This page provides details about Around (organization,product) which was ranked #13 out of 67 in the list of brands (16 mentions (3.7% share)) in answers from AI models (Anthropic Claude Sonnet (latest), OpenAI ChatGPT Latest, Google Gemini Flash (latest), X.AI Grok (latest)) when they were asked the following 3 questions: "What are the best Video Conferencing options available today? Please provide a comprehensive overview including: the leading brands and products, top companies and service providers, recognized experts and thought leaders, promising startups and new market entrants, major industry events and conferences, active communities and forums, and influential publications and media covering this space.", "If I'm looking to get into Video Conferencing, who and what should I know about? Include the most trusted brands, recommended products and services, reputable companies and providers, influential experts and reviewers to follow, helpful communities and resources, important events and conferences, notable startups disrupting the space, and key publications and media channels to stay informed.", "What does the Video Conferencing industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry." on Dec 31, 2025 by AI Chat Watch.
What are the best Video Conferencing options available today? Please provide a comprehensive overview including: the leading brands and products, top companies and service providers, recognized experts and thought leaders, promising startups and new market entrants, major industry events and conferences, active communities and forums, and influential publications and media covering this space.
[...] m](https://www.talkingpointz.com)
- UC industry veteran and blogger
5. **Blair Pleasant** - President of COMMfusion [https://www.commfusion.com](https://www.commfusion.com)
- Communications and collaboration analyst
## Promising Startups and New Market Entrants
### Recent Innovations
1. **Around** [https://www.around.co](https://www.around.co)
- Redesigned video conferencing interface
- Focus on reducing "Zoom fatigue"
- Innovative UI with floating video bubbles
2. **Mmhmm** [https://www.mmhmm.app](https://www.mmhmm.app)
- Created by former Evernote CEO Phil Libin
- Virtual [...]
December 31, 2025
[...] pointz.com)
- UC industry veteran and blogger
5. **Blair Pleasant** - President of COMMfusion [https://www.commfusion.com](https://www.commfusion.com)
- Communications and collaboration analyst
## Promising Startups and New Market Entrants
### Recent Innovations
1. **Around** [https://www.around.co](https://www.around.co)
- Redesigned video conferencing interface
- Focus on reducing "Zoom fatigue"
- Innovative UI with floating video bubbles
2. **Mmhmm** [https://www.mmhmm.app](https://www.mmhmm.app)
- Created by former Evernote CEO Phil Libin
- Virtual presentation platform [...]
December 31, 2025
If I'm looking to get into Video Conferencing, who and what should I know about? Include the most trusted brands, recommended products and services, reputable companies and providers, influential experts and reviewers to follow, helpful communities and resources, important events and conferences, notable startups disrupting the space, and key publications and media channels to stay informed.
[...] ation show
4. **Zoomtopia** - [https://www.zoomtopia.com](https://www.zoomtopia.com)
- Zoom's annual user conference
5. **Microsoft Ignite** - [https://ignite.microsoft.com](https://ignite.microsoft.com)
- Microsoft's conference covering Teams updates
## Notable Startups & Disruptors
1. **Around** - [https://www.around.co](https://www.around.co)
- Floating video bubbles interface
- Focused on reducing Zoom fatigue
2. **Mmhmm** - [https://www.mmhmm.app](https://www.mmhmm.app)
- Virtual presentation platform
- Founded by Phil Libin (former Evernote CEO)
3. **Butter** - [https:/ [...]
December 31, 2025
[...] ia** - [https://www.zoomtopia.com](https://www.zoomtopia.com)
- Zoom's annual user conference
5. **Microsoft Ignite** - [https://ignite.microsoft.com](https://ignite.microsoft.com)
- Microsoft's conference covering Teams updates
## Notable Startups & Disruptors
1. **Around** - [https://www.around.co](https://www.around.co)
- Floating video bubbles interface
- Focused on reducing Zoom fatigue
2. **Mmhmm** - [https://www.mmhmm.app](https://www.mmhmm.app)
- Virtual presentation platform
- Founded by Phil Libin (former Evernote CEO)
3. **Butter** - [https://butter.us](https://butt [...]
