The year 2020 has seen a rise in the use of video calling apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams as the world fought through a global pandemic. To promote social distancing during the upcoming holiday season, Zoom has decided to remove the 40 minute limit on free accounts. This will not be the first time for the company as it also removed the 40 minute limit for the Thanksgiving celebrations.
However, this time around, the unlimited meetings option will be available to the free users on the following dates:
- 10 a.m. ET Thursday, Dec. 17, to 6 a.m. ET Saturday, Dec. 19
- 10 a.m. ET Wednesday, Dec. 23, to 6 a.m. ET Saturday, Dec. 26
- 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 30, to 6 a.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 2
Since limits are enforced directly by the service, users will not have to do anything to avail the benefits. Zoom notes that users will just need to start a meeting during the aforementioned dates and the limit will be lifted automatically.
In the announcement post, Zoom said:
As a token of appreciation to our users during an extraordinary time, we’re removing the 40-minute limit on free Zoom accounts for all meetings globally for several upcoming special occasions.
Whether coming together on the final day of Hanukkah, celebrating Christmas, ringing in the New Year, or marking the last days of Kwanzaa, those connecting with friends and family won’t get cut short.
Zoom is not the only company that is offering free unlimited calls. Earlier this year, Google also announced that it has extended the unlimited Meet calls for Gmail accounts until March 31, 2021