JioMeet video conferencing app soon: Jio is jumping in the video conferencing arena and is set to launch its native platform called JioMeet.
Jio parent Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) revealed its plans to launch the JioMeet platform while announcing its quarterly earnings for the fourth quarter. The new platform will take on the likes of Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom, all of which have gained popularity during the coronavirus lockdowns in India and around the world. However, JioMeet won’t be entirely new as Jio attempted to bring a similar video conferencing solution in the past as well.
India has been on a hunt for video conferencing apps ever since Zoom was mired in controversies concerning security flaws. But now it seems that Jio wants to fill in the gaps and come up with its own video conferring app, looking at the proliferation of video conferencing app currently in the country.
“Jio Meet is a platform which has many uniqueness- it actually has an ability to work on any device, any operating system, and it has an ability to do a complete collaboration,” Pankaj Pawar, senior VP, Reliance Jio Infocomm was quoted by Economic Times as saying.
He also added that the JioMeet app would not be a typical video conferring app. “And effectively, this collaboration does not limit to a typical video conferencing app,” he said. This basically means that the JioMeet app won’t be used for video conferencing alone, it would come up with services where the users will be able to consult with doctors online and get prescriptions. The company also has plans to collaborate with education platforms that would allow the JioMeet users to create a visual classroom for teachers and students, they can submit assignments and take virtual tests using the platform.
“We are just a few days away from offering this to all the Indians so that they will be able to leverage this in the most secure environment and at the same time in a ‘grandma easy’ kind of platform so that anybody and everybody is able to use this,” Pawar was quoted as saying.
Social media giant Facebook too came up with its own video conferencing platform called the Messenger Rooms, which can allow 50 people to be a part of the call. Messaging app WhatsApp too had increased the limit of participants in a video call from four to eight. The feature is available for iOS users currently.
The listings of the JioMeet app on the Apple App Store and Google Play were spotted shortly after the official announcement. However, at the time of publishing this story, the company had pulled the listings. A dedicated microsite (jiomeet.jio.com) that was detailing the key features of the platform also received an update with a screen showing a message that says, “Thank you for your interest in JioMeet.”
