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Zoom Mulls New Virtual, IoT Capabilities for Collaboration

Zoom Video Communications is looking into new features that will enhance the increasingly popular hybrid work model. One leader with the company indicates the platform might eventually offer a virtual world.

A cellphone with the Zoom logo on the screen.
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(TNS) — What’s next for Zoom? Try the possibility of virtual interaction.

Pivoting into a more relevant role now that people are willingly and unwillingly heading back to work, Zoom Video Communications is now exploring new-age technologies to tap the hybrid working model that is set in place to take shape now that the world is two years into the pandemic. And now that people are getting back to the office, the company said it's heading for the India and Saarc markets.

Sameer Rajeannounced plans were afoot to go beyond just using Zoom as a video-calling application to a collaboration platform.

Many will see the changes as the new age technologies will add features that would make it cooler, accessible and more relevant. So, as some workers head back to the office, Zoom’s exploration could branch out into a world of possibilities.

Raje said, “It could be avatars, it could be a virtual world, it could be virtual interaction, it could be IoT, or multiple other things,” ET reports.

Recently, Zoom took a more modern approach and introduced the avatars feature, which will replace a user’s appearance during a video call with that of a virtual animal that mirrors his or her head movements and facial expressions, much like what iPhone users are used to utilizing when implementing their animal avatars.

“The market is changing and any organization will have to evolve around that,” Raje added. “Businesses are talking about getting collaboration embedded into their workflows, that is what we are doing. We are no longer just a video-calling application, we are a complete collaboration platform.”

Zoom was all that everyone could talk about during the height of the pandemic. But now that the pandemic is waning, their growth saw a significant deceleration from the 35% growth it reported in the previous quarter and 36% in the January 2021 quarter. In addition to those numbers, the stock has slumped over 38% year to date.

While the company said India was one of the most critical markets and largest markets outside of the U.S., Raje mentioned the talent in India was globally renowned as well as recognized, but had more to do with infrastructural issues when it comes to delivery services such as telehealth and telemedicine.

Raje said, “That is the time when we need different kinds of functionalities — translation and local language support.”

“If you want to tap into the talent pool in cities and towns, especially in remote areas, you definitely need good infrastructure, good connectivity and a good presence there. That sometimes becomes a challenge in our country. And that’s something which we need to do, and I’m not even talking about the far northeastern states … It gets even harder in those regions,” he added.

With many possibilities in store for Zoom, Raje said the platform could be embedded into any application, into a company’s workstreams or with different technologies.

“Imagine you could manage the air-conditioner through the Zoom interface or manage the blinds of a conference room through Zoom. That’s the Internet of Things. That large videoconferencing rooms are now getting transformed. You don’t need multiple applications or multiple devices to manage that. You can do it through a single consolidated device and app which is Zoom,” he continued.

It was also announced the Zoom Up Partner Program, which includes the launch of Zoom Phone with native capabilities, rewards for partner investment, marketing to accelerate partner growth and much more.

©2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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