Video calls have become an essential part of life for families as they navigate their way through the coronavirus crisis.
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Children have found themselves spending an increasing amount of time in front of the camera as they talk to family, friends, school teachers and music tutors to stay connected.
Many parents and children will be looking forward to the easing of restrictions and reconnecting with real people but with social distancing set to remain, Ben Donnelly of Peace of Mind Technology said increased video call use is here to stay.
"We have to understand that this will become the new normal for some time," Mr Donnelly said.
"An investment into a new product now will become a vital tool for the next six months and beyond."
For families that investment is time, although he does point out that paying for a service may give you better support.
"The quality of experience is really important," he said. "My kids are using Zoom because their school signed up for that and they are having a great experience because of the clarity of the audio and video.
"If you have problems with video and audio it makes it a difficult experience for kids."
He said Zoom had caught the public's imagination because of how simple it is to use and how effective it is.
Mr Donnelly works with large companies to install new software and support their staff to use it.
The advice he gives to clients is also relevant to families:
- Take the time to set it up and learn how to use it. Ask someone you know if you aren't comfortable with technology.
- If your internet is poor, turn your video off and you still get a good audio call.
- Try and do the calls away from background noise.
- It is very hard for kids to understand the rules of communication because they all talk at once so try to coach them to use mute and speak in turn.
Safety is also a big concern for parents. Not only are children spending more times on screens but more of that time is unsupervised.
Mr Donnelly said treat video calls the same way you would for social media.
"Follow standard social media guidelines as this is no different to Instagram or Snapchat," he said.
"The critical thing is to know who is on a call. Make sure you can see a participant list and you are aware of it.
"It is really important to know who is on call and they are not hiding with camera off.
"Concern about safety comes from people not knowing the controls they can use to make it secure.
"Some platforms you can set a password to get in or lock the space so others can't get in.
"And make sure your kids are in a safe place to talk and not giving away information about their location."
