How to Build a Video Chat App
There’s a remote working revolution taking place right now. It’s going on around us and at the places where we work. Millions of people are shifting towards working from home on a permanent basis, and businesses are adopting additional technology to adjust to this new remote lifestyle. Video conferencing makes it easy to get employees together for meetings without having to be in the same room, state, or even country.
Conferencing technology isn’t new, but it has recently become popular. The COVID-19 crisis has greatly contributed to this. But if the remote lifestyle is here to stay even after the coronavirus, then it’s time to digitize our world.
If you’re among those looking to go virtual by developing video conferencing technology, you’re in the right place. Here, you’ll get answers to how to build a video chat app and what features to include. We’ll also share our hands-on experience creating this type of software. But first, let’s pause for a moment to talk about which industries are being disrupted the most by video conferencing.
What industries use video conferencing?
Before you rush into developing your own video chatting app, you need to understand who your target audience is. Below are the top industries using video conferencing software.
Education
Video conferencing is quite popular among teachers and learners. According to Statista projections, the global digital education market will reach $243 billion by 2022. Statistics presented by eLearning Industry show that the online learning sector has grown by 900% since 2000.
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Thanks to eLearning technology, classes aren’t restricted to textbooks, lectures, and talks. The eLearning model helps universities, schools, and individuals create learning opportunities for students around the globe. As for learners, they can join virtual classes anywhere, anytime, and from any device while enjoying self-paced education. Also, they can easily catch up on missed classes if a solution supports recording and streaming.
Healthcare & wellness
Virtual consultations with doctors became a thing a short while ago and are already gaining traction. The global telemedicine market was estimated at $45 billion in 2019 and is anticipated to grow at a strong CAGR through 2026, achieving a value of around $175 billion according to Statista projections.
Video conferencing solutions in healthcare have never been more popular. No wonder. They fill the gaps in healthcare like poor access to medical services for elderly and disabled patients and people living in remote areas. Additionally, with telemedicine, patients don’t have to wait at a doctor’s office or travel long distances to access healthcare services. Telemedicine technologies connect patients with doctors right away or let patients book appointments for suitable times.
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Gaming
With social distancing taking hold, game streaming platforms like Discord and Twitch are booming, and their popularity is expected to stay high. Statista predicts that the number of people using gaming networks will reach 112.4 million globally by 2024.
Live streaming apps allow users to watch anything from musical performances to cooking videos and Q&A sessions and communicate directly through text, voice, and video calls. However, gaming is a key priority of these services.
These aren’t the only industries using video conferencing software, however. It’s also being used in the following spheres:
- Banking and financial services
- Global business
- Public sector
- Manufacturing
- Human resources
- Marketing
- Information technology
- Media and entertainment
- Sales
- Consultancy and professional services
What types of video conferencing are there?
Among other things, it’s important to understand what types of video conferencing there are:
- One-to-one calls. This is one of the most common ways people use video chats. One-to-one calls connect family and friends, potential employees and employers, clients and service providers, and teammates.
- Conference calls bring together up to thousands of participants.
We can also classify video meetings by their participants:
- Team meetings or internal meetings connect people working on the same team or within the same company. Such video calls are important to ensure everyone’s on the same page.
- Vendor meetings or external meetings are used to build effective client relationships.
Features of a video calling app
Though different industries use video chat apps with different aims, the main purpose of these apps remains the same: to stream videos from one device to another. This is why video calling apps have quite a lot of features in common.
Below is a list of features any video chat app should have:
Sign-up & sign-in
To create an account, users need to sign up for your platform. Integrate your app with Google, Twitter, and/or Facebook so users can sign up using their favorite social network. When setting up a profile, you can allow users to provide personal information that can be useful later when browsing and using the platform.
Contact list
A video chat app can’t go without a contact list feature. Additionally, it would be great if you allowed users to search for each other by name, nickname, email, and phone number.
Video & voice calls
This is the main functionality of any video calling app. Users should be able to make one-on-one calls as well as group calls. The latter have been quite popular in remote work environments where conference calls are the norm. Make sure audio is clear and loud and video is of high quality. After all, who will want to use your platform if it doesn’t provide high-quality audio and video?
Messages
Sometimes, a video call isn’t the best option. Make sure users can exchange text messages if they like.
Presence status
Your application should also feature presence statuses. Let users indicate whether they’re away or available. You can also include such statuses as active, busy, and do not disturb.
Notifications
Inform users about upcoming calls, new messages, or any other events.
Once you’ve validated market demand for your app, you can go on to develop other features. Useful functionality you might consider includes:
- Screen sharing
- Emojis, reactions, and stickers
- Virtual backgrounds
- Video call recording
- Noise cancellation
Steelkiwi’s expertise in developing chat platforms
So far, we’ve built several projects that feature live chats. These projects are from different sectors, so by looking at them you can see how different types of businesses benefit from live chats.
Your Living-room Trainer
Your Living-room Trainer is a great example of an app that uses video conferencing. This online fitness platform connects trainers with trainees for one-on-one coaching through video chats.
Key features:
- Verify trainers’ credentials with copies of diplomas, certificates, and certifications
- Lifestyle questionnaires to help trainers develop programs
- Personal trainer reviews
- Workout scheduling and notifications about important events
- Paid video and text chats with personal trainers
Benemedic
Benemedic is a healthcare platform that connects patients with doctors for online consultations through video chats, voice calls, and text messages. Using Benemedic, patients can easily communicate with doctors, describe their symptoms and conditions, and pay for services. Doctors can use the app to manage patients’ health records, manage schedules, and get paid for services.
Key features:
- Symptoms list
- Patient activity feed
- Ability for patients to like doctors
- Doctor profiles
- Video and audio calls
- Payment support
- Blog
HOUR
Today, more and more social networks offer video chats. HOUR allows users to stay connected with family, friends, and loved ones through weekly one-hour chats. It also lets users share photo and video content.
Key features:
- SMS authentication
- Call scheduling
- Push notifications for new messages, gifts received, and incoming chats
- Chat functionality
- Ability to exchange video and photo content
Request an estimate for your video chat project
It’s difficult to say how much it costs to build a video chat app. Much depends on the app’s design and features as well as the development company you work with.
You’re welcome to get in touch with our sales specialists if you’re looking into development costs with Steelkiwi. Meanwhile, you can browse our portfolio to see what we’ve crafted so far.
