It may be a competitive market but Amazon has nevertheless upped its game by launching Chime, its productivity app. Currently this sector is ruled by Microsoft’s Skype, Cisco’s WebEx service and Citrix’s GoToMeeting. For starters, Chime is a video conferencing and chat service that promises zero glitches and more convenient remote meetings and group calls.
Chime is aimed at those in the world of business and is available for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS. The app lets the user hold video chats with up to 16 people on desktop or eight people on mobile devices. Participants can also share their screens and files, record meetings which include voice video and shared files and even dial in to a meeting with a standard phone line. According to Amazon, the app has a number of easy to use features such as joining a meeting in a single tap when the meeting calls the user, a visual roster on who has joined a meeting and who is running late. The app also boasts noise-cancelling wideband technology for clear audio, which also allows anyone to mute background noise. The company also promises complete security with their 256-bit encryption that’s used across Amazon Web Services products.
The major comparison between Chime and its competitors comes down to the pricing. Amazon Chime Basic allows user to make one on one voice, video calls on all devices, which is a free version. Chime is priced at $2.50 per user per month for the ‘Plus’ plan, while the ‘Pro’ plan that allows meetings with up to 100 people costs $15 per user each month. GoToMeeting is priced at $19 a month for 10 participants and $49 per month for 100 users. Skype for Business on the other hand which is clubbed with Microsoft’s Office 365 online productivity suite and starts at $5 per user per month for a basic package of apps; the full package costs $12.50 per user per month.
