Following even more lockdown restrictions, Zoom, the video conferencing platform, has decided you may need more than 40 minutes to have digital family time.

Now that South Africans can’t go to beaches or exceed 100 people in a restaurant, maybe it’s time to explore a digital holiday? Internationally dispersed families have been doing it for years, and it may be the perfect excuse not to deal with your aunt that got drunk and fell over the braai again. Just do a video-call Christmas.

Zoom is lifting its 40-minute meeting limit for free accounts across the globe for this reason. Not only for Christmas, but other holidays too (some of which aren’t celebrated in SA, but it’s nice to know about it).

The limit will be lifted on the following dates:

17:00 on Thursday, 17 December, to 13:00 on Saturday, 19 December for Hanukka.
17:00 on Wednesday,23 December to 13:00 on Saturday, 26 December for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
17:00 on Wednesday, 30 December to 13:00 on Saturday 2 January for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Thing is, Zoom calls are normally capped at just 40 minutes, which isn’t even enough to conclude a weekly strategy brawl with the team, nevermind hang-outs with family and tell them all your lockdown anecdotes. Obviously, there are a myriad of other video conferencing options out there, including Google Meet and even trusty ole WhatsApp. But it’s nice to have the choice.

Source: The Verge