At TrackIt, we’ve noted that most organizations often don’t realize how easy it is to build their own Zoom-like interface equipped with the exact features they need. Through this article on Amazon Chime SDK, it is our aim to demonstrate how organizations can implement a custom Zoom-like video conferencing solution (quite affordably) instead of relying on third-party providers that offer little or no flexibility.
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Two Scenarios
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced most organizations to embrace a remote work culture; and the adoption of video conferencing tools like Zoom & Webex is becoming the norm for a growing number of companies. Although these third-party video conferencing solutions are useful and accessible (and are often relatively affordable), there are two particular environments in which these solutions may not be the best fit:
Scenario #1: Large Organizations
Despite being very cost-effective solutions for individuals and small organizations, licenses for third-party web conferencing tools like Zoom often become quite expensive for larger enterprises. The ideal choice for such organizations would be to build their own Zoom-like video conferencing solution using a solution like Amazon Chime SDK that would just need to be developed once and would not incur any expenses other than the raw AWS infrastructure it runs upon – far less than the uplifted prices from the packaged providers..
Scenario #2: Custom Video Conferencing Experiences
There are also companies that prioritize providing seamless and custom video conferencing experiences to their clients, partners, employees, and end-users directly from the interface (web page or application) they already share with these parties. Companies with such requirements value the overall interactive experience they themselves provide, and are in need of more flexibility than what third-party solutions like Zoom or Webex can provide. This is where a solution like Amazon Chime SDK comes into play.
What Is Chime SDK?
Amazon Chime SDK (not to be confused with the Chime app, Amazon’s Zoom-like conferencing service) is a family of components that can be used to build a fully customizable video conferencing platform for your own organization.
Chime SDK is a WebRTC-as-a-service solution that allows companies to quickly and easily leverage the same communications infrastructure that powers the Amazon Chime app.
Implementing Amazon Chime SDK for an organization does not mean rebuilding a Zoom-like web conferencing solution from scratch. Instead, implementing Chime SDK means leveraging the Zoom-like backend that AWS has already deployed. The only thing companies need to add to this is their own custom user interface.
In essence, Amazon Chime SDK takes the idea of ‘building a Zoom for your organization’ out of the realm of the super difficult and extremely expensive and makes it easy and affordable to any organization looking to add a custom touch to its interactions.
When Is Chime SDK The Better Option?
As discussed earlier in the article, Amazon Chime SDK is the ideal choice for large enterprises in need of more cost-effective web conferencing and for companies looking to differentiate themselves from their competitors by providing seamless and customized interactive experiences to their employees, clients, partners, and end-users. Amazon Chime SDK allows organizations to create a customized interface that’s tailored to their specific needs. It enables companies to only include features that are needed, hence not cluttering up the interface.
How Long Does It Take To Set Up Chime SDK For My Organization?
Setting up Chime SDK to create a ‘custom Zoom’ is a straightforward and relatively affordable process for most organizations. Deploying Chime SDK for an organization generally just involves building a front end. This requires some basic custom software development expertise available, for example, by working with a partner like TrackIt that can help build the front end – and any back-end application integration required – and make sure that all the necessary integrations are working properly, but nothing more.
What It Looks Like (Screenshots)
The following are sample screenshots of an Amazon Chime SDK implementation:
Some Example Use Cases
e-Learning / Remote Learning
Amazon Chime SDK allows educators to deliver high-quality audio and video educational experiences to students remotely. Amazon Chime SDK makes it very easy to set up an interface within an e-learning application for teachers and students to have conference calls with all the necessary tools they need such as whiteboards, screen share, classroom polls, Q&As, etc.
TrackIt has recently published an article on how to use Amazon Chime SDK to build an online classroom in Electron and React. Readers can access the article here.
Telemedicine
Amazon Chime SDK, when used in medical and health applications, enables doctors and medical professionals to connect in real-time with patients and provide remote consultations.
Unified Communications
Implementing Amazon Chime SDK in unified communication applications helps enhance collaboration with real-time communication capabilities such as messaging, audio, and video.
Remote Assistance
Amazon Chime SDK simplifies and improves the process of connecting with experts. The diverse tool kit of features provided by Chime SDK can be set up to specifically address and enhance remote assistance interactions.
Gaming
Amazon Chime SDK can be leveraged to build high-quality multi-player audio and video interactions within gaming applications. The real-time communication capabilities allow players located across the world to effectively interact and coordinate their gameplay.
Retail
Amazon Chime SDK can be leveraged to connect shoppers with sales agents or customer support executives directly from the retail website or application.
About TrackIt
TrackIt is an international AWS cloud consulting, systems integration, and software development firm headquartered in Marina del Rey, CA.
We have built our reputation on helping media companies architect and implement cost-effective, reliable, and scalable Media & Entertainment workflows in the cloud. These include streaming and on-demand video solutions, media asset management, and archiving, incorporating the latest AI technology to build bespoke media solutions tailored to customer requirements.
Cloud-native software development is at the foundation of what we do. We specialize in Application Modernization, Containerization, Infrastructure as Code and event-driven serverless architectures by leveraging the latest AWS services. Along with our Managed Services offerings which provide 24/7 cloud infrastructure maintenance and support, we are able to provide complete solutions for the media industry.