Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

RingCentral launches free videoconferencing service with no time limit

This week, cloud-based communications provider RingCentral unveiled RingCentral Video, its new videoconferencing platform. A revamp of its previous Meetings service, which was one of our picks for best videoconferencing software, this release comes at a time when most of us are using such tools more than ever before both for meeting with work colleagues and for staying in touch with friends and family. Best of all, the service, which delivers high-def video and audio, is totally free.

RingCentral Video features

  • 24-hour meetings: Lest you think that nothing good ever comes for free, RingCentral Video is devoid of many of the limitations of its competitors’ free videoconferencing services. Zoom limits its meetings of three or more people to 40 minutes unless you pay for its service, while Google Meet and Cisco Webex limit their meetings to 60 minutes and 40 minutes, respectively. (Google has temporarily suspended its limitation until March 2021, however.) RingCentral Video meetings, on the other hand, can go all day and night (24 hours). Unless you’re hosting a virtual rave, it’s doubtful you would ever need that much time, but it’s still nice not to feel pressured by constraints.
  • Recording capabilities: RingCentral Video lets you record your meetings for later reference, which is only available as a paid feature on Zoom.
  • Team messaging: RingCentral Video adds in team messaging capabilities of platforms like Slack that so many of us use to collaborate with coworkers and that you don’t get with Zoom. This feature allows file uploads with no limitations on size or number. Plus, RingCentral Video’s messaging is equipped with a host of emoji reactions and a text formatting toolbar to add personality to your messaging. But if you need to take your messaging session to the next level, you can switch to videoconferencing with one click.
  • No download: RingCentral Video is entirely browser-based so there’s no file to download, and you can join a meeting with one click.
  • Task and calendar management: Aided by the ability to integrate your Microsoft 365 and Google Workplace calendars, RingCentral Video also allows for task and calendar management. And you can do this with just one click.
  • Switch devices: If you find that you need to switch from your desktop to your phone so you can take your conversation on the go, with RingCentral Video, you’ll be able to change devices during a meeting without interruption.
  • Share files: In RingCentral Video’s team messaging, you can drag and drop files to share them with other team members.
  • Assign tasks: You can use RingCentral Video’s task management to assign and check off tasks.
  • Meet with up to 100 people: Unlike other free videoconferencing, RingCentral Video allows you to meet with up to 100 people at a time.
  • Protect your meetings: Enterprise-grade security encrypts all your meetings and conversations. Plus, password-protect any meeting and control who can join.
  • Connect internal and external teams: RingCentral Video allows you to create messaging teams that include both internal and external teams.
  • Integrate other apps: RingCentral Video has the ability to connect apps like Mailchimp, Zapier, and GitHub to your team messaging.
  • Searchable archive: RingCentral Video lets you search your archive by keyword and filter the results by name, email, or team.

While RingCentral Video gives you a lot for free, you can also upgrade to the RingCentral Video Pro paid version that gives you even more for just $12 per month. With this premium edition, you get everything in the free version plus twice as many participants (200), 100 hours (10GB) of cloud recording per user, a single sign-on, the ability to call any phone from a meeting, and advanced analytics across video, messaging, and devices.

Seamless digital collaboration has become even more important as the COVID pandemic has affected the workforce. RingCentral Video provides a smart option for your business with features, integrations, and functions that truly bring your workforce and communication together in a simple, easily accessibly solution.

Editors' Recommendations

Stephen Slaybaugh
Stephen Slaybaugh is a freelance writer with with more than 20 years experience. He’s written extensively about internet…
This HP 15-inch laptop is discounted from $460 to $300
hp 15 6 inch laptop deal may 2023 15t featured image lifestyle

If you're planning to buy a new laptop but you don't need all the bells and whistles to keep the cost low, you should check out the HP Laptop 15z. It's currently on sale from HP at $160 off, which pulls its price down to an affordable $300 from $460 originally. With the growing importance of owning a dependable laptop, there's always high demand for offers like this one, so you'll have to proceed with the purchase immediately if you don't want to miss out on the discount.

Why you should buy the HP Laptop 15z
The HP Laptop 15z won't blow you away with its specifications, as it's humbly equipped with the AMD Athlon Silver 7120U processor and AMD Radeon Graphics, with 8GB of RAM that's considered by our guide on how much RAM do you need as a starting point for laptops. The device won't be able to edit large video files or play the latest video games like the best laptops, but it will do a fine job in helping you complete daily tasks like browsing the internet, editing documents, working with spreadsheets, and preparing presentations. It can also serve as a decent entertainment hub with its 15.6-inch HD display that's surrounded by narrow bezels on three sides.

Read more
Now’s a great time to buy Google Home, Android and Chromebook
The Google Nest Hub Smart Display on a nightstand.

This content was produced in partnership with Best Buy.
Best Buy has a huge variety of cool tech seeing discounts right now, with Google Home and Android products stealing the show, along with some major discounts on Chromebooks. If you’re in the market for one of the best smart home devices or need to land something practical for work or school, it’s worth browsing these deals to see if a discount is available on the piece of tech you have your eye on. You’ll find all sorts of great devices with discounted prices, from Google smart displays to wireless security cameras and from HP Chromebooks to Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
Why you should shop the Google Home sale

Google has really settled into itself as a maker of smart home devices and ecosystems, and right now at Best Buy you can pounce on all sorts of things to add to your smart home setup. Pricing starts as low as and savings reach as high as $500 on a . Low prices on popular products reach across the board, with the , and the 4K model of the . If you’ve already got a fairly complete smart home setup, you can easily shop for a new device that or . Whether you shop for an upgrade to your smart home or shop just to land some savings, get over to Best Buy now and browse the Google Home discounts.

Read more
Apollo, a Reddit app featured during WWDC, is being shuttered
The Reddit app icon on an iOS Home screen.

On Thursday, the developer of the popular Apollo app for Mac, which is a third-party interface for Reddit, announced that the app would be closing. The app will remain live until June 30.

The developer announced the change in a Reddit post, saying "Eight years ago, I posted in the Apple subreddit about a Reddit app I was looking for beta testers for, and my life completely changed that day... Today's a much sadder post than that initial one eight years ago." The developer originally went to the social media platform to protest Reddit's changes to API pricing. After talks turned "ugly," they said Apollo would be closing.

Read more