Menlo Park, CA — More than six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 2 out of 5 employees have grown tired of video calls, results of a recent survey show.

Signal users may be familiar with the problem of creating group chats just for a group call, but that’s about to become a thing of the past. You can now share a call link and let up to 50 people hop in, all in the span of a few seconds. The days of selecting contacts one by one are over.

Now, all you have to do is create a call link after going to the Calls tab and send it to whomever you want. The link is also reusable, which is convenient if you have fixed call times. Participants can raise their hands and send emojis. Hosts can set the room up so people must be approved before joining the conversation.

Based on Signal’s blog post, the new group call experience highly resembles Zoom. Those interested in privacy yet desire a conference call-like experience may find the new update helpful. Like Zoom, the desktop app offers more options.

Besides Zoom, these features will be familiar to frequent users of Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and some WhatsApp users. Raising hands is found on all three platforms as a non-verbal way to signal the speaker. WhatsApp does have a lower participant count of 32 people after an update in June. While there’s no raise hands function, doing certain gestures can send emojis for all to see. It’s worth noting that many apps with group call functionality are adopting similar features.

These new features are available on Android, iOS, Windows and macOS. If you don’t see them yet, we recommend updating your Signal app.

WhatsApp has rolled out several new features to enhance users' video call experience on the platform. Users can now use filters and backgrounds for video calls for both one-on-one and group calls. The Meta-owned instant messaging app also introduced low-light mode

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Back in March, Google increased the group video call limit on Duo from eight to 12 participants at a time in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the Internet search giant has announced that it will let Duo users make group calls on the web, starting as a preview on Chrome. The support for group calls on Chrome will roll-out in the coming weeks along with a new layout that will let you see more people at the same time. Besides, inviting people to join a group call will also become easier with an invite link. Additionally, Google announced a new Family Mode, that lets you doodle on...

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Multinationals' UK arms pair up to take on Voda and former state-owned telco

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Did you know that you can make video calls with Facebook Messenger? The next time you want to reach out to friends, family members, or colleagues, you might consider using Facebook Messenger to initiate a video chat, and it works for easy video calls on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Windows PC too. There’s no doubt ... Read More

Google's video chat app got new features this week. No, the other one. No, the other other one.

In a Friday blog post, Google announced some snazzy new features for Duo, one of its three video chat services. Let's get this out of the way early: Duo is the one that's mobile-friendly and resembles FaceTime more than Hangouts and Meet.

The new features make more sense with that in mind. Google added something called "Family Mode" to Duo, in which you can draw silly little doodles on the video feed, presumably to amuse the little ones on the call. There are also AR effects you can use on one-on-one calls on Android and iOS, similar to those available on Facebook's video calls. Read more...

Expressing yourself and trying to read others’ faces in a grid of video feeds is a taxing task

If you can't see elderly parents, or friends with medical conditions, what can you do to keep in touch? You can send a letter, of course, or make a landline phone call, but video calls allow you to speak and see each other.

Google Duo group video calling for web will arrive in the coming weeks starting as a preview on Chrome.

Google's video chat app got new features this week. No, the other one. No, the other other one.

In a Friday blog post, Google announced some snazzy new features for Duo, one of its three video chat services. Let's get this out of the way early: Duo is the one that's mobile-friendly and resembles FaceTime more than Hangouts and Meet.

The new features make more sense with that in mind. Google added something called "Family Mode" to Duo, in which you can draw silly little doodles on the video feed, presumably to amuse the little ones on the call. There are also AR effects you can use on one-on-one calls on Android and iOS, similar to those available on Facebook's video calls. Read more...

Telling Lies is a game where you sift through video calls to solve a mystery. Half the time you don't know what you should be doing, but that's part of the fun, says Jacob Aron

Telling Lies is a game where you sift through video calls to solve a mystery. Half the time you don't know what you should be doing, but that's part of the fun, says Jacob Aron

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Too many connection drop-outs, too many missed cues: at least phone calls are intimate

This week, a parcel presumed lost arrived. It was from my mum. Inside was a mask she’d sewn; sunflower seeds to plant; an Easter egg and a card: “To my lovely daughter, I miss you so much!” it read. “Absence truly makes the heart grow fonder. But indifference doesn’t. Video call me. Mum xx”

My mum and I are very close. We speak most days and would usually visit weekly; if it were up to her, it would be more. Her dream is to have all her children, our partners and someday grandchildren living under the same roof. One big happy family, bonded by love, loyalty, south Asian melodrama and unsolicited comments about weight.

Catch up with up to three friends via Whatsapp's group video call feature

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Telling Lies is a game where you sift through video calls to solve a mystery. Half the time you don't know what you should be doing, but that's part of the fun, says Jacob Aron

Roger Alton picks some of the best biographies ever to be written, including Diana: Her True Story. Pictured Princess Diana, inset, Camilla and Prince Charles.

The Duke, 37, and Duchess of Cambridge, 38, 'much prefer' using video calls to meet people because it involves less 'faff', the BBC's Tina Daheley told the Coronavirus Newscast.

Unorthodox star Shira Haas shared a picture of her family's video call to her grandmother on Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

Kumar’s Twitter feed revealed that the MLA has been at it for a few days now, earlier, he even reached out to BJP MLA Ramesh Bidhuri asking help for patient living in his constituency.

With the lockdown situation prevailing across the globe due to coronavirus outbreak, the workforce has resorted to remote working mode. And to stay connected, an online video conferencing platform like Zoom is what helping the companies with meetings. However,