December 31, 2025
What does the Video Conferencing industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry.
[...] ** - Industry analyst and blogger at TalkingPointz - [https://www.talkingpointz.com](https://www.talkingpointz.com)
- **Blair Pleasant** - President & Principal Analyst at COMMfusion - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairpleasant)
## Emerging Startups & Trends
### **Notable Startups**
- **Around** - [https://www.around.co](https://www.around.co) - Next-gen video calling (innovative UI)
- **Mmhmm** - [https://www.mmhmm.app](https://www.mmhmm.app) - Creative presentation software
- **Butter** - [https://butter.us](https://butter.us) - Facilitator-focused virtual workshop tool
- **Spot** - [h [...]
December 31, 2025
[...] d blogger at TalkingPointz - [https://www.talkingpointz.com](https://www.talkingpointz.com)
- **Blair Pleasant** - President & Principal Analyst at COMMfusion - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairpleasant)
## Emerging Startups & Trends
### **Notable Startups**
- **Around** - [https://www.around.co](https://www.around.co) - Next-gen video calling (innovative UI)
- **Mmhmm** - [https://www.mmhmm.app](https://www.mmhmm.app) - Creative presentation software
- **Butter** - [https://butter.us](https://butter.us) - Facilitator-focused virtual workshop tool
- **Spot** - [https://www.spot.so](http [...]
December 31, 2025
What are the best Video Conferencing options available today? Please provide a comprehensive overview including: the leading brands and products, top companies and service providers, recognized experts and thought leaders, promising startups and new market entrants, major industry events and conferences, active communities and forums, and influential publications and media covering this space.
[...] n.org/) (widely used for online learning / virtual classrooms)
- [Nextcloud Talk](https://nextcloud.com/talk/) (video calling integrated into the self-hosted collaboration platform [Nextcloud](https://nextcloud.com/))
### Browser-first, simple guest experiences
- [Whereby](https://whereby.com/)
- [Around](https://around.co/)
### “Virtual space” / spatial & event-style video (good for socials, poster sessions, networking)
- [Gather](https://www.gather.town/)
- [Kumospace](https://www.kumospace.com/)
- [SpatialChat](https://spatial.chat/)
- [Remo](https://remo.co/)
- [Airmeet](https://www.airmeet.co [...]
December 31, 2025
[...] .com/communications-apis/video/) (from [Vonage](https://www.vonage.com/))
- [Agora](https://www.agora.io/)
- [Daily](https://www.daily.co/)
- [LiveKit](https://livekit.io/)
- Standards/concepts commonly used here: [WebRTC](https://www.w3.org/TR/webrtc/)
---
## 4) Top companies & service providers around video conferencing
### Unified Communications “suites” (meetings + phone + messaging)
- [Microsoft](https://www.microsoft.com/) (via [Microsoft Teams](https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software))
- [Google](https://about.google/) (via [Google Meet](https://meet.google.com/) in [ [...]
December 31, 2025
[...] ww.idc.com/)
- [Omdia](https://omdia.tech.informa.com/)
(If you tell me your target—IT admins, AV pros, developers, educators—I can narrow this to the most relevant voices.)
---
## 6) Promising startups / newer entrants to watch (varies by niche)
- Lightweight meetings / better presence:
- [Around](https://around.co/)
- [Whereby](https://whereby.com/)
- Spatial/virtual-office style:
- [Gather](https://www.gather.town/)
- [Kumospace](https://www.kumospace.com/)
- [SpatialChat](https://spatial.chat/)
- Developer-first realtime video infrastructure:
- [Daily](https://www.daily.co/) [...]
December 31, 2025
What are the best Video Conferencing options available today? Please provide a comprehensive overview including: the leading brands and products, top companies and service providers, recognized experts and thought leaders, promising startups and new market entrants, major industry events and conferences, active communities and forums, and influential publications and media covering this space.
[...] ingPointz](https://talkingpointz.com/)
### 4. Promising Startups and New Entrants
Newer players are focusing on "spatial" communication and reducing meeting fatigue.
