2020 was obviously a huge year for Zoom, having grown from a little-known video conferencing company, that was surely nowhere near as recognised as Skype's video calling, for example, or Apple's FaceTime, but with Zoom now a global phenomenon and even a verb.

After all, you can be zooming someone as you google the latest news while band-aiding over the paper cuts you received from handling stuff you just xeroxed, which may or may not cause tears you'll need to hoover up metaphorically with a Kleenex or two.

Zoom tells us that it also received a whopping 54x increase in meeting participants in Australia, ensuring Zoom is doing what it can to continuously increase security and evolve its platform so that Zoom and the companies that use it thrive - and helping Zoom fight back against a plethora of alternatives and competitors, both free and paid.

And clearly, those security efforts appear to have paid off – while reports of Zoom bombing were big during the start of the pandemic, you just don’t hear about such things anymore, because Zoom has tightened up its systems.

Given the continuing lockdowns we see when the virus rears its ugly head, with New Zealand back in a lockdown again as I type, and cities like Melbourne only just allowing 75% capacity back into its CBD, which isn't yet being fully embraced by companies and individuals, the hybrid workforce isn't going anywhere anytime soon - if ever.

Eric S. Yuan, the founder and CEO of Zoom said: "The fourth quarter marked a strong finish to an unprecedented year for Zoom. In FY2021, we significantly scaled our business to provide critical communications and collaboration services to our customers and the global community in response to the pandemic.

"We are humbled by our role as a trusted partner and an engine for the modern work-from-anywhere environment. Our ability to rapidly respond and execute drove strong financial results throughout the year.

"As we enter FY2022, we believe we are well positioned for strong growth with our innovative video communications platform, on which our customers can build, run, and grow their businesses; our globally recognised brand; and a team ever focused on delivering happiness to our customers.”

The full details of the earnings report can be seen here.

Zoom has also given its EdInnovation Award and support in the form of US $1m worth of grants to six education focused non-profits.

These are Cambiar Education, Center for Black Educator Development, Kabakoo Academies, Open Up Resources, Re:Coded, and STEM From Dance which will "each receive a grant to support their work, which addresses the education challenges of today through initiatives including diversifying the teaching profession, entrepreneurial job training, assisting aspiring youth in conflict-affected areas to join the digital economy, and providing access to science-based approaches to reading education."

As Zoom notes, education continues to be deeply impacted by the pandemic, and Zoom says it is "invested in supporting students and educators in the long-term" with "free Zoom access to more than 125,000 K-12 schools as defined by approved domains" in the US, as part of its Zoom Cares initiative.