With the lockdown now existing for months, work from home has become a ritual rather than a trend. We are loaded with plenty of projects, presentation and not to mention the everyday conference call. When you are collaborating with other people for work, video conferencing is necessary. Moreover, it is not only for attending professional meetings but also connecting with friends and family. But, with Zoom’s security breach and the threat of personal data leak, an alternative is the need of the hour. Here comes India’s very own video conferencing tool, Say Namaste that gained massive popularity within a few days.
Also Read: Zoom Freezes the Release of Any New Feature as Its Security Is At Stake
What is Say Namaste?
Say Namaste is an Indian web-based video conferencing platform. There is no app released officially yet for mass use. Many people are suggesting our Indian government has launched this platform. But, a Mumbai-based software development company, Inscripts has designed the program and launched its beta version. Till now the application has received hugely positive feedback from the people of India. But, the company hasn’t declared any date yet for the official release of Say Namaste.
Let’s see the full story of Say Namaste.
How Say Namaste emerged out of a government initiative?
First of all, everybody should steer away from the rumor that the Indian government launched Say Namaste. The Indian government in response to the security breach of Zoom wanted to alert the citizens of the country. So, the government took an initiative to launch an app development challenge to replace Zoom in India.
So, the Indian government declared the “Innovation Challenge for Development of Video Conferencing Solution” to give India a chance to develop an application. The winner is promised prize money of one crore. It is through this challenge the Mumbai-based company Inscripts came up with Say Namaste which got famous overnight. Though the result of this challenge will be declared on 29th July, Say Namaste has already become successful in drawing the attention of lakhs of people.
How the application of Say Namaste works?
The procedure of carrying out a video conference on the platform of Say Namaste is similar to the Zoom app. One is supposed to join a meeting by using the meeting link and code. And, if you are creating the meeting you can share the same with other Say Namaste users who you want to join. The features of the platform are almost the same as Zoom. You can mute the audio or the video whenever you want, swipe the screen to check other active participants, etc. The application also has the feature for chatting.
How to use Say Namaste?
The company hasn’t released an app for both iOS and Android yet. It is a video conferencing tool that can be accessed on your PC or laptop. But, the company is planning to launch an app for iOS users. But, Inscripts haven’t given any information about Android application for Say Namaste.
For creating a new meeting, you will find creating a new meeting option. You can easily create a meeting ID that can be shared with other people. And, to join a meeting you need to enter your name, the meeting ID, and the meeting code. Go ahead and enjoy the experience of India’s latest video conferencing app.
Why is it better than Zoom?
With the recent case of Zoombombing, people don’t find it safe anymore to attend video conferences via the Zoom application. The users have witnessed the recent and many flaws of the app which still needs fixing. But, people cannot just wait around for the company to modify the app. Say Namaste came as a blessed replacement for the Indians. The main motto of the platform is to provide extremely strong security.
This is the main reason why Inscripts has extensively focused on the level of encryption that is required for Say Namaste. The features, number of callers on one meeting, etc can be expanded gradually. But, the company has made security its primary goal and that is why it is better than Zoom on many folds.
The popularity of Say Namaste
Once the users feel secure, they will keep coming around. With Zoom witnessing its downfall, a better security model has played the ace for Say Namaste. After the launch of 48 hours, the company tweeted that Say Namaste crossed 100,000 users creating and joining 25,000 in less than a couple of days.
Anuj Garg, CEO of Inscripts said that they are delighted with the huge number of users and happy about being the talk of the city currently. Though the company has independently created the platform, Anuj showed his interest to work closely with the government. Anuj also says that the platform was built within two days by a team consisting of more than 50 developers.
Conclusion
Though the platform is only supporting 25 people on a video call, developers are working to expand the figure to 100. Since it is very new, it lacks some of the Zoom features. But, very soon the users of Say Namaste will enjoy features like screen sharing, file sharing, etc.
Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more