As distributed workforces become more common, many organizations are continuing to leverage video communications to keep employees and customers connected and engaged. Virtual conferencing platforms like Zoom have seen skyrocketing usage as companies flock to them for not only video calls but also virtual events, town hall meetings, and product demos.

But Zoom wasn’t built to record scalable, high-quality video content. While still a valuable and necessary workplace solution, it’s best used as originally intended — as a meeting platform. Cloud-based platforms like Socialive, on the other hand, were specifically designed for remote production and distribution.

The challenges with virtual meeting recordings

Many organizations have found workarounds to make Zoom functional for their video recording needs. But functional isn’t always optimal. Here’s why you should stop recording video content on virtual conferencing platforms:

  1. Home network issues: If you’re using virtual conferencing platforms to record an online event, one speaker’s lagging internet connection can derail your opportunity to repurpose that content for new content in the future. Platforms built for remote production like Socialive, however, capture pristine high-definition (HD) video of all your individual speakers — regardless of network conditions. So even if there’s a home internet issue during the live event, your production team can still easily create an on-demand version with the local recording.
  2. No backstage: When you record a program in person, like an episode of “Saturday Night Live,” guests convene in the backstage green room to prepare, touch up their appearance, and check in with producers. But there’s no such space in the Zoom platform, which can result in preventable on-air mistakes like a speaker missing their cue or poor background lighting. Socialive’s Virtual Green Room enables producers and talent to communicate remotely behind the scenes, so your broadcasts run smoothly.
  3. Complex workflows: Sharing content recorded on virtual meeting platforms across other channels such as LinkedIn is complicated. After recording the content in Zoom, you’ll have to download the file, add graphics through software like Adobe Premiere, load the content into a third-party broadcast tool, then share it to LinkedIn. The more complex your tech stack, the more valuable time and resources your team wastes. With Socialive’s unified platform, your organization can produce, multicast, record, and clip TV-style videos — all from your browser. And our integrations feature can help you build even smarter video content workflows.
  4. Inability to design a run of show: There can only be one host on Zoom. Often, that means the host will pilot the presentation deck, and speakers will jump in when it’s their turn to present. Other times, you’ll see presenters passing screen share control back and forth to one another. These presentations can feel disjointed to the audience and fluster presenters who end up spending more time worrying about logistics than the content of their presentations. Socialive’s scene builder, mix and match live and pre-recorded sources, layouts, and graphics enable producers to build customized and professional-looking TV-style programs in advance or on the fly.
  5. Lack of branding: With Zoom, you’re limited to the platform’s look and feel. While you can screen share your own deck, you can’t add lower thirds denoting a speaker’s name and title or custom graphics such as company logos or branded backgrounds to the program. Socialive provides all those features, plus audio and video overlays to keep audiences engaged and prevent Zoom fatigue. Fully branded dynamic video experiences ensure your recordings are polished, professional, and worthy of your audience’s time.
  6. No ISOs: If you record content on Zoom, the only file you have to work with afterward is the composite video. As mentioned above, a single speaker’s spotty Wi-Fi connection can impede your potential to repurpose this video. And without the ability to cut to an individual speaker then back to the composite, your on-demand video or snackable clips will look stagnant and quickly lose the attention of viewers. Socialive automatically uploads individual HD recordings from every guest to your secure, centralized recordings library. In addition to the composite video, teams have immediate access to high-quality isolated feeds (ISOs), streamlining post-production.

There’s a better way to record content

Zoom is great at what it’s built for. It’s a comfortable and accessible destination for virtual meetings both big and small. And if you’re worried about keeping audiences engaged amid rising virtual meeting fatigue, we can help you develop more engaging programs to broadcast directly into Zoom.

But when it comes to recording high-quality, captivating video content, you should find a solution intended to do exactly that. Unlike virtual conferencing platforms, Socialive was designed to accommodate the remote recording needs of today’s enterprises. Want to see how it works? Schedule a demo with our team of video experts.