How to Integrate Slack with Zoom

Learning how to integrate Slack and Zoom isn’t as complicated as it seems. 

As companies continue to look forward to a new age of hybrid work, many are investing in multiple tools to keep employees connected, and productive. Fortunately, if you don’t like the idea of being restricted to just one service for communication and collaboration, you’re in luck.  

Innovators like Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams are committed to ensuring their technology remains as open and extensible as possible. In fact, Zoom and Slack even have a partnership in place. The collaboration means that even if you love using Slack for instant messaging purposes, you can still leverage all the benefits of Zoom for video conferencing. 

Here’s what you need to know about integrating Slack with Zoom 

What Do You Need to Integrate Slack and Zoom? 

First, to connect Slack and Zoom, you’re going to need an account with both services. Make sure you’re signed up for the right service package with both services, depending on what you need for your business. You can still integrate the services if you’re using Zoom’s free service.  

Ensure you use the same email address to sign up for both Zoom and Slack. If your Zoom account is linked to a different email address, you’re going to struggle setting up the connection. You’ll also need to think about your phone service needs. If you want to make external calls with Zoom (rather than just hosting meetings), you’ll need a Zoom Phone plan.  

Once you’ve equipped yourself with the right resources to connect Zoom and Slack, log into Slack on your chosen account. You’ll also need to sign into Zoom and find Slack on the Zoom marketplace.  

Integrating Slack with Zoom 

Once you’ve approved Zoom for your Slack account with a Zoom admin account, head over to the Zoom app page in the Slack app directory. Click on the button that says “Add to Slack”, and when you’re transferred to the Zoom website, click “Add to Slack” again. 

Next: 

• Click Allow to grant Zoom access to your Slack accounts 
• Open your workspace in Slack and go to the Apps section in the left sidebar 
• Click on Zoom and select Authorise Zoom 

Once you integrate the Zoom app into a Slack workspace, each person in your team will have to connect their Zoom account. To connect a Zoom account to Slack: 

• Click Apps on the Slack left-hand sidebar 
• Search for Zoom and select it 
• Click on Authorise Zoom 
• Log into your Zoom account 
• Approve the Zoom app 

How to Use Zoom in Slack 

Once you’ve installed Zoom as an app in Slack, and each of your team members have connected their Zoom account, the next step is learning how to use Zoom. Since the two companies deepened their integration in 2019, there’s a range of things you can do with Zoom in Slack, including: 

• Launching a Zoom meeting directly from Slack with /zoom 
• Accessing Outlook and Google calendar syncing between both apps 
• Using Zoom as your default app for calls 
• Setting up Zoom meetings with agenda information 
• Launching Zoom meetings with a specific topic, personal meeting ID, and more 

To start a meeting in Slack with Zoom, all you need to do is sign into your Slack workplace (the one integrated with your Zoom account), then open the Slack window or channel you want to make a call in. From any conversation, you can click on the lightning bolt icon on the left-hand side of the text field to open your shortcuts menu.  

Look for /zoom to add the slash command to your message field, or simply type /zoom and send the message. Everyone in your channel or direct message will be given a prompt to join a Zoom meeting. They just need to hit the “join” button to start.  

Users who want to access a meeting on Zoom will need to use the meeting ID of the Zoom conversation. Type /zoom join into your search field and send a message to input your request to join. You’ll then see a message field asking for your meeting ID or Zoom link.  

When the meeting ends, the Zoom app will send the channel a notification which includes details about who attended the meeting, how long it lasted, and so on. If you have cloud recording turned on, then you can also get a link to the recording here.  

Making Calls with Slack and Zoom Phone 

The Slack and Zoom integration also features the Zoom Phone functionality. To make a call, you’ll need a Zoom Phone plan. You can either start a call by searching in the lighting bolt menu for the shortcut /zoom call or typing it straight into your search field.  

In your chat window, type /zoom call [@contact/number]. You don’t need the brackets there, just the phone number or person you want to contact. If someone has multiple numbers attached to their profile, you’ll need to pick one from a menu that appears when you request to make the call. 

Press enter to launch the call.  

You can even set Zoom as your default calling application for Slack. To do this, you’ll need to follow the steps above to install Zoom and integrate it with your workspace, following the steps shared above. Go into your Slack workspace and click on your workspace name, then head to Settings and Administration. Choose Workspace settings.  

Scroll down to find Calls then tap the Expand button. Here, you should see the option to allow video calls in Slack, with the option to choose Zoom as your default application. Uncheck the box for Slack to act as your calling facility and click Save.  

Integrating Slack and Zoom 

There you have it, that’s everything you need to know about connecting Zoom and Slack for your team. Now you can use Slack for sending messages and sharing files, and still leverage all the benefits of Zoom as a leading video conferencing tool.