* **Gather**: Uses a virtual 2D world to facilitate spontaneous "walk-up" conversations. [Gather](https://www.gather.town/)
* **Around**: Focuses on "minimalist" video calls that float on your screen to allow for collaborative work. [Around](https://www.around.co/)
* **Miro (Interactive Whiteboarding)**: While not a traditional VC tool, it is the leader in visual collaboration during meetings. [Miro](https://miro.com/)
* **Hop [...]
December 31, 2025
[...] ing on "spatial" communication and reducing meeting fatigue.
* **Gather**: Uses a virtual 2D world to facilitate spontaneous "walk-up" conversations. [Gather](https://www.gather.town/)
* **Around**: Focuses on "minimalist" video calls that float on your screen to allow for collaborative work. [Around](https://www.around.co/)
* **Miro (Interactive Whiteboarding)**: While not a traditional VC tool, it is the leader in visual collaboration during meetings. [Miro](https://miro.com/)
* **Hopin**: A leader in the virtual and hybrid events space. [Hopin](https://hopin.com/)
### 5. Major Industry [...]
December 31, 2025
If I'm looking to get into Video Conferencing, who and what should I know about? Include the most trusted brands, recommended products and services, reputable companies and providers, influential experts and reviewers to follow, helpful communities and resources, important events and conferences, notable startups disrupting the space, and key publications and media channels to stay informed.
[...] e for Unified Communications news and comparisons.
* [UC Today](https://www.uctoday.com/)
### **5. Notable Startups Disrupting the Space**
* **Miro**: While primarily a whiteboarding tool, it is disrupting how people collaborate *within* video calls.
* [Miro](https://miro.com/)
* **Around (by Miro)**: A video platform designed specifically for "spatial" audio and minimalist UI for developers.
* [Around](https://www.around.co/)
* **Hopin**: A leader in the "virtual events" space, moving video conferencing into large-scale webinars.
* [Hopin](https://hopin.com/)
* **Mm [...]
December 31, 2025
[...] Disrupting the Space**
* **Miro**: While primarily a whiteboarding tool, it is disrupting how people collaborate *within* video calls.
* [Miro](https://miro.com/)
* **Around (by Miro)**: A video platform designed specifically for "spatial" audio and minimalist UI for developers.
* [Around](https://www.around.co/)
* **Hopin**: A leader in the "virtual events" space, moving video conferencing into large-scale webinars.
* [Hopin](https://hopin.com/)
* **Mmhmm**: Founded by Phil Libin (Evernote), this tool allows for advanced virtual presentations over existing platforms. [...]
December 31, 2025
What does the Video Conferencing industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry.
[...] r Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
* [Neat](https://neat.no/)
### 3. Emerging Startups and Trends
The current trend is "Asynchronous Video" and AI-driven meeting summarization.
* **Loom:** Leader in asynchronous video messaging (acquired by Atlassian).
* [Loom](https://www.loom.com/)
* **Around (Miro):** A video tool designed specifically for creative collaboration.
* [Around](https://www.around.co/)
* **Otter.ai:** AI-powered transcription and automated meeting notes.
* [Otter.ai](https://otter.ai/)
* **Read.ai:** Provides meeting analytics and scheduling automation. [...]
December 31, 2025
[...] d Trends
The current trend is "Asynchronous Video" and AI-driven meeting summarization.
* **Loom:** Leader in asynchronous video messaging (acquired by Atlassian).
* [Loom](https://www.loom.com/)
* **Around (Miro):** A video tool designed specifically for creative collaboration.
* [Around](https://www.around.co/)
* **Otter.ai:** AI-powered transcription and automated meeting notes.
* [Otter.ai](https://otter.ai/)
* **Read.ai:** Provides meeting analytics and scheduling automation.
* [Read.ai](https://www.read.ai/)
* **Gather:** A "virtual office" platform that uses [...]
December 31, 2025
What does the Video Conferencing industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry.
### Overview of the Video Conferencing Industry
The video conferencing industry has grown significantly post-COVID, with the global market valued at around $13.86 billion in 2023 and projected to reach $62.25 billion by 2032, driven by hybrid work, AI enhancements, and integration with collaboration tools. Key trends include AI-powered features like real-time translation, noise cancellation, and virtual backgrounds; spatial audio/video for immersive e [...]