Of all the video calling apps to see growth during the coronavirus pandemic, Zoom’s rise has arguably been the most striking.
Once focused mainly on business users, the software went from around 10 million daily meeting participants in December 2019 to just four months later. According to data from EmailToolTester, it’s the top video calling platform in 44 countries around the world, including the UK, US and Australia. There were some privacy concerns surrounding Zoom at the start of the pandemic, but that was helped with a tightening of security credentials and introduction of end-to-end encryption in October 2020.
With the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreading rapidly around the world, large in-person gatherings may be off the cards again this holiday season. Many people will turn to Zoom to catch up with friends and family, especially with its free tier supporting up to 100 participants.
How long is a Zoom free meeting?
Zoom’s free tier allows two participants to be in a meeting for up to 24 hours. However, for anywhere from three to 100 people, you’re limited to 40 minutes. Once that mark has been reached, everyone will be kicked out of the call. This is probably the most frustrating thing about Zoom, but it acts as an incentive for people to pay for a subscription.
They start at , with the cheapest subscription extending the time limit to 24 hours. More expensive plans remove the limit altogether, and it’s worth noting that only the host needs to subscribe.
How do I get around the Zoom time limit?
- Open Zoom and sign in if you haven’t already
- From the home screen, click the Schedule icon which looks like a calendar
- Set the date and time for when you want the meeting to roughly start and end (to the nearest half hour)
- Scroll down to the Calendar heading and make sure Other Calendars is selected before clicking Save
- All the info about the meeting will appear, including the all-important ID and joining link
- Copy this and send it to all your potential participants
Once the call gets close the official 40-minute limit, a countdown clock will appear in the meeting window. At this point, the host should choose Leave Meeting (not End for All!). While it might look like the meeting has ended, if everyone clicks on the original joining link or enters the same ID, a new 40-minute period will start over again.
There’s no limit on how many times you can do this, so in theory, you could spend many hours in one meeting, albeit with breaks every 40 minutes. It’s not a perfect solution, but perhaps enforced regular breaks from work commitments isn’t the worst thing in the world.
Will unlimited Zoom calls be free this Christmas?
Very occasionally, Zoom removes the 40-minute limit within the free tier, although this only usually lasts a few days. The last time it did this was over Christmas and New Year in 2020, although there’s no indication it’ll be doing the same this year.
We reached out to Zoom to ask this specific question, but have received no response so far. If anything changes, you’ll probably hear about it on the first.
What if I don’t want to use Zoom?
Although Zoom has been the most popular video conferencing software over the last few months, it’s by no means the only one. Microsoft Teams also seen significant growth in its active user base, although you’re limited to 60 minutes in the free tier. For the full range of collaboration features, you’ll need a Microsoft 365 subscription.
It’s a similar story for , which will also kick you out after an hour has elapsed. Both services also allow for up to 100 participants to join.
Other alternatives come in the form of , or , with the latter now offering basic functionality for Android and Windows devices.
Check out more options in our guide to the best online video conferencing services, and consider a phone stand or laptop stand to make video calls more comfortable.
Visit Home Hacks for more top tips and advice on dealing with the new normal.
