If you haven’t used Zoom by this point, you’re one in a million, as its success was immediate when businesses stopped operating in person full time at the start of the pandemic. Zoom’s number of daily meeting participants increased from 10 million in December of 2019 to 350 million in December of 2020. Zoom’s fifth annual user conference, Zoomtopia 2021, took place in September and included a glimpse of the latest updates and features:
Zoom Whiteboard
Expected to be in beta later this year, this virtual hub will allow access from anywhere, anytime and on any device for both real-time and asynchronous collaboration. Whether during a meeting or not, teams can connect and collaborate. Additionally, anticipated in 2022, a VR experience for Zoom Meetings and Zoom Whiteboard will be available via a new integration with Facebook’s Horizon Workrooms.
Zoom Video Engagement Center
Extending call center capabilities, the Zoom Video Engagement Center (VEC) will allow businesses to connect with customers via this cloud-based video solution. Similar to a Zoom meeting, this focuses on the individual experience to provide a company’s customers with a unique and interactive support experience. Expected to launch in early 2022, the VEC will offer templates designed for specific use cases. Zoom plans to eventually launch templates for all types of businesses and industries.
Expanded live translational and live transcription
Zoom plans to extend its automated transcription to thirty languages and add live translation to twelve languages in the next year.
Zoom Widget
This at-a-glance tool will offer quick access to pertinent information such as upcoming meetings, who is currently in a meeting, and will allow users to send a quick message.
Zoom Phone Provider Exchange
Provider Exchange makes it easy to discover PSTN provider partners in our ecosystem. With Zoom Phone Provider Exchange, providers gain more customer visibility within the provider and carrier ecosystem, while customers have more providers to choose from.
Video Voicemail
Zoom is adding the ability to leave video voicemails that will be delivered straight to their voicemail inbox.
Smart Gallery enhancements
In public beta now, Zoom Rooms Smart Gallery creates individual video feeds of all in-room participants using AI. Zoom is enhancing this service to include remote participants as well for a more equitable experience.
Hot Desking options
Employees will be able to book desks and spaces using an interactive map and eventually select seats or arrangements recommended by Zoom’s AI, giving organizations the ability to reconfigure their workspaces for flexible working.
Zoom Events Conference
With this new feature, users can build a virtual conference with the ability to host multi-track and multi-day events for communities of any size. Additionally, new tools such as branded emails, surveys, recording, analytics and more will be available.
Zoom Apps Expanded Availability
New apps available for every aspect of Zoom, from adding the ability to sign documents mid Zoom meeting with DocuSign to new immersive apps that will bring your meeting to life.
New Security enhancements
A new Bring Your Own Key feature will allow customers with strict compliance requirements or data residency needs to provision and manage their own encryption keys. Plus, new identity verification will make it easy to validate users.
