Amazing Zoom Add-ons To Work Smarter, Not Harder
The Coronavirus outbreak has forced countless professionals to work from home. Whether you’re working with a team spread across the world or are sitting at home juggling calls and meetings; video calling platforms are an essential tool to handle the workload.
Although there are several video conferencing apps to choose from, Zoom has become a popular option for many. According to The Guardian, daily Zoom downloads peaked at a whopping 2.13 million by March 2020, against 56,000 in January the same year.
A free option for meeting online, Zoom’s popularity lives up to its name. It is perfect for large work meetings and larger (and louder) family chats and is available on all major working systems like Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, ChromeOS, etc., as a web client.
Zoom add ons are simple to use, is stable, and packed with many features that come in handy in customizing its functions according to your needs. Because let’s face it — although it may feel like it, it’s no longer March 2020. It’s time you leveled up to the many integrations that Zoom has to offer, so you work smarter, not harder.
Zoom recognizes that meetings need to be more efficient. According to Doodle’s 2019 State of Meetings report, the cost of poorly organized conferences in 2019 was predicted to reach $399 billion in the U.S. and $58 billion in the U.K.
What makes Zoom our favorite pick is its evolution since it became popular earlier this year. Zoom is already packed with features that make meetings more productive, and the cherry on top is that they’re continually expanding their user interface and inventing new ways to use the platform, including new zoom add ons.
Zoom add ons offers over a hundred apps that you can integrate within the video conferencing app, available at the zoom marketplace. For example, it allows one to create a video clip using footage from a recorded Zoom meeting that you can then send as a link in Slack or through iMessage and other communication apps.
Even though you’ve most probably already used Zoom for one reason or another, here’s a quick overview of a few exciting zoom features:
Lock Meeting: Stop new participants from joining in by locking in a meeting room by clicking on ‘more’ when meeting.
Breakout rooms: If you want to hold a private conversation with a specific person or group of people, you can create a parallel meeting room within the central meeting. You can create one or even multiple breakout rooms and dismiss them to join the main call again.
Multiple mute options: You can choose various sound options for meeting participants. Mute on entry whenever someone joins, bell chime when someone leaves or enters, mute everyone at once, etc.
1. Schedule meetings from within Gmail and Slack
Zoom integrates with both Gmail and Slack. Zoom’s new add ons allows you to schedule a meeting straight from your Gmail or Slack.
In Gmail, an add-on button can be used to schedule meetings, invite users, and start meetings right from inside Gmail without the need to open the Zoom app.
While the Slack integration allows users to start an instant Zoom meeting within Slack, this means meetings created in Slack appear on your Zoom account.
2. Integrate with Google Calendar
It’s safe to assume that Google Calendar is almost like a default assistant that keeps track of our events and tasks. Now you can integrate Zoom within your calendar, so you don’t have to shuffle between links on Slack, Gmail, or WhatsApp.
By choosing Zoom as your default conferencing option, you can directly add Zoom links to your google calendar events. As you click on the meeting link, Zoom will automatically open without having to launch the app. Find the app here.
3. Experiment Backgrounds with Canva
Given how much time we spend on screens, it’s always nice to experience small things that seem pleasing in the middle of a hectic workday.
With Canva for Zoom, you can have a virtual zoom background in a few clicks. You can either customize one of Canva’s templates or even download one of their designer backgrounds for your next call. Their fun and quirky templates can easily elicit a few smiles from fellow- attendees before delving into the meeting agenda!
4. Enhance webcam experience with SparkoCam
If you’re using Zoom for something where you need the camera quality to be better than what your regular webcam has to offer, then SparkoCam is the answer.
A Camera like Canon or Nikon can be connected by setting it up on a tripod or a stand, and SparkoCam will turn your DSLR or any other camera into a webcam that can connect to zoom.
Along with a better video experience, SparkoCam lets you add graphics, animation, effects, and other features on the screen.
