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With physical distancing and stay-at-home orders implemented during lockdowns around the globe, people working from home and looking to stay in touch with friends and family started searching for effective means of communicating with each other.

You’ve probably already figured out that unlike numerous other industries, video communication platforms didn’t suffer from the pandemic slump.

They went from strength to strength as users signed on en masse, and with its ease of access and attractive pricing, Zoom quickly rose in popularity.

I’m pretty sure the fact that you could use wallpapers to conduct a meeting from the Starship Enterprise was also a drawcard.

Nerds gonna nerd.

According to the BBC, the company has seen revenues skyrocket 355% to $663,5 million in the three months ending July 31, with profits soaring to $186 million.

Additionally, and compared to the same time last year, customer growth rose 458%.

Zoom’s shares hit a record high on Monday, closing at $325.10, as the firm raised its annual revenue forecast by more than 30% to the range of $2.37bn-$2.39bn, from its previous projection of $1.78bn-$1.80bn.

The company, says The Telegraph, is now worth more than $100 billion.

The increased revenue and value comes as larger businesses of 10 employees or more have signed on to pay for its services, along with schools and institutions. A free version is available for individual users not keen to part with their cash.

Here’s Zoom founder (and man laughing all the way to the bank), Eric Yuan:

“Organisations are shifting from addressing their immediate business continuity needs to supporting a future of working anywhere, learning anywhere, and connecting anywhere on Zoom’s video-first platform.”

Last year, we were publishing guides on how to convince your boss that you should work from home. Now it’s the new normal, and some believe that this could continue to be the case long after we beat COVID-19.

However, it’s not all sunshine and roses for the platform, which has seen its fair share of troubles on its way to the top.

Its infrastructure isn’t always up to the task when there’s an increase in users signing on. Last week, for example, it experienced outages when schools in many parts of the US resumed classes virtually.

There was also a scandal a few months back when Zoom’s rise in popularity prompted hackers to insert themselves into meetings which exposed the platform’s myriad security flaws.

The company also sent user information to Facebook.

Sigh.

Do yourself a favour and watch The Social Dilemma if Facebook’s obsession with collecting and storing your information isn’t enough to inspire you to delete your account.

Anyway, scandals aside, if you had the foresight to invest in Zoom before it really took off, congrats – you’ve made it.

[sources:bbc&telegraph]