Virtual Event Applications: Benefits, Development Steps and Tips!

Posted by Parija Rangnekar On Filed under Mobile App Development No Comments
Virtual Event Applications: Benefits, Development Steps and Tips!

Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of personal as well as corporate events got canceled or postponed, affecting numerous businesses. But then, virtual event applications came into the picture and countless events were conducted through these apps for carrying out personal as well as corporate events. Due to this, several apps got outstanding attention, which were not even known to the masses, and their downloading spiked.
Downloads of video conferencing applications were recorded to be 62 million, just in a single week of March 2020, after the pandemic, according to TechCrunch, the renowned online newspaper for technology news. Since then, a plethora of virtual event apps have been fabricated and the face of online conferencing or virtual event industry has changed forever.
Today, most of the event app development services that has adapted to this online trend are making immense profits from the apps. So, in this blog post, we have shed light on the fundamental steps to create such a next-gen virtual event application. We have also talked about how they prove advantageous to diverse businesses, and their significant features. Let’s commence.

Virtual Event Apps and Their Potential Advantages

What is a virtual event? Well, the events that are hosted online allowing the participants to participate or view the event from any corner of the world are known to be virtual events. These can be webinars, virtual conferences, internal or external hybrid events, etc. Such digital events have some agenda and are usually expected to be collaborative sessions and are streamed online.
Such digital events are hosted using live-streaming platforms called virtual event apps; where live streaming is the essential functionality of these apps. Zoom, Webex, Google Meet, Vimeo, Digitell, GoToMeeting, Intrado, Evia, etc. are a few popular platforms/apps being extensively used.
  • Safety and Security of All – During the pandemic, online event apps ensure the health and safety of the participants, event organizers, and all the involved staff, as there is no physical meeting between people and hence social distancing norms are maintained.
  • Better Opportunities – All the details like the number of tickets sold out for events, related email marketing reports, etc. are available on a single application. Besides, the participants can access the pre-recorded events, as per their will and availability. Also, they can chat with other users during live events to build business relationships. Such benefits offer extended opportunities to both- app owners as well as participants.
  • Budget-friendly – The app owners need to bear only the initial cost of development of the virtual event platform, unlike the offline events. In offline events, the event planners have to consider a host of other costs like the cost of expensive equipments, location, travel expenses, accommodation for participants, lodging, etc. Thus, with virtual apps, the cost of events is drastically reduced making the events much budget-friendly.
  • Flexibility and Scalability – Whether a simple sales kickoff meeting, or a thought leadership meeting, or any event for that matter, all types of events can be flexibly hosted using these platforms. Options in multiple languages are also available for inviting guest speakers. Furthermore, users all across the globe can instantly join the meeting at the same time.
  • Easier Networking – Participants don’t have to go to a particular place to meet new people. Online chatting options make things much easier. Besides, they can conveniently collect details like the name, profiles, companies, etc. of other professionals in the meeting.
  • Feedback Collection and Result Analysis – Virtual event apps allow the participants to provide feedback easily through polls or real-time sessions. This feedback will help in the evaluation of the overall performance of the event, allowing the owners to make future improvements. Also, the insightful data generated using these apps are quite useful for result analysis. Such apps can track data like the number of participants, the timing when they logged in, what amount they paid and how etc.

Top Features of Virtual Event Apps

  • Event registration
  • Profile creation of the users
  • Event page for details like event topic, date and time of the event, host details, etc.
  • Speaker booths for multiple speakers to create their profiles and related details
  • Facility to record live sessions and meetings
  • Real-time chatting, one-to-one, and group chatting options
  • Live video streaming option
  • Payment options via PayPal, Google Pay, or credit/debit cards, etc.
  • Social media integration for sharing event-related data with other contacts
  • Integrations like sales tools, email marketing, etc.
  • Report generation and analysis
  • Other features like screen sharing, virtual hand raising, mute participants, polls, etc.

