Shoeb Fareed discusses how Meet Hour’s customizable solutions cater to businesses’ unique needs, leveraging AI, VR, and AR technologies for future growth.
Shoeb Fareed is the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Meet Hour, a video conferencing app developed by Meet Hour, LLC, based in Columbia, MD. The app offers a customizable platform tailored to the needs of various businesses, including education, teaching, counseling, therapy, legal advice, and medical consultations.
Fareed, a young engineer with an entrepreneurial mindset, is the tech brain behind the app. Since the early days of his engineering career, he has been deeply involved in software development and programming through various smaller gigs. Instead of opting for a traditional job after completing his computer science degree, he ventured out on his own to establish Techies Nest. He also conceived and developed Wakuk, a ride-hailing app.
Based in Hyderabad, India, Fareed is currently in the United States, pitching Meet Hour to customers and investors. In an interview with The American Bazaar, he spoke about the app and the competitive video conferencing landscape, among other topics. Here are the excerpts from the interview:
How does Meet Hour differ from behemoths like Zoom and Microsoft Teams?
Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet are major players, often bundling their products for both consumers and companies. We specifically target businesses whose operations rely on video conferencing. However, these leading platforms often cannot provide customized solutions that meet their specific technical requirements at an affordable cost.
How do you see Gen AI benefiting the customers who use video conferencing?
We are currently working on several initiatives to leverage artificial intelligence and incorporate it into Meet Hour. Our goals include summarizing meetings and action items, as well as setting up follow-up calls using AI. Additionally, we are exploring seamless translation among participants who may lack proficiency or ability in English.
How do you see video conferencing evolve over the next years as customers embrace virtual reality headsets, AR glasses, and AI. And how would you position Meet Hour five years from now?
If you consider Meet Hour’s tagline, we aim to transform virtual meetings into reality. Currently, we are exploring Apple’s Vision Pro to create a plug-in for Apple and intend to integrate Google, Meta, and other VR and AR plug-ins. The opportunities in Virtual and Augmented Reality are boundless, and we are seeking adequate funding to invest in these innovations. With our technical capabilities and successful bootstrapping experience, we are well-positioned in this field.
As more and more of our personal interactions happen online rather than offline, how do you think it would affect the relationships going forward?
We have validated our model and are closely listening to our customers. Our goal is to enhance shopping experiences, customer service, and streaming of smaller events and sports through Meet Hour, thereby expanding and enriching the experiences of our customers and participants.
Any Meet Hour customer stories that have surprised you?
We have numerous success stories where Zoom, Google, and Microsoft have been unable to meet the needs of our customers. For example, a yoga instructor prefers to view all dozen participants in their class, while ensuring participants can only see the instructor to protect privacy. Additionally, a software trainer likes to view the screens of half a dozen or more students after lectures. These specific requirements are not addressed by major video conferencing providers.