Dr Ajay Data – Founder and CEO, Data Ingenious Global Ltd.

There’s a spate of online video conferencing solutions in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown in India. Homegrown Videomeet, developed by Jaipur-based IT firm Data Ingenious Global, is one such platform that has earned rave reviews from the masses as well as the classes. Born out of the government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge, Videomeet has the elements and interactive user interface to give a stiff competition to biggies like Zoom, Google Meet and Jio Meet. To discuss more about this Made in India app and its growing popularity, Ramesh Kumar Raja talked to Dr Ajay Data, Founder and CEO, Data Ingenious Global Ltd. Excerpts: a one-stop communication solution for all corporate and business needs. We were also felicitated with a Certificate of Appreciation from Meity and were in the list of Top 10 Made in India Apps.

How did Videomeet come into being and what are the technicalities involved? Videomeet was brought out when Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology called in Indian IT companies and independent startups to participate in developing a Made in India video conferencing solution that can replace foreign alternatives. Our company, Data Ingenious Global Ltd. based in Jaipur went ahead and created our unique product offering- Videomeet,

What makes Videomeet different from others? What are the unique features that this platform takes pride in? Videomeet registered more than 1 lakh users at the beginning of 2 months. Currently, it is daily getting traffic for 2 lakh meeting minutes. An array of unique features that set us apart from other market players are

• Users can experience high definition

(HD), low definition, and standard definition (SD) resolution as per their data pack.

• Hosting of Annual General Meetings is

possible with features like compressed data usage, distinction in speaker, panelists

• Multi-point audio/video collaboration

without dedicated telecom networks is possible. A smartphone without SIM card can attend the meeting with just Wi-fi network.

• More than 10k participants supported.

Ideal for hosting a virtual political rally or town hall in college.

• Corporate branding for enhanced

visual appeal, secured waiting rooms, personalized meeting rooms.

• Virtual event platform- VNOW is capable of creating an exact replica of physical

events virtually. Features like polls, live broadcasting, main stage area, coffee lounge, meeting rooms, etc. integrated and easily accessible with just a single click.

• How many participants does this

platform support as of now and what is your plan to increase its volume in the

next couple of months/years?

It currently supports 10k participants, and

we are predicting a 4x user base from what

we started as we reach towards the end of 2020.

What are the unique capabilities for host to manage video conference? Videomeet offers unique capabilities for host to manage conference or webinar like mute or unmute participant, remove any participant from meeting, waiting room,

video/audio recording of

the meeting, streaming

to Youtube / Facebook

and many such enhanced capabilities

are provided exclusively

to the host.

Can you please per month. As of now, we haven’t limited the number of participants in either module and that gives us a competitive edge. With Videomeet features like Screen Share, Streaming to Facebook and Youtube, Co-create document, and polling, its well within fit for channel to offer the solution for their customers.

How many downloads Videomeet has accumulated till date and what are your expectations? Videomeet has accumulated 50k+ downloads on Google Play Store, and we are confident this number will rise exponentially. Now that we have updated userfriendly features like Cohosting, Audio Share, Live Streaming etc. based on their feedback. Schools and universities are conducting their online classes, hobby classes over Videomeet. We believe our application can be a great value addition in the corporate, healthcare and education sectors due to its utility-based features. Also, the users operating from PCS and laptops do not have to download the app, it is only via click of a link that they can become meeting participants. This promises additional security of their data.

Made in India app, which means the data is hosted locally on our servers and is not being shared with any third-party.

Do you also have any global plan? If yes, what efforts you are putting in to realize this dream?

We’ve been seeing “lakhs of installations” and meeting minutes being consumed from across audience sets. From CEOS and business owners to schools and hospitals to private instructors and spiritual leaders to friends and family groups – Videomeet

has seen all kinds of log-ins. Maximum

traction has come from the education, healthcare, and corporate sectors. The platform is still available for free. But, Videomeet plans to start charging users under two subscription models: Rs 1,000 per month for conferences, and Rs 2,999 for webinars. These have no limits on users or meeting minutes. Our target is to go from two lakh daily meeting minutes to two to three million minutes on the network in

the next 12 months. We’re also looking to

add more languages (besides Hindi) on the platform. Language differentiation, in fact, would place Videomeet above many global

apps. Given the extension of remote working

and the ‘new normal’, video conferencing is

expected to become a $6.37 billion market by 2026. In terms of product innovations,

Videomeet is working on an augmented reality feature (to bring a virtual meeting as close to reality as possible) as well as Ai-led language transcripts of meetings (for ease-of-use).

Are you also looking for any business collaboration and investment from other parties? Videomeet’s expansion has been driven

by our own finances. But, we will raise capital soon and have been approached by investors already. ■

ramesh@mymobile.co.in