Launch a video conferencing app to host large events with an Airmeet clone [ Complete Guide]

With the Coronavirus going in rounds among people, the safest mode to communicate with others is through video conferencing apps. These apps are built especially to cater to the extensive means of communication among people. 

The demand for video conferencing apps has witnessed an unprecedented surge with over 62 million downloads within a week from 14th March to 21st March. In comparison to the pre-COVID-19 weekly downloads, the number of downloads has increased to 90%, as per reports by App Annie. 

Once the crisis is resolved, the video conferencing apps will prove to be the right solution for people as these apps are built specially to conduct meetings without any interruptions. Let us look at the key market players in the cloud meeting sector; this will help us in assessing the customer requirements and devising the required changes in the Airmeet clone app. The video-conferencing apps bring together people of different demographics and hence there is a need for a sound architecture to enable seamless communication facilities.

Airmeet

Airmeet is considered to be the Indian alternative to Zoom. It has raised $12 million in recent funding held in headquarters Bangalore, India. Airmeet allows 10,000 participants and 12 active participants per meeting.  Lalit Mangal, the co-founder of Airmeet, said, “usage on the platform has grown 2000% over the last quarter without any investment in the advertisement.” This shows that people genuinely feel web conferencing experience is enhanced through Airmeet.

Exciting features of Airmeet

• Host-controlled break out rooms to conduct discussions among a small group of people. 
• There is no need to download the application, as Airmeet runs on a cloud, SaaS-based platform.
• Facilities to play pre-recorded video in a meeting. 
• Social lounge features allow participants to change meeting groups and meet new people. 

Zoom

Zoom is one of the popular names in the web conferencing sectors. It has gained massive popularity since the pandemic outbreak. Nowadays, it has become a sought-after platform to conduct conferences, business meetings, seminars, workshops, and many more. According to the Zoom blog, it had only 10 million daily participants in December. But in April 2020, it has over 300 million daily participants. 

Exciting features of Zoom

• Even when the internet connection is not the best, Zoom provides uninterrupted video conferencing facilities to participants. The only concern is that video quality might be reduced. 
• The paid version of Zoom allows scheduling meetings with 1000 participants at a stretch. 

Google Meet 

Google Meet allows people to conduct meetings through multiple ways either by downloading an app, meeting can directly be accessed from Gmail, or via the website. G-suite integration makes it way simpler and convenient for users as they are able to access Google sheets, Google docs, and other google integration without leaving the app.

Exciting features of Google Meet 

• It offers live captioning. The feature works exceptionally well in English when compared to other languages. 
• The host can create a meeting link using Google calendar and share it with the participants. They can also set desktop or mobile reminders to notify them prior to the meeting.

Cisco Webex
Cisco Webex reported 25 billion meeting minutes in April 2020. According to Statista reports, the increase in usage of Webex products is associated with social distancing norms which have led to people look out for remote solutions.

Exciting features of Cisco Webex meetings 

• The most distinguishing feature of the Cisco Webex meeting is the white-board. Participants can sketch on the white-board and also collaborate with others to draw sketches and drawings using a wide list of tools.
• They also have the option to share their entire screen or particular application tab.

The development process of cloud conferencing apps 

UI/UX development: The design process forms a crucial element as part of the development process. It is essential that the interface of the application is immersive, captivating customers’ attention. Here are certain aspects that need to be taken into account while designing:

• Users should not have a difficult time locating the features and navigating through the app. So in order to avoid that, the app must include features and navigation facilities that customers are familiar with.
• The design must be consistent throughout the pages, including color consistency, icon layout, font face, and so on. 

Back-end development: The back-end of the application represents the functional core of it. The app deals with a large amount of dataset every second, and so it must have load balancing algorithms in place to handle the load. 

Data centers: Data centers are aimed at providing uninterrupted connectivity to the users. Another notable aspect is that when people all around the world log in to the web conferring apps, there must not be any compromise in the quality of streaming irrespective of the location. For example, Zoom currently has over 15+ data centers located all across the globe. They are planning to expand it further as the number of participants increases. 

The architecture of video conferencing apps

Distributed Architecture: There are two main approaches related to connecting with a server. The centralized architecture involves connecting to one server irrespective of the location to which users belong to. On the other hand, distributed architecture involves connections with servers that are nearer to the customer location. The popular video conferencing app, Zoom, uses this methodology to connect with participants. It provides Zoom the scalability to conduct meetings without any interruptions.

Multimedia routing: More participants can be part of the video conferencing call than individual systems. These systems are specially designed to handle more than 15 times better bandwidth facilities than single-routing systems. The concept of multimedia routing can be better understood with an example. For instance, in a meeting, there are 15 participants involved so based on the meeting requirements, the bandwidth will be allocated. So participants can view one another with the same quality. On the other hand, Legacy systems use the multi-control routing protocol, where the bandwidth is fixed for a system. 

Multi-Bitrate routing: Each stream operates under different resolution criteria. As per the network capability and specification of the device, the streaming will be adjusted automatically so that participants can experience the same web conferencing experience regardless of device and Internet bandwidth. 

Summing up

People are experiencing dramatic changes in their lifestyle, which has made them look for full-fledged remote solutions to conduct meetings and conferences without any hassle. Even after the crisis is averted, the video conferencing apps are here to stay. Entrepreneurs can utilize the ongoing situation and launch Airmeet like apps with Appdupe’s assistance.

Author

Marketing is my soul mate and writing is my side kick. Using my writing skills to share the knowledge of app development and upcoming technologies.