This article compares how Zoom and Aircall handle voice and media streams, with a focus on technology, security, and reliability.

Zoom technology

The Zoom client is a closed source application that must be downloaded and installed before use.

  • Video and audio streams are encrypted before being sent to Zoom’s Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) service.

  • At the MCU, streams are analyzed to ensure synchronization with other participants and then combined into a single stream.

Zoom’s servers also include Machine Learning technologies, which are applied to video streams to power features such as Virtual Backgrounds.

Because both the client and server technologies are closed source:

  • It is not possible to know exactly how streams are used or managed by Zoom Communications Inc.

  • Data is encrypted during transport to the servers, but is accessible to Zoom’s technology within the server itself.

  • As a result, it is unknown whether Zoom streams remain private at all times.

Aircall technology

Aircall uses WebRTC technology.

WebRTC was first developed by Global IP Solutions (GIPS), a company founded around 1999 in Sweden. In 2011, GIPS was acquired by Google and, since then, WebRTC has been an open-source platform. Its source code is freely available and can be scrutinized by third parties.

In Aircall:

  • Audio streams are initiated using WebRTC.

  • Streams are encrypted at the internet level and also within the audio packets themselves.

Once received by Aircall servers:

  • The audio format is converted to the format required for transportation over traditional telephony carrier lines, and vice versa.

  • Beyond this format conversion and WebRTC specific routines, no other transformations are applied.

Voice throughput comparison

WebRTC technology is updated regularly by numerous individuals and organizations, such as Microsoft, Apple, and Google. This means:

  • Potential vulnerabilities can be found and fixed quickly.

In contrast:

  • Zoom is proprietary.

  • Vulnerabilities are fixed only as and when Zoom Communications Inc. becomes aware of them.

This makes WebRTC particularly reliable and potentially safer for end users.

Additionally, tests carried out by VoIP professionals have found WebRTC to be a strong contender to Zoom’s popularity.

For example:

  • When testing both platforms’ ability to recover from changes in network bandwidth, the Jitsi Media Server team discovered WebRTC responds on average twice as fast as Zoom.

Conclusion

While Zoom is a popular and capable tool for conferencing and online video calls, it shows some limitations as a person-to-person communications platform.

For example:

  • All participants must use Zoom’s proprietary software.

  • All participants must be connected to the internet, which means Zoom does not have the same reach as telephony enabled platforms like Aircall.

Aircall also offers:

  • Integration into numerous other business tools

  • API configuration capabilities

These added benefits support users at the business level, creating much greater functionality beyond core communication features.