Steps to Architect a Virtual Event Application

Here are the crucial steps required for the creation of an online conference app:
Development of Backend: In the initial development stages itself, build a server for running the application. It is always advisable to create the server from scratch rather than making use of any ready-made technologies.
Designing User Interface: UI marks the first impressions for your virtual conferencing application and hence, it is of utmost importance to thoughtfully design a captivating and intuitive UI.
Android and iOS Compatibility: If you want to reach a wider audience range, it is essential that your app runs on both- Android and iOS devices. For ensuring that your video streaming app supports Android, make use of WebRTC and for iOS, use Swift.
Next, let us look into the two most important aspects during the development of virtual event app- cloud network and video architecture.

Cloud Network

The virtual conferencing applications come with an integrated data center infrastructure that is strictly supervised, tracked, and regularly modified by the development teams. This cloud network is created for providing global connectivity and for enabling users from all across the globe to connect and participate seamlessly. For example, Zoom has more than 15 data centers globally which are going to be expanding in the coming years.

Video Architecture

Now, the app architecture should be optimized to meet the video requirements for which, four important features must be considered, as given below:
  • Distributed architecture: This architecture enables the participants to share meetings across the network and allows them to easily join meetings via private communication using the nearest data center. Using a distributed architecture rather than a centralized approach will offer the required scalability to the app so that thousands of viewers can simultaneously get a consistent video experience.
  • Multimedia Routing: This step offers the users with various streams of videos from other participants and also reduces the need for computers’ power and thus, makes the app a greatly scalable system.
  • Multi-bitrate Encoding: Every single stream can be altered to several resolutions besides stream routing. Due to this, the need to decode, encode and optimize the output is removed. This also allows the apps to provide video quality levels depending on the network capabilities and the system.
  • Service Application Layer: Higher quality of service application layer ensures optimized audio, video, and screen-sharing for every device and the available bandwidth for offering the best network-wide experience.

Concluding Views

During the pandemic, most of the offline events are now being conducted online using the live-streaming event apps. It is very likely that in the future too, several events will be carried out online, owing to the benefits like cost and time-saving and the event app development industry will flourish more than ever. Needless to say, the need for creating live streaming apps will remain higher for years to come.
That’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed reading this post.
Do comment below or drop us a line for further assistance on building virtual events apps.

Prominent Features to Make an Outstanding eLearning App!

Posted by Parija Rangnekar On Filed under E-Learning No Comments
Prominent Features to Make an Outstanding eLearning App!
eLearning App
Learning new things was never so easy. With a few clicks on the smartphone and you can learn any skill from any location at any time with the help of eLearning apps. The modern learners are attracted by the facility of easy and quick access to information outside the confined walls of the classroom which was very unprecedented in the olden times. Because of the immense potential, these eLearning solutions are providing these days, businesses across the globe are investing multifold in eLearning app development.
The significance of eLearning apps has particularly risen further during this COVID-19 pandemic. Since there is a lockdown in most parts of the world, educational organizations are switching to the virtual model of imparting education, and professionals are choosing to upgrade their skill sets using these apps for eLearning. Consequently, several businesses worldwide are investing in eLearning mobile app development to gain a competitive edge amongst peers.
So, do you want to develop effective online learning solutions for students?
Or create interactive training apps for IT professionals?
Or build flagship programs based on multiple skills for modern learners?
Everything is possible with the new-age eLearning solutions. But, for developing an eLearning app that goes viral in the market, there are some criteria. Firstly, the app must have the following qualities:
  • Learner-focussed Design
  • Customizable and Scalable
  • Engaging and Pleasing Aesthetics
  • Interactive Elements
  • Powerful And Supportive Database
  • Valuable and Comprehensive Content
  • Personalization
  • Productive and Flexible Learning
  • Quick and Easy Access to Information
  • Information Presented in Small ‘Bites’
  • Real-Time Analytics
  • High Security
  • Professional Support
Secondly, it is essential to integrate powerful features in the app that provide an uninterrupted and enticing experience to the users. In most cases, apps with lame or insufficient features are bound to fail. So, here we have shared some key features required for an exemplary eLearning app.

Must-have Features of a New-Age eLearning App!

eLearning solution

1. Elementary features

An eLearning mobile app is simply incomplete without the fundamental features. The app must have in-app chatting or messaging functionality to allow the learners to communicate with each other or tutors. It must have the feature of push notifications to keep the users aware of their progress, new achievements, timings of classes, pending courses, any new deals, and offers, etc. The app should have calendar integration for the users to maintain records of the upcoming activities and set reminders accordingly. Last but not the least; it should have social media integration to boost user engagement, promote the app, and reach a wider range of audiences.

