Zoom continues to make waves as a leading video conferencing solution for the digital age. Throughout the pandemic, the video-first brand has introduced the entire world to a new era of simple, effective, and reliable video. Now, Zoom is disrupting the phone system landscape too.
Zoom Phone has been a growing solution within the company’s portfolio for a while now, offering an additional communication system alongside Zoom Meetings and Chat. In December 2020, however, Zoom released a flood of information about the evolving Phone experience, boasting more than 400 impressive features to help replace the old-fashioned PBX.
The Zoom Phone solution, now more feature-rich than ever before, is a crucial step in Zoom’s strategy to become a comprehensive full-stack provider of UCaaS technology. With other market leaders like Microsoft to compete against, it’s interesting to see how Zoom is bringing its own unique spin to the UCaaS space.
I spoke to Graeme Geddes, the Head of Zoom Phone and Rooms, to learn how Zoom is continuing to think outside of the box with phone technology.
What Approach Did You Take to Building Zoom Phone?
Zoom Phone has been an interesting addition to the Zoom experience for a while now, even before the pandemic emerged in 2020. However, the company was keen to go beyond supplying the same “me too” features as other UCaaS providers. Geddes told me that when Zoom approached its cloud calling functionality list, it wanted to work from the user backwards.
“To begin with, we wanted to make sure that we got the basics right. We don’t want to break what makes Zoom so great overall by innovating too fast. Instead, we aim to stay true to what Zoom does best – great communication.”
Unlike other UCaaS companies that start with audio and build video or meeting functionality in later, Zoom approaches its Phone solution from a video-first perspective. The company believes (now more than ever) that video is the future of communications. With a focus on simplicity and user experience, Zoom has built a phone system that’s easy to use, buy, and customize.
“Our strategy isn’t to just check the boxes. We want to reimagine usability, so although the capabilities we have might be basic, they’re also powerfully intuitive. We think it’s the small nuances in the experience that make the biggest difference”
By giving customers simplicity first, Zoom can ensure that the transition between a call, a meeting, and a conference feels as natural as walking between rooms in an office.
How Do You Compare Zoom Phone to Other Phone Systems?
Graeme told me that with Zoom Phone, the idea wasn’t necessarily to build something “brand-new”. Instead, Zoom wants to deliver the capabilities that users expect today in a way that allows them to innovate and evolve into a new world of video and meeting technology.
“We want to make it easier for these new communication experiences to become a natural part of the business landscape. We started with the end-user experience in mind, focusing on video and working our way backwards to blur the line between meetings and calls.”
According to Geddes, the video-first PBX solution might seem basic at first, but it’s the incredible simplicity that makes everything feel so fantastic. “When we look at the future and where we go from here, we’ll be continuing to work on ways to provide users with the things they need in a simple and accessible way, while connecting that with video.”
Graeme told me that although it’s possible to bolt the PBX and video story together these days – it’s not as seamless as it should be. If, like many companies do today, you agree that video is the future, it’s easier to take a video-first approach to communications and work backwards from there. Zoom believes there are much greater advantages to working this way.
A “big bang” change makes it difficult to drive adoption
Zoom’s focus is on making things as seamless, simple, and effective as possible for everyone. The company is uniquely positioned in the industry, thanks to its video-first approach. Going forward, there’s no doubt that the brand will continue to take advantage of its impressive heritage that Zoom has in the video environment.
This focus on simplicity and ease-of-use is going to be crucial for many companies making their first strides into an environment where video is everywhere. Following 2020, most businesses agree that video has a lot of potential, not just as a tool for collaboration, but as a solution for better communication too.
“We’re taking an informed approach with the Zoom Phone experience, meeting customers where they already are and giving them the breadcrumb trail that they need to start moving towards a new mode of communication”
Graeme noted that, for a lot of people, the last year has been a stressful and highly disruptive time, with many companies struggling to figure out where they go next. In this environment, giving people a “big bang” change makes it difficult to drive adoption. However, when you feed small amounts of innovation to customers through the tools and services they already use, the transition feels much easier.
