India Uses Video Conferencing Most for Education and Social Gatherings: Zoom Study

Zoom and Qualtrics Research released a new study titled ‘How Virtual Do We Want Our Future to Be?' and it shows stats based on 10 countries worldwide, including India. The report says that the most common use of video conferencing in India is seen in education with 72 percent usage, while celebrations and social gatherings come in second with 62 percent usage. Over 90 percent of the respondents have agreed that video conferencing helps combat feelings of loneliness and gives everyone an opportunity to participate during meetings.

To be a part of this Zoom study, over 7,689 users participated from the USA, UK, Mexico, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, India, Singapore, and Australia. Out of this total, 1,007 respondents were from India. These users were surveyed online from March 15 to March 26 this year. The survey says that 92 percent of Indian respondents agreed that virtual and remote activities have helped them stay connected with others during this trying period, while 3 in 4 (75 percent) respondents said that these activities helped to improve emotional health.

The study says that Zoom emerged as one of the top video conferencing apps in India, having high levels of awareness (85 percent) and usage (72 percent), and 61 percent of respondents using it over a seven-day period. The most common sector for which video conferencing is used in India is education, followed by social gatherings. The Zoom study says that over 59 percent of users utilize video conferencing for events, 58 percent use it for entertainment, and 50 percent for business purposes. Telehealth also gained prominence during the pandemic with 42 percent usage. Other sectors such as FSI, retail, fitness, government, saw usage between 20-40 percent.

Furthermore, 46 percent of respondents to the Zoom study felt that education will have both in-person and virtual components, bringing on a new trend of hybrid learning. Even the financial sector is believed to shift to a hybrid model, with 56 percent of respondents having benefitted from gaining access to new financial services that were not available in person.