The Impact Zoom Interoperability Has On Users [And Partners]

If you look at the history of Zoom, you’ll see integrative steps it’s taken to ensure the user experience is at the forefront of everything it rolls out.

While many users cite its ease of use as the reason for their adoption, there’s a lot more than the front end making this experience seamless.

From simple meeting links in Slack to direct guest join access for Microsoft Teams, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes to make Zoom one of the most accessible technologies out there.

In this post, we introduce the current Zoom interoperability options and discuss what they mean for both Zoom users and Zoom partners.

Current Zoom interoperability options

Now that Zoom offers more than basic online meetings, we can break down Zoom’s interoperability options into three main areas:

1. Zoom Team Chat
2. Zoom Meetings
3. Zoom Phone

1 – Zoom Team Chat interop

The Zoom Team Chat, Zoom’s messaging and collaboration section of its desktop, client allows you to send messages to other people using Zoom Team Chat.

You can send messages, emojis, and files. And you can edit, delete, and format messages as expected. Both channels and direct messages happen in this UI.

But what happens when half your business uses Zoom Team Chat but the other half are using other messaging apps?

Until now, you either reverted to emailing them or switched to another application where they were more likely online.

In June 2022, Mio announced Zoom Team Chat interop with Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Webex is available in the US.

This means Zoom Team Chat users can send cross-platform messages to people on other platforms.

Like sending a message on-platform, functionality like editing, deleting, reactions, etc. is all supported.

This Zoom interoperability is crucial in large enterprises where the company has decided to go all-in on Zoom (for meetings, collaboration, and messaging).

While the decision may have been made at the top, there will still be pockets of users who prefer Slack, Teams, or Webex. And Zoom recognizes that’s okay.

Rather than forcing everyone to use the same app, Zoom Team Chat interoperability keeps everyone connected without meddling with user preferences.

2 – Zoom Meetings interop

While Zoom continues to expand its portfolio into chat, phone, and even contact center, we all think of meetings when we hear the word “Zoom”.

The same sentiment that applies to message interop applies to meeting interop.

In large businesses, there is a high chance of more than one meeting platform being in place.

As standard, Zoom Meetings include:

• Global phone dial-in for audio-only participants.
• Facebook, YouTube, and custom streaming integration.
• Support for standards-based SIP/H.323 endpoints and rooms.

Furthermore, Zoom Rooms can join Microsoft Teams meetings with Direct Guest Join.

Zooms Rooms can join Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, GoToMeeting, and BlueJeans meeting invitations from Zoom Rooms via the room controller.

On top of this, the Zoom Conference Room Connector lets existing video conferencing room systems like Cisco, Lifesize, or Poly connect to a Zoom meeting.

There are also dedicated integrations for Zoom Rooms Appliances (DTEN, Neat, Poly, Logitech, Zoom for Home (Amazon, Facebook Portal, Google Nest Hub), and an entire marketplace full of Zoom integrations with other line of business apps.

3 – Zoom Phone interop

Zoom Phone, Zoom’s UCaaS cloud calling product, by nature, has to be interoperable with the PSTN network. It’s this functionality that allows you to call people outside of Zoom (off-net calls).

If you opt for Zoom Phone as your phone system, your Zoom desktop and mobile client includes a dial pad, phone book, call history, and voicemail section.

If you’re a Zoom Phone user who wishes to keep your existing call carrier, you can opt to “Bring Your Own Carrier”. You can use this to keep your existing cloud call carrier or route calls between your on-premises legacy PBX system and PSTN circuits.

When it comes to handsets, Zoom Phone supports interoperability with Poly, Audiocodes, Cisco, and Yealink. You can also use Zoom Phone with paging devices by Algo and Cyberdata. Session border controllers by AudioCodes, Oracle, or Ribbon are covered under Zoom interoperability too.

Outside of basic calling, Zoom Phone has native integrations into the following contact centers:

• Genesys
• Five9
• inContact
• TalkDesk
• Twilio

You can also integrate Zoom Phone with other line of business apps like Salesforce, Slack, and Microsoft 365.

Integrating Zoom Phone and Microsoft Teams is as simple as downloading the Zoom app from the Teams store and configuring Zoom Phone.

What Zoom interoperability means for users

Zoom’s interoperability options across chat, meetings, and calling allows for three main benefits:

1. User preference: you and your colleagues can choose whichever collaboration app you need knowing Zoom will integrate or interoperate with it.
2. Productivity: you remain connected to colleagues without needing to switch between different apps.
3. Futureproofing: you know that the next time you add a line of business or collaboration tool, Zoom operates an open and interoperable ecosystem.

Zoom’s approach to interoperability enables genuine collaboration. Between users, between platforms, and everything in between. In the era when cloud applications are rife on your laptop, desktop, and in your meeting room, interoperability keeps everything working together.

If your business is genuinely all-in on Zoom, you might think interoperability isn’t needed. If you can guarantee none of your partners or clients will use another platform then you might be right.

But, in reality, there’s so much choice when it comes to collaboration apps that the chances of everybody you communicate with being on Zoom are slim to none.

Even if you’re not embracing Zoom interoperability today, you can be safe in the knowledge that when the day comes, you’ve chosen a partner that puts the experience first.

What Zoom interoperability means for partners

Zoom’s partners range from hardware suppliers like Neat and Poly to software partners like Mio and Gong.

Regardless of what you partner with Zoom for, its open approach to interoperability opens the door to landing more clients without having to strong-arm them off their existing product.

For example, when Cisco partners have an opportunity to land a meeting room deal, previous attempts may have been halted upon discovery of Zoom users who didn’t wish to change apps.

Now, they can provide meeting room equipment, Webex users, etc. all while making their service work with Zoom rather than against it.

In fact, both Zoom and Cisco invested $8.7 into Mio in 2021—a clear sign of their intentions when it comes to interoperability.

It’s the approach of companies like these that gives Zoom partners a higher chance of success when talking to customers of other collaboration apps. There’s no longer a need to replace everything; making the deal an easier sell and often more successful adoption.

Conclusion

Zoom’s commitment to interoperability and integration is part of a new way of thinking for collaboration providers.

Unlike the old days of vendor lock-in and walled gardens, technology partners are putting the customer experience first.

If you need to use something important to your business, Zoom’s interoperability options enable that without the need for major change.

Sure, on the partner side it might mean you don’t get 10,000 seats and only end up with 5,000. But isn’t that considerable success compared to losing a deal because a client has another platform?

Zoom + interoperability =

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