Zoom marks million milestone for webinar attendee capability

As it continues on its mission to evolve and show growth beyond its roots in core video conferencing, Zoom Communications has expanded the capacity of its single-use webinar offering to host up to a million attendees.

The company said that the new webinar offering will address the need for scale across diverse audiences, transforming how large-scale communications are conducted and revolutionising the way organisations can “seamlessly” connect and engage with massive audiences, giving event organisers the flexibility to host interactive experiences on an “unprecedented” scale.

“With this new and expanded capacity for webinars, Zoom is opening new opportunities for innovative organisations,” said Wayne Kurtzman, vice-president of social, communities and collaboration at IDC Research, commenting on the launch. “The rise of Zoom in this market now enables organisations to produce significant, large-scale and engaging virtual events.”

Outlining the technical advantages of its webinars, Zoom said that its products offer zero latency, ensuring all attendees experience the webinar in real-time, compared with large streaming services, which often have a delay of five seconds or more. Webinars can host sessions up to 30-hours long – depending on the customer’s purchased capacity plan – and feature up to 1,000 interactive video panellists.

Zoom identified three key uses case for the massive audience capability.  Within the enterprise sector, Zoom said the world’s largest enterprises are constantly looking for ways to communicate more effectively with their workforce. With the ability to host webinars for up to one million attendees, it is confident that companies can now bring together their entire global workforce in a single, unified event. It regards the expanded capacity as ideal for large all-hands meetings, where CEOs and senior leaders can address every employee simultaneously, ensuring that critical messaging reaches the entire organisation.

In addition, Zoom envisages a situation where industry conferences and trade shows can now scale keynote sessions, allowing more participants to engage directly with industry leaders, driving higher levels of participation and engagement.

In the entertainment industry, Zoom stated that connecting with key audiences remains critical. The company pictured celebrities and public figures as being able to use the expanded webinar capabilities to host virtual events, fan meet-and-greets, and more.

It added that the interactive features of Zoom Webinars can allow the audience to engage directly with the public figure, creating “unforgettable experiences”. For brands, these large-scale webinars could offer a unique platform to launch products, hold fundraisers or host virtual events that resonate with audiences on a personal level.

Explaining the potential for the third key use case of public sector, Zoom said that it wished to offer solutions for government agencies and nonprofit organisations that often face the challenge of disseminating information to large, diverse populations.

The single-use webinar package was seen as ideal as providing a platform for public addresses, town halls and community outreach initiatives, allowing leaders to connect with citizens on a massive scale.

Zoom said that this could range from a national leader addressing thousands of citizens during a crisis, to a global nonprofit launching a major campaign, and noted that the ability to host up to one million attendees ensures that these important messages reach a wide audience.

In addition to its monthly and annual webinar subscription options, Zoom offers a range of single-use webinar options to accommodate larger event sizes. Customers can now choose webinars for 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 250,000, 500,000 as well as one million attendee capacities. Webinars beyond three hours may require additional paid consulting services.