Personalizing asynchronous communication with Vmaker
By: Tanoy Chowdhury
Tags: Communication, Mental Health, Digital Life, Remote Working, Technology

Photo by Ashutosh Sonwani from Pexels

How do we communicate today

If I walk on the street, and randomly ask people — “What’s your favourite way of communicating with others?”

I’m gonna get a lot of different answers.

The tricky part is that most people will have difficulty in figuring out which one is the favourite. The reason behind this is that no one totally relies on only one stream of communication.

We go back and forth, and choose the one that fits our needs and is in line with our expectations.

But, if you broadly want to categorize the different ways of communication, then you can put them in two categories — synchronous and asynchronous communication

What is synchronous communication?

Synchronous communication happens in real-time. All the users have to be in sync, active in other words, to talk and exchange information.

Phone calls and video meetings are the perfect examples of synchronous communication.

This form of communication will help you to get things done quickly. If you have an agenda in hand which needs answers, suggestions and opinions from others instantly, this is the right choice for you.

However, this instantness is like a double-edged sword. While everything can be done real-time, it also gets taxing if it’s done continuously. Besides, working with a remote team can also be challenging as you have to factor in the time zone limitations.

Let’s take Zoom meetings as an example. It perfectly explains the demerits of the synchronous communication.

In a Zoom call, you need to stay attentive to understand what other people are talking about and who the speaker is. Usually, there are multiple users joining, so a lack of concentration can turn costly.

If you search for the term “Zoom fatigue,” you’ll come across articles discussing the deteriorating effects of continuous online meetings on the people working from home.

Here’s a study done by National Geographic, on how ‘Zoom fatigue’ is taxing the brain.

The constant pressure of staying attentive and participating in discussions is sometimes too much to handle. In addition, there is also a heavy cloud of consciousness looming on the shoulders of the participants. A small error or slight lack of judgement can bring a scathing attack on the confidence of the user.

Synchronous communication is not bad, and cannot be overruled completely. It existed and it will exist. However, the very strength of synchronous communication becomes its biggest challenge and if not managed correctly; it can hinder the very underlying concept of communication — exchanging information.

What is asynchronous communication?

Now, it’s pretty easy to figure out what asynchronous communication is.

In this form of communication, the users do not necessarily have to be available in real time. They can communicate as per their time and convenience.

Emails and text messages are the best examples of asynchronous communication.

Let’s get the negatives out first.

If you have a strict timeline to get things done or if you want to bring everyone on board simultaneously, then asynchronous communication may not be the right choice for you.

You can’t send an email to your team and expect them to reply immediately. No, that’s not gonna happen even if you mark it as URGENT.

Asynchronous communication gives the users the liberty to think and contemplate ideas, and engage in a conversation at their own pace.

This is the biggest strength of this form of communication.

There is so much scope for the users to stay calm and plan their action. There is no fear of someone watching over their shoulders, plotting their every action.

This is a perfect choice for customer support, designers, and writing teams. With asynchronous communication they can share their work amongst peers to get feedback, without pressuring them to reply instantly.

In this stream of work, it’s always advisable to take time and think clearly.

Personalizing asynchronous communication

There’s another thing about asynchronous communication that pegs it a notch lower than synchronous communication.

And that thing is personalization. Asynchronous communication lacks the personal feel. The synergy of working together.

Think about it, in an email, other than mentioning the name and a few personal details of the recipient, you can’t add many flavors of personalization in it.

Compare this with a video call. The user on the other end can see you and because it’s done in real-time, there is so much for you to talk about.

So, if you want to have a more personal form of asynchronous communication where do you go?

Can you think of a tool? No? Let me help you.

Have you heard about screen recording tools? These are simple tools which help you to record your screen and your face simultaneously.

Screen recording is not new. It has been in the scene for some time, but in the past five years it has gained popularity. If you go on Google Search Trends, you will see how the search volume has changed over the years.

Introducing Vmaker

To make more people choose a personal yet asynchronous communication tool we launched Vmaker. A free and simple app that allows unlimited screen and video recording.

Vmaker has been designed to help people communicate and collaborate better. It marries the concept of Gmail and Zoom to give an escape route to those users who are fighting the Zoom fatigue.

At Vmaker, we follow the motto of “Video chat, without a chat”

While making Vmaker, we put a special emphasis on the feature list. We want to make Vmaker a better tool for communication and that fits everyone be it a team in an enterprise, a YouTuber, or a teacher who takes online classes.

Here’s a quick overview of what Vmaker can do -

Unlimited screen and video recordings for free

All your recordings get saved on cloud which means you can access them anytime, anywhere

Record in high quality up to 4K

You can use a microphone and system audio for narration

Set a schedule to start recordings automatically

Use the in-built video editor to remove the unwanted parts

Use screen annotations to highlight specific areas

Blur or customize the background for better effect

Create auto expiry videos

There’s one special ingredient that we always save for the last. This is something that we’re really proud of.

Introducing — Schedule your screen recording with Max

“Woof! Hi, I’m Max, virtual assistant at Vmaker”

Max is our virtual assistant who will assist you in scheduling your screen recording session. This means that Max will automatically start recording your screen according to your pre-decided time.

So, you don’t have to stress about remembering the date and time of your next recording session. Also, this feature is a great back up when you have an emergency like you have to run an errand at the last minute, your baby starts crying and needs to be looked after or you stub your toe against the kitchen table.

Final words

Vmaker is an advanced tool which takes the best of both the world — synchronous and asynchronous communication. It is impossible to abandon other forms and move to screen recording completely, but it is a great avenue to embrace new technology.

With Vmaker, we want to revolutionize the way people communicate today. We want to make screen recording a tool for communication and let the world experience the power of it. For the same reason we have set our motto as — Video chat, without a chat.

Get the same fun of video chatting with your family and friends, share your screen and do a lot more without the pressure of staying online.

Do we sound interesting? Then let me welcome you to take a tour of our website.

Also, let me remind you — It’s FREE, UNLIMITED for lifetime.