Zoom Video Communications has unveiled new features for its conferencing platform, at a two-day event with management called Zoomtopia. OnZoom is a new way to organise events on the platform, and Zapps is designed to help integrate workflows from third-party applications into Zoom. The company is also strengthening its encryption, enhancing its SDK and expanding its unified communications features.
OnZoom allows users to create and host free, paid and fundraising events. Zoom users can discover these events and sign up for new experiences with additional functionality like gifting tickets and an attendee dashboard to keep tabs on events and brands. The service starts as a public beta for US users to attend events from SMBs and flagship content partners like WW (formerly Weight Watchers).
A new end-to-end encryption offering is an optional feature, which will be generally available in technical preview to free and paid Zoom users next week. It can be enabled at the account, group and user level, and, depending on how the account admin sets up the feature, can be toggled on and off by the host on a by-meeting basis. When enabled, Zoom’s E2EE ensures that communication between meeting participants using Zoom applications is encrypted using cryptographic keys known only to the devices of those participants. No third party - including Zoom - is provided with access to the meeting’s private keys.
Zoom also is adding new enhancements to its SDKs, enabling developers and companies to enrich their own custom video-based applications with Zoom’s platform, on Android, iOS and web. Developers can take advantage of a customizable UI and session control, adding video, audio and instant chat to their applications.
Zapps to integrate more apps
For bringing apps to Zoom, the company presented Zapps. This enable developers to create apps that power workflows before, during and after the meeting. Zapps are designed to give developers a fast and flexible web view canvas to create apps, viral distribution, and IT deployment and manageability. Over 25 partners joined Zoom to launch the service, including companies such as Slack, Dropbox, Mural, ServiceNow, HubSpot and Kaltura.
Finally, Zoom has developed new functionalities for its core unified communications platform. These include features to enhance interaction in Zoom meetings, such as customised backgrounds and lobbies, breakout rooms, a post-meeting debrief room, and animated responses, as well as improved communication options, such as access to 911 alerts for internal staff, user video preview before entering a meeting and Team SMS to share text messages amongst people in a call queue.
The company has also expanded Zoom Phone to 42 countries where local numbers are available. More will be added soon, including South Africa next week, Zoom said.
Certification for home working equipment
On the hardware front, Zoom is expanding its certification to personal workspace devices, to take account of the increase in remote work. This includes personal and portable USB and Bluetooth speakerphones such as the new Poly Sync 20, webcams, and all-in-one desktop systems.
Lenovo also announced that its ThinkSmart Hub and ThinkSmart View collaboration platforms announced last month will be offered with Zoom Rooms and Zoom for Home respectively. They will go on sale in respectively November and January.