However, this is not a free app and is available only for windows (let us have some things, mac users!).
5. Cancel Noise with Krisp
If background noise is disturbing your meetings, you know it’s time to do something about it. Even though zoom has a default noise suppression built-in (find it in the Audio settings), you can significantly increase noise cancellation efficiency through Krisp. It has a separate desktop app that you can use for free.
Krisp works for both mac and windows. Find the app here.
6. Integrate with Evernote
The popular cloud note-taking app Evernote has been gathering momentum amongst an increasing user base. Zoom add on for Evernote allows you to create, edit, and store your Evernote data from inside Zoom.
An exciting feature of this integration is that all the interacting with Evernote inside Zoom happens mainly with a bot. There could be a small learning curve there, but reading the Evernote Zoom documentation is an excellent way to get familiar with all that you can do with this integration.
7. Get meeting metrics and stats with Zylo
Financesonline tells us that business units spend approximately 31 hours every month in unproductive meetings. With video conferencing tools like Zoom and a popular SaaS management platform tool like Zylo, there’s a lot you can do to improve meeting productivity.
With Zylo for Zoom, companies can track host meeting metrics and engagement levels. It can also help you figure out what’s the right Zoom package for your company based on usage.
With Zylo, you can track metrics like Group meetings within the activity threshold, average group meeting length, the average number of meeting participants, etc.
8. Auto-transcribe meetings with Fireflies
Fireflies is an AI voice assistant that helps transcribe, take notes, and complete actions during meetings.
Whether it’s important sales calls, recruiting interviews, or team sync ups- Fireflies makes it easy to record, transcribe, and organise all your team’s meetings in one place. Fireflies’ transcription system is trained specifically for conversations & meetings across a wide variety of industries.
It comes packed with powerful AI features that allow you to transcribe live Zoom meetings or even saved audio files, turn important parts of calls into shareable soundbite snippets, use keyword/theme/topic specific search capacities, and much more.
With a simple, one-time integration setup, you’ll have your personal AI assistant Fred auto join your zoom meetings, and auto email you a transcription file right after the meeting gets over!
9. Multi-task during a meeting with Circles
According to a Workfront Survey, 62% of people feel that only one out of five meetings are meaningful.
Meetings aren’t always productive or well-timed. If you have ever been in a zoom meeting that doesn’t seem directly relevant and is eating into precious productive time, you can change that with Circles.
When you use Circles with zoom, it creates a new zoom interface. Everyone on the call is reduced to a small video circle, and your desktop becomes available for use while you’re on the call, minus the clutter of myriad meeting windows.
The best part is that even though you have full freedom to navigate through your desktop, you can still use the chat and video-sharing feature through zoom.
10. Create online services using zoom for Wix
Wix has expanded from helping create a website for your product to integrating online services using Zoom with Wix. Zoom integrates within your webpage, which means you create direct communication channels with your clients for communication and appointments.
It gives you the freedom to host webinars, classes, or meetings instantly and virtually. You can create automatic unique zoom meetings for each session, manage your bookings by a “zoom meeting” option for your clients, and much more.
11. Integrate with Hubspot
Hubspot, a popular free CRM software, now has a Zoom integration and comes with a few exciting features. You can automatically send dial-in and conference call details to your HubSpot prospects or turn every meeting booked in your HubSpot CRM into a Zoom meeting.
It also adds significant value for customer data collection. For example, when someone registers for a Zoom webinar, they’re incorporated as a HubSpot contact. You can also use HubSpot workflows to send them automated event reminders, follow-up emails, and more.
12. Protect your zoom meetings with Obsidian Security
The integration between Obsidian and Zoom allows security teams to see who’s using Zoom. If you have company zoom accounts regularly used by employees, Obsidian Security can help you track zoom activity. Track what your team members are doing to protect against inappropriate recording or oversharing of sensitive data.
There are many security levels offered that you can choose from based on your need. Admins can control