Room – Get Face-to-Face

Room is a video calling and screen sharing application that brings people together. Room provides a way for up to four people to talk simultaneously for free, with a seamless experience that makes it easy to share charts, designs, and presentations with friends and colleagues from around the globe.

Begin using Room by logging in to your account and starting a video call. Room will immediately provide you with a link, which you can share with up to three of your friends or coworkers. Send your Room link via email or IM. When your friends click on it, they’ll be directed to a video chat where you’re already waiting. If, during the course of a call, you need to share an image with your colleagues (for example, a chart, document, presentation, or design) just enable screen sharing. The people you’re chatting with will immediately be able to view what’s on your screen. In addition to communicating over video, you can also share links through Room’s text chat function. Saving “favorite” rooms is another important feature that enables you to jump back into rooms after you’ve left.

Room has very high video and audio quality, and the mobile apps for iPhone and iPad users make it easy for people to use the app from outside the office or home. For those reasons alone, Room is a worthwhile app for people to check out when they’re hosting video calls for either personal and professional purposes.

Practical Uses:

• Host a weekly video chat with friends
• Give a client presentation when you’re working abroad
• Brainstorm with colleagues who work remotely
• Create separate video rooms for each client or project you’re working on

Insider Tips:

• Download the mobile app for the iPhone and iPad
• Copy/paste text and send it to friends with the text chat feature
• Save certain rooms to quickly re-enter ongoing conversations
• Businesses can add Room to their Slack accounts

What we liked:

• Users can quickly share their computer screens during their video calls
• People can get on video calls from within their browsers
• Room has a Chrome extension to help set up meetings
• Users can send Dropbox files through Room

What we didn’t like:

• No more than four people can participate in a video chat at any one time

Alternatives:

• Google Hangouts – http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangoutspvita
• ooVoo – http://www.oovoo.com
• vLine – https://vline.com

Company Info:

• Privately Held
• Headquarters: San Francisco, California
• Founded by: Jeff Fluhr
• Web site: https://room.co

Costs:

• Free