Verizon to resell Zoom video conferencing to businesses

Zoom has struck a deal to make its cloud-based video conferencing services available to Verizon business customers, a significant win for Zoom that puts the newly public company on a more level playing field with chief rival Cisco.
In addition to reselling Zoom video licenses, Verizon will let business customers access Zoom meeting audio at no additional charge using Verizon wireless or voice-over-IP services. Verizon will also manage Zoom deployments for customers, reducing the IT resources needed for implementation.
The telecommunications giant has an existing agreement to resell Cisco Webex. It chose to partner with Zoom because of the traction the vendor has gained in the market and because of Zoom's ease of use, said Alla Reznik, Verizon's executive director of business communications products and services.
Verizon will target Cisco Webex at enterprises and Zoom at small and midsize businesses, Reznik said, "but the lines between the two are not set in stone." For Zoom, Verizon's seal of approval is a sign of its rising position in the video conference market.
"This does give Verizon an expanded audience, but it also validates Zoom with another tier-one partner," said Rob Arnold, analyst at Frost & Sullivan. Zoom already had a partnership with AT&T.
Zoom stock was up 5.4% on Thursday following the Verizon announcement. Founded in 2011, Zoom went public in April in one of the tech industry's biggest stock market debuts of the year, with share prices surging more than 70% on the first day of trading. The company, which brought in $330 million last year, is now valued at $24.8 billion.
Gartner has identified Verizon a leader in the market for cloud unified communications, with its products in that market built on Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution and Cisco BroadSoft. Verizon's enterprise division sold $8.8 billion worth of networking, communications and security products to business last year.
Zoom Rooms adds people counting
In other Zoom news, the company announced this month that Zoom video room systems could now track the number of people that attend meetings. The feature is available now for Mac users and coming soon for Windows and Chrome OS.
Zoom said the feature, which is off by default, does not rely on facial recognition. Rather, the room system takes pictures of attendees that are stored locally. After the computer counts the number of people in attendance, it deletes the files.
Enterprises are increasingly looking for ways to measure the return on investment for collaboration technologies, said Tom Eagle, an analyst at Gartner. People counting will help IT administrators better track usage of Zoom video rooms.
Cisco Webex also now supports people counting through the use of facial recognition technology. In addition to tracking attendees, Cisco's off-by-default facial recognition can identify attendees and display nametags under their faces.
Zoom Rooms expands third-party support
Zoom is making it cheaper for organizations to connect to meetings hosted by competitors Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business, GoToMeeting, and -- in beta -- BlueJeans. Many large enterprises have contracts with multiple collaboration vendors.
The vendor no longer requires a separate interoperability license for a Zoom room system to dial into a third-party meeting through standards-based Session Initiation Protocol and H.323connections. Previously, businesses would need Zoom's Conference Room Connector license for the room systems dialling in.
Businesses will still need to license an interoperability service for the device hosting the third-party meeting, such as Polycom RealConnect. But the change should encourage the use of Zoom room systems in situations where users would have otherwise joined from their laptops for lack of connectivity.
"Silos still exist in video conferencing in a lot of ways," Arnold said. "These initiatives show that those walls are starting to come down even more."
source searchunifiedcommunications
Industry: Unified Communications

Latest Jobs
-
- Network Security Engineer
- Germany
- €550 a day
-
German- based contract opportunity This is an onsite based position, we would need the Network Security engineer to be able to work on the client site 5 days a week Seeking an experienced Network Security Engineer for a leading technology company. Strong expertise in firewall/IPS solutions, proxy solutions, and certificate management is required. Good hands-on experience in networking and web-related technologies necessary. Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work under pressure are essential. we are looking for a Network Security Engineer with the following experience: · Expertise in Administration, Management & Troubleshooting of Firewall / IPS solutions / Proxy solutions/Certificate Management Solutions · Good Hands-on Experience on security devices (PaloAlto/ /McAfee Proxy/CISCO ISE/Certificate Management) · Good Hands-on Experience in Networking with skills of switching, routing & wireless Technologies · Familiarity with web related technologies (Web applications, Web Services, Service Oriented Architectures) and of network/web related protocol · Configuration of NAT / PAT, firewall policies, profiling, objects, AD-Integration, backup – restore · Knowledge of Subnetting TCP/IP Communication, VLSM Configuration of VLAN VTP · Configuration of Routing Protocols e.g. RIPv1 & v2, OSPF, EIGRP, BGP Knowledge of standard and extended ACL 12 month contract
-
- IAM Consultant
- N/A
- Upto £110,000 depending on level of position
-
Identity Access Management (IAM) Consultant Location: Germany We are seeking an experienced IAM consultants in Germany. we are looking for people from consultant through to Architect, The ideal candidate will have previous IAM deployment experience and be fluent in German. Key responsibilities: Design and implement IAM solutions for clients Provide expertise on industry best practices and standards Troubleshoot and resolve IAM-related issues Work closely with clients to understand their business requirements and provide solutions to meet those needs Qualifications: Previous deployment experience with IAM solutions Fluency in German Strong understanding of IAM technologies and principles Excellent communication and project management skills If you are an experienced IAM consultant with a strong track record of delivering successful projects, please apply today.
-
- ForgeRock Consultant
- Spain
- Upto €85000 plus benefits
-
ForgeRock deployment consultant is needed for this expanding IT Services business within Spain, to act as their ForgeRock technical lead, Responsibilities include: High level and low level design, Scoping the techical needs of the project design, configure, develop and test the forgeRock deployment. We are looking for a strong IAM consultant ideally with ForgeRock experience, Must have strong Oauth 2.0, SAML and API experience
-
- IAM Consultant
- France
- Upto €85000 plus benefits
-
An Identity & Access Management Consultant is needed for an expanding IT Security consultancy, based in France. (Remote role with monthly office meet-ups) The Identity & Access Management Consultant will be responsible for the technical design and implementation of Identity & Access Management/IAM products for a wide variety of clients. Deliver bespoke end-to-end consultancy service to our clients, from gathering requirements through to implementation. Work in a close team designing, developing, and implementing first-class IAM solutions. Manage client relationships, working closely with key stakeholders to continually evaluate business requirements and ensure the highest quality solution delivery. If you are interested we are looking for an individual with Previous experience working within the IAM or CIAM field is essential, Strong knowledge with SAML and Oauth and ideally OpenID Previous experience from any of these technologies: One Identity, SailPoint, Saviynt, Ubisecure, Ping Identity, would be advantageous