Skype and Webex are also options.

Zoom offers only 40 minutes for a meeting at their Basic level.

Dear Coleen,

I agree with professor Morgan abut Zoom - is time limited on 40 minutes, after that time need to call all group again. At my university we use MS Teams and it works very well. It's very easy to use and stable. I like also Skye for talking with smaller groups. Webex has also good recommendations. I suggest you to try different platforms and found out which is the most suitable for you.

I wish you a great success with online focus groups!

I have used Zoom, Teams, Webex, and Skype. They all work. I thought Zoom was the easiest to use, but you have to make sure you set up the meeting securely (like controlling who can share, using a waiting to room to let people in, etc) and need to worry about the time limit. Looks like webex upgraded their free version to 100 people per meeting and unlimited time. It's certainly a viable option. I have used also Slack - only paid plans allow group meetings but the cheapest one is US$6.67 so you might find that worth it, particular if you also want to use Slack features. One that I haven't tried google is hangouts - it seems to have a limit of 10 people.

Yes, these types of applications facilitate communication at the current time of the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus pandemic. I use Zoom, Skype, Messenger. Each application has its pros and cons. However, thanks to this online communication it is possible to conduct classes, seminars, and video conferences remotely via the Internet in real time.

Regards.

Dariusz Prokopowicz

I think we need to distinguishing between software that is video-based versus text-based. I am not aware of any video features in Messenger (or WhatsApp) and I am not sure about Slack.

It is true that Zoom at basic level only offer 40 minutes conference, but you can set it recurrently so it automatically open a new slot

David L Morgan You can do video conferencing in Messenger - I watch my wife and her siblings do that last night. Downside is that you have to a Facebook account, which may be a problem (e.g. in China) or not. You can turn on video conferencing in a call in Slack, but you have to pay for that.

I wonder for a focus group whether a text based platform would be better (depending on your audience). I don't think any of the video platforms are particularly well suited for discussion as such. They are fine if one person is talking for a while or if you are all taking turns. Perhaps if you used a video platform, you might need some sort of technique were people take turns. I think it could get really messy otherwise.

I would probably use Skype and have the video turned off (audio only) and use the blackboard to run participatory activities such as prioritising or whatever it is you're doing. Then people can also add comments in the chat box as well to give you the opportunity to gather additional data from people who might be a bit quiet or who are having problems with audio. Problem with Skype is that people need an account right? Maybe Teams then. I think the 40 minute limit on Zoom is too restrictive.

The problem with conducting text-based focus groups is that it can be very hard to follow the discussion. This is because multiple people post remarks on different topics, rather than following the orderly process of "turn taking" that occurs in face-to-face conversations.

Simple chat software packages such as Messenger make it difficult to create "threads" in the discussion or use functions such as "Reply To: (specific person)" which can make it easier to track the interaction.

Probably the simplest advice on text-based focus groups is to keep the group as small as possible, and I personally would suggest that anything greater than 4 is problematic.

David L Morgan Leanne M. Kelly Dariusz Prokopowicz Jeff Sedayao Bruno Venditto Joca Zurc Thank you all for recommendations made and points to consider. Very helpful. My organization has an account with Zoom so time is not a factor. My concern is now the recent "hacks" that have occurred with Zoom.

Coleen Toronto There have been problems with so-called Zoom bombing of meetings that are not password projected, but this is the only issue I know.

The Citizen Lab published a report on Zoom security issues including routing traffic through China, making it easy to zoom-bomb, and use of weak encryption techniques. To Zoom's credit, they have fixed most of them. You can see the Citizen Lab Zoom FAQ here:

https://citizenlab.ca/2020/04/faq-on-zoom-security-issues/

Zoom can be run relatively safely. They have made a number of changes including defaults that make people enter in a waiting room and have to be admitted as well as the fixes mentioned by the Citizen Lab. Here are guides to running Zoom securely:

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/zoom-meetings-security-how-to-guide

https://zoom.us/docs/doc/Securing%20Your%20Zoom%20Meetings.pdf

Hi Coleen Toronto - I asekd a similar question some time ago and David L Morgan was so kind to inform me about the discussion here. Here you find my question:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Methodology_Experience_in_conducting_analyzing_online_group_discussions_video#view=5e9ddb3820805d55866a33b0