @samwambugu2