BlueJeans, one of biggest Zoom rivals, is shutting down

Verizon has announced that its BlueJeans app’s basic and free trial offerings will discontinue from August 31, marking the end of life for one of the biggest rivals of the Zoom video conferencing platform. Members of BlueJeans service have received an email that mentioned that the app is being “sunset”, reports 9to5Google.

“Thank you for being a valued user of BlueJeans by Verizon services. We want to share that we have made the difficult decision to sunset our suite of BlueJeans products. In light of this, BlueJeans Basic and free trial offerings will be discontinued effective August 31, 2023, and your access to the services will be removed. However, you can continue to use these services until that time,” it added.

In the email, the company also said that if users have saved any recordings on BlueJeans, then download them prior to August 31, as after that, the content will be deleted in accordance with the BlueJeans privacy policy. Paid users, including corporates, are reportedly getting an extension on the deadline, but it is unclear if Verizon will refund their money after BlueJeans is shut for good.

Early into the Covid-19 lockdown, both businesses and individuals were trying to stay connected and turned to platforms like Google Meet and Zoom. Other businesses, like Verizon, saw an opportunity to enter the suddenly growing video conferencing market with their own products. In May 2020, Verizon acquired BlueJeans, a business-focused video software that was founded in 2009. In 2020, India’s leading telecom service company, Bharti Airtel partnered with Verizon, one of biggest carriers in the US, to launch BlueJeans in India., adding the subcontinent to its footprint amid a huge demand for video conferencing platforms.

Beginning in 2022, Google and Verizon collaborated to preload the BlueJeans app on (since-discontinued) Verizon’s Glass Enterprise Edition 2 smart glasses. More recently, BlueJeans added a free tier in March this year, making the app available to many more potential users and competing with the free consumer-ready services of Google Meet and Zoom.

— Written with inputs from IANS