Sam Tayan, Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa at Zoom describes how Zoom enabled emiratis in very many different ways during the COVID-19 lockdown
With the pandemic disrupting the routines of many people across the globe, people navigated a sense of normalcy in their everyday lives, whether by attending online Zoom workouts, video chatting with their friends, attending their graduation ceremonies virtually or their close relatives wedding over video, and much more. If the pandemic taught us one thing about communication, it showed us how important video communication applications are and how some of the things we thought would never happen virtually, are more comfortable doing online.
The pandemic made us realize that the digital transformation drive will not stop with the end of the pandemic and different sectors will continue being part of this transition. Incorporating digitalization elements into the traditional education and work models would be very beneficial on many levels. This can reduce costs, offer more opportunities for students to learn when they can’t attend physical classes for various reasons without affecting their progress. Additionally, it allows employees the option of efficiently working from home, reducing carbon footprint by excluding at least a day’s commute. All these aspects are just a few positive outcomes we can expect from the increased inclusion of communication through video communication application.
This does not mean however that people are going to start taking a fully digital approach to their lives and stop attending physical events. The pandemic has made us appreciate physical events even more, yet at the same time, made us realize how many meetings and events are more convenient when done through a video chat.
With that in mind, Zoom recently conducted a survey in the UAE, focusing on Emiratis, with the aim to help achieve a clear understanding of the number of Emiratis who use video communication applications, how important those tools are to them and the different ways through which they use Zoom.
Some of the most important findings include that the majority (83%) of Emiratis will continue to prefer having access to video communication platforms post-COVID. 76% selected Zoom as the most preferred video communication platform and a further 66% of them say that access to video communication platforms would support the economy and innovation in the UAE.
Additionally, the findings showed us that since Emiratis preferred having access to video communication applications, they also prefer attending virtual events and expect this continue for the foreseen future
42% of respondents revealed that Zoom has enabled them to continue to collaborate with their colleagues easily, 36% of respondents agreed that the application has enabled business meetings with companies in other countries and 29% have won new businesses through Zoom.
Furthermore, when it came to different ways they used Zoom, 41% of the respondents said that it allowed them to feel less isolated during the pandemic and helped ease their loneliness, and 37% stated that were able to attend live exercise classes with only 1% of the respondents said that Zoom has not enabled them in anyway.
The findings show the different ways in which video communications have enabled Emiratis to continue with their work and home life in different ways, and at Zoom we are thrilled to be able to continue to support our users in the UAE in the upcoming years, as the UAE progresses to become a more digital nation.
Our culture is to deliver happiness to our users, and we’ve learned that the success of our platform has been largely due to our laser focus on our users and what they have to say. Our ethos is to listen to our users’ pain-points and feedback has helped Zoom to innovate and become the platform of choice by many around the world.
