Since the coronavirus crisis began, Belnet has been making the simple video-conferencing tool Jitsi Meet available to its community. The platform can be used for distance learning, for holding secure meetings and collaborating online. Belnet is committed to making this service available for as long as the coronavirus crisis continues.
In the meantime, a number of different organisations have already begun using Belnet Jitsi Meet. We have noticed that the tool is being used for both one-to-one conversations and meetings of larger groups. In the week following the extended autumn holidays, a total of 11,680 people used the Belnet Jitsi Meet service across 1,661 different meetings. Up to 24 video conferences were held simultaneously, 8 of which included more than 14 participants. The highest number of simultaneous participants was 214 people and the largest meeting involved 25 people.
Belnet Jitsi Meet has nowhere near the same numbers of users as popular video-conferencing tools such as Zoom, Teams and Skype, but Belnet is fully committed to ensuring security and respecting the privacy of its users. For example, Jitsi is a 100% open-source software program whose source code is public, and Belnet Jitsi Meet is hosted on a Belnet server. For the optimum user experience, we recommend using the Chrome browser or the app on your smartphone (available for Android and IOS).
Belnet Jitsi Meet offers many useful features including screen sharing (where you can share not only your full screen but also just one particular application), hand raising, the ability to mute everyone's microphones and a chat function. You can easily copy the link for the call or set a password to secure the call using the info button in the bottom right-hand corner. Some key advantages of Belnet Jitsi Meet are that you can use the service for free without having to create an account or install any software. What is more, there are no restrictions on time or the number of participants.