Simple, user friendly video conference app Meet Hour can be used by nine to 90-year-olds with ease.
In the age of work from home (WFH), a team of Indian American entrepreneurs has developed “Meet Hour,” a video conferencing tool for all ages rivaling the likes of Zoom.
The simple user friendly app provides unlimited free use for young and old alike as also smaller schools, institutions, and non-profits without time constraints.
“The focus is to have this App used by a young person to a very senior person in 70’s and 80’s and even 90’s with ease,” co-founder Shukoor Ahmed told the American Bazaar in an email interview.
The Maryland based technology entrepreneur and angel investor is joined by Rajan Natarajan, Vijay Veerapan and Shoeb Ahmed, all mentoring, providing inputs and also funding the development of Meet Hour app.
Conceptualized by ‘young and driven’ Chief Technology Officer Shoeb Ahmed, the user friendly and simple app does not require a download and even a sign-up from a computer or laptop. It only requires a download to join on smart phone.
Meet Hour allows users to have longer calls for hours whereas Zoom only allows 45 minutes for a free conference, noted Natarajan, who served as the Deputy Secretary of State for Maryland.
Individuals are using it for their family reunions. Faith communities are using it for their congregations virtually. Even politicians can use it for their virtual town halls, said Ahmed, who is doing Product Strategy for the app.
It also has a paid version with greater insight on audience and analytics, he said.
The team is currently exploring ways to offer its services including customizing it for a whole range of customers — homes, schools, businesses, government agencies, healthcare providers and law firms.
Besides the US, a lot of people are using the free version of the app in the Middle East and India.
The response to Meet Hour has been “pretty positive and many corporate users are waiting for some of our enhancements,” Ahmed said.
A lot of customers would like to have participants increased from 50 to 100, he said. “We have a long list of enhancements which Zoom, Google and Microsoft are not currently offering to their users.”
“It is a crowded market and we are listening to customers and trying to incorporate their inputs and add more value to our app.”
On the team’s future plans, Ahmed said, “Being entrepreneurs and angel investor we are always looking to listen to ideas from every entrepreneur.”
“Many would like our app to have language options and we are looking into it,” he said. “All of us are very entrepreneurial and looking and paying attention to our customers and consumer needs.”