Zoom To Introduce Email And Calendar Services

The video chat provider Zoom, which grew up in the corona pandemic, wants to roll up the field of communication from the back. While others have added conferencing features to their previous services, Zoom is expanding to include email and calendar functionality.

At its Zoomtopia conference, the company announced a number of features that will expand its platform. All users can therefore connect third-party email and calendar services to Zoom and access them via the desktop app. This should save you time by not having to switch between apps or search for the right tab in the browser.

Users of the Zoom One Pro or Zoom Standard Pro tariffs can also set up their own e-mail accounts via Zoom and connect their own domains to the mailboxes. You get up to 100 gigabytes of storage space included.

The company learned a lot from the argument about security that had to be conducted during the massive growth of the coronavirus. This aspect also plays a role in the new e-mail features: the sending of messages between two users of Zoom’s own service is completely embedded in end-to-end encryption. E-mails can also be provided with access restrictions and expiry dates, in which case the content will no longer be displayed to external recipients.

A Virtual Workplace Too

In the new calendar function, it should of course be possible above all to plan video conferences with other users. Appointments can be booked here and lists of participants managed. A feature called Zoom Spots is planned for 2023. The company describes this as a virtual co-working space where colleagues can stay connected through video conversations throughout the workday.

Enterprise customers will also soon be able to use the Zoom Virtual Agent, an AI, and chatbot designed to help customers resolve issues. This tool will be available in early 2023, it said. Also in the pipeline are a way for developers to monetize the Zoom Apps Marketplace and a virtual coach to help sellers perfect their sales pitches.