Zoom Phone takes center stage at Zoomtopia 2019
Zoom is increasingly positioning its nascent cloud calling service as a core part of its portfolio, teeing up the company to clash with partner RingCentral and other leading unified communications providers.
Initially positioned as a lightweight add-on to its video platform, Zoom Phone has quickly evolved into a robust cloud PBX that Zoom hopes every customer will adopt.
The markets for voice and video calling will eventually merge, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan predicted in a keynote address at Zoomtopia 2019, the company's annual user conference.
"If any of you are still using other phone systems -- no matter the first generation, second generation or third generation -- today is the day to start thinking about the Zoom Phone system," Yuan said.
Zoom has had success selling its calling service to companies like Ciena, a telecommunications equipment manufacturer with more than 6,000 employees worldwide. The company decided to invest in Zoom Phone in large part because its users were placing fewer phone calls than ever before.
When its contract with Avaya for an on-premises PBX came up for renewal, Ciena opted to incorporate calling into an app its users already liked and knew how to use, Craig Williams, Ciena's chief information officer, said.
"We had to renew our contract with our voice systems, but no one used voice anymore," Williams said. "When I got here three years ago, we were a voice-only company. And then that changed with video, and now we're a video-first company."
Expansion of Zoom Phone complicates partnerships
In May, Zoom and RingCentral announced a "multi-year" extension of a partnership to package Zoom's video service with RingCentral's cloud calling service, an offering branded as RingCentral Meetings.
In a briefing with reporters and analysts, Yuan said he expected the partnership would continue because "the market is huge." But industry observers suspect Zoom's push into calling will compel RingCentral to find another way to support video conferencing for customers.
Another unanswered question is whether Zoom's foray into calling will affect its relationship with Slack, with whom Zoom entered into a formal partnership to align roadmaps earlier this year.
Zoom has been quietly building out its messaging service, Zoom Chat, in conjunction with its expansion of Zoom Phone. At the conference, Zoom announced it was giving users the ability to comment on messages (creating sub-threads within a group chat) and to react to messages with emojis.
Some companies value having a messaging app that tightly integrates with their meetings and calling services, an offering already supported by Zoom rival Cisco through its Webex platform.
"The more we focus on voice, we need chat," Yuan said. "As we sell more and more phone systems, I think chat will be key for us as well."
But, Yuan said, Zoom doesn't want to compete with Slack, which he described as more of a hub for integrations than a messaging app.
Zoom Phone adds partners, features
Since launching Zoom Phone in early 2019, Zoom has added more than 200 features and certified over 50 phone models for the service, the company said.
This week, the company expanded the offering to Ireland, New Zealand and Puerto Rico and launched a beta version in 11 additional countries. The service is now generally available in six countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.
In those six countries, Zoom acts as a service provider, facilitating access to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). In locations where it lacks service, Zoom has a program that lets customers connect third-party calling services and infrastructure to Zoom Phone.
Zoom expanded that program this week through partnerships with the service providers NTT and Voxbone. Cloud integration with those providers will let Zoom Phone users connect to the PSTN without the need for an on-premises gateway, or session border controller.
Zoom Phone now has rudimentary integrations with contact center vendors Genesys, Nice inContact and Talkdesk, in addition to previously announced partnerships with Five9 and Twilio. Those integrations provide a SIP connection for transferring calls internally.
Additional Zoom Phone features announced this week include location-based routing, global dial plans and support for Citrix Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.
Zoom Phone still doesn't have as many features as the offerings of calling-focused vendors like RingCentral and 8x8. But the capabilities they lack are generally advanced functions that only a small number of users require, analysts said.
"For Zoom, it's a very important add-on," said Zeus Kerravala, founder of ZK Research. "They certainly don't have all the features, but I'm not sure most companies need them.
source searchunifiedcommunications
Industry: Unified Communications
Latest Jobs
-
- VOIP / SIP App Developer. Contract. SIP | VOIP experience needed. SC Cleared Outside IR35 Contract. London
- London
- OUTSIDE IR35
-
SIP | VOIP Developer. SC Cleared Contract. London Looking for a SC Cleared SIP / VOIP Developer to develop an application that interacts with a set of voice and video signalling API’s You will also work on developing in-house applications, browser plugins and automated tooling to support secure communication systems. Responsibilities Develop an application that will manage number mapping and associated identities using commercial SBC API’s. Develop new user-facing features using React.js or other modern JavaScript frameworks. Build reusable components and front-end libraries for future use. Collaborate with the design team to translate UI/UX design wireframes into code. Work closely with backend developers to integrate front-end code with server-side logic. Conduct code reviews and provide constructive feedback to team members. Stay up-to-date on emerging technologies and industry trends to continuously improve our front-end development practices. Troubleshoot and debug issues that arise during development and in production environments. Maintain high coding standards and practices and ensure code is well-documented. Requirement Experience of developing specialist applications using REST API’s. Good knowledge of Go, Java and Python (open to alternative combinations of languages). Proficiency in front-end languages and frameworks such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React.js, etc. Strong understanding of web standards, responsive design, and cross-browser compatibility. Experience with version control systems such as Git. Knowledge of RESTful APIs and asynchronous request handling. Familiarity with UI/UX design principles and tools.
-
- Senior Data Privacy Consultant. Client Facing | London
- London
- N/A
-
Senior Data Privacy Consultant. Client Facing | London Senior Data Privacy Consultant needed for a key client facing opportunity. Must be willing to undergo SC Security Clearance. Hybrid role- onsite with customer / office 2-3 days a week. London Key Responsibilities: Lead and support client facing data privacy projects. Assess compliance, define and deliver strategic projects / implement privacy solutions. Manage project teams and develop business opportunities. Required Experience: Experience in data protection and privacy standards. Background in consulting. Skills and Qualifications: Business consulting experience IAPP Privacy Manager / Privacy Technologist Location Greater London UK based role. Not able to provide VISA sponsorship.
-
- Security Analyst - Internal role. London commutable. Permanent
- London
- N/A
-
Security Analyst - Internal role. London commutable opportunity. Operational Security - Investigate, escalate and proactively work to ensure household name remains protected. Project Security - Coordinate, log change requests with project delivery teams to meet security requirements Policy / compliance - work with team to aid in uplifting these as and where needed This role is role to investigate, escalate and proactively work to protect a globally recognised brand. You must have current hands on operational analytical security experience with Microsoft technology stack Someone with a SOC Analyst / security engineering background would be well suited. This position will join a small team and would suit someone that has broad experience across the security threat landscape. Experience / knowledge across industry GRC standards such NIST, ISO27001 etc very advantageous and a priority. You will work across multiple teams proactively working to secure the business. Must be able to commute to Central London 3 days a week. Visa sponsorship not available Apply today to find out more.
-
- Network / Security Infrastructure Engineer | West London | Permanent
- London
- N/A
-
Network / Security Infrastructure Engineer | West London | Current Config, Install, upgrade experience On prem / Datacetner experience essential. Hands on experience MUST include: Routing, Switching, Network Security (firewall, IDS etc), Microsoft exchange / Exchange 365. Scripting / automation experience wanted. Python, Powershell etc Regular travel to West London is required. Visa sponsorship not available. Apply today for more information chris.holt@dclsearch.com Use this whatapp link to reach out https://wa.me/message/6USF5RAQBOZIP1