With millions of people around the world complying with COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and self-quarantining for safety, remote work has quickly become the new normal for enterprises. As we adapt to this new way of work, SaaS applications play an important role in maintaining collaboration continuity and enabling us to get our jobs done. 

One application that has played an integral role in maintaining this continuity is the video conferencing application Zoom. Across the globe, enterprises are using Zoom’s reliable, high-quality video conferencing capabilities to make working from home a consistently viable option in the age of COVID-19. Examining a subset of Productiv customer data confirms this.

The data shows that Zoom engagement began to tick up in early March, just as the first states of emergency were declared in the early hotspots on the west coast of the US. Around this time, many businesses also began to institute optional remote work policies. As the pandemic intensified in March and these policies became mandatory, Zoom engagement rose more significantly. 

By April, once the majority of residents in the US were sheltering in place, Zoom engagement rose 55% above pre-pandemic levels. With remote work continuing for the foreseeable future, we expect to see Zoom engagement remain at these higher levels. 

Face-to-face matters, especially when we’re remote

One of the reasons that Zoom has surged in popularity is the ease with which Zoom helps us connect with each other over video. In an environment where nearly everyone works remotely, video meetings offer many advantages over the traditional conference call. Let’s take a look at how users have shared video in Zoom during the pandemic.

Shared video in Zoom remained relatively flat throughout February and the beginning of March, as most employees continued to work in the office during these weeks and in-person meetings were likely more common. But as soon as remote work policies began to take effect in the beginning of March, the data shows a sharp uptick in shared video. By April, shared video in Zoom rose 128% above pre-pandemic levels. Putting this all together, the percentage of users sharing video in their Zoom calls rose significantly from 57% to 84% during this time period.

With most of us working remotely, it’s no surprise that sharing video in Zoom has increased so dramatically. When we collaborate over video, we can better read the body language and facial expressions of our fellow meeting participants, which — just as it does in face-to-face meetings — leads to more productive collaboration and fosters stronger trust in our working relationships. And understanding how employees participate in meetings with video enabled is a boon to IT leaders focused on increasing the effectiveness of remote collaboration. 

SaaS applications have maximized productivity and collaboration and helped us adapt to the new normal of an always-remote workplace. At Productiv, we help visualize your organization’s application engagement patterns to ensure that employees are using applications like Zoom as intended — to improve the employee software experience and drive stronger, more meaningful collaboration. 

For IT teams who need assistance right now, Productiv can help quickly measure real-time usage of your SaaS applications, rightsize your licenses, and support remote collaboration. Measuring and driving productivity for remote workers is in our DNA, and we’re here to help you as you navigate this new, and likely stressful, situation. We are offering a free 30-day trial of Productiv, so that you can quickly start understanding your organization’s current collaboration and productivity. To learn more, contact us below.