2. Audio/Video Streaming

Audio/video streaming has become an integral part of modern education. These are key players for accessing online education. These features help the users to connect in real-time and enable the sharing of files or documents in live sessions. This kind of learning allows the users to listen to pre-recorded lectures, rewind/fast-forward the lectures, zoom into an image, etc. making the learning process easier and convenient.

3. Live Tutorials

Live tutorials and sessions add another dimension to the learning process. They help the learners to gain a thorough knowledge of a subject. Reading the content of a course can often become boring. However, with live tutorials, it becomes a pleasing experience. Moreover, it gives the feel of a real-time classroom making education much more effective.

4. Progress Evaluation

Assessment and feedback are vital features for evaluating the progress of the learners. A good eLearning app solution must embed tests and quizzes to be held at regular intervals or ensure that the tutors conduct the tests and quizzes periodically. They should either be assessed automatically or by the tutors/course authors. The learners should also get live feedback and have one-on-one interactions, so that they can practice more, redo a chapter, etc. These features keep the learners connected and contribute to the success of a course. Learners should get assessed periodically to enhance their engagement and knowledge.

5. eCommerce integration

If your eLearning app has eCommerce functionality, the tutors can sell online courses and live classes. The app owners too can generate massive revenue from this. However, it is necessary to ensure that these courses and other sensitive information like bank account details, contact details of users, etc. are highly secured.

6. Collective Dashboard

If your eLearning app has a collaborative dashboard, the users can access their course collateral and get overall information about their progress. They can know if the course is pending or is completed. A collaborative dashboard allows the users to share study material, assignments, quizzes, useful links, etc. with others for an enriching learning experience.

7. Crucial Data Insights

Data tracking and analysis helps to monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of the courses and the app. The app should have an efficient data tracking and reporting process in place for collecting critical data like popular courses, customer rating, clicks/views on a particular content, etc. It must also keep an eye on the attendance of the learners, their progress, assignment completion, etc. which helps in analyzing their weak areas and work accordingly. Also, these reports help the tutors or course authors generate better revenue, which contributes to the high ROI of the app.

8. Engaging Content to Motivate Learners

Keeping the learners engaged and connected until the end of the course can be highly challenging at times. They need continual motivation through tests, assessments, feedback, evaluation of work, rewards, etc. Using motivational triggers like scores, progressing to the next levels, virtual gifts or currencies, competition with fellow learners, etc. are outstanding ways to make learners stick to the course.

9. Appointment Scheduling

In several distant learning apps, the learners need to choose a tutor from a number of tutors available and book appointments with them. Hence these apps must have a fast and simple appointment scheduling feature using which, the learners can instantly book appointments as per the available slots of the tutors. It also helps to generate meaningful reports for tracking profitable courses and clients.

10. Flexible Payment Options

The payment process must be kept as simple and less time-consuming as possible, but also ensure high security of the eLearning apps at the same time. The app must have multiple payment methods that include debit, credit, net banking, etc. It should also integrate new-age options like PayPal, Google Pay, Stripe, etc. Always use popular gateways to ensure the credibility and authenticity of the app.

11. Multiple Language Support

To ensure that your eLearning app has a wider reach, the app must have multiple-language support. If the content and the videos are available in multiple languages, it can benefit a large number of users in different countries and the app owners can generate multiplied revenue from it.

Final Words:

The future of the eLearning industry is indisputably bright. The eLearning solutions are revamping the learning experiences by imparting knowledge on the go of a click. We can say, education is now in everyone’s pocket. For creating an excellent eLearning app, one should use the right blend of strategy and technology. So, to ensure that your eLearning app is one of the best online learning platforms, it should include all the features from the aforesaid list as well as the latest trends in this domain.
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So, are you interested to build eLearning apps using various technologies, connect with a leading Mobile App Development Company, Biz4Solutions and share the ideas with them to build a cutting-edge app.