Each day I wake up, make myself some kind of quick breakfast that includes some variation of eggs and toasted bread, make myself look just presentable enough for a Zoom call and head upstairs to my office to start my day.
Zoom, like several other videoconferencing leaders and other smaller companies chomping at the bit to take some of Zoom’s market share, is a great tool that has helped businesses, customers, friends, and family stay connected during this never-ending pandemic.
But I for one am very tired of talking to little boxes on my monitor and cringing when none of the faces on my screen laugh at my bad jokes. If you are like me and wish there were times that your internet would just go out or there would be an emergency you have to take care of during the call, you are now in luck.
And thanks to advanced audio conferencing solutions from the pro AV world, this new tool will be even more effective.
The tool is Zoom Escaper, a free audio solution that essentially interjects several unseemly sound effects into a person’s Zoom audio feed.
The sound effects include:
- This is sure to disrupt any videoconference call and halt any and all productivity until that awful noise is put to an end.
- Bad connection. If people can’t make out what you’re saying, then you’re off the hook … right?
- Upset baby. Stop what you are doing and get that baby to settle down.
- Man weeping. This one is a bit strange and could end up with a few calls from concerned coworkers.
- Ah, sorry. Forgot I left the window open.
- I have two dogs and they must make their presence known in the event of any noise, including the wind, cars, our mail lady, me, my wife, and sometimes nothing.
- This effect sounds like construction, but it also sounds like your home office is in the middle of a construction site.
- I’ll go ahead and state the obvious: don’t ever use the bathroom during a Zoom call.
Zoom Escaper was created by Sam Lavinge, who describes himself on his website as an “artist and educator whose work deals with data, surveillance, cops, natural language processing, and automation.”
If you like this tool, then you’ll love his Zoom Deleter program that automatically scans your computer for Zoom and deletes it immediately if it’s found.
Of course, we’ll need videoconferencing tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, GoToMeeting and others for the foreseeable future – even after the pandemic ends.
But, we can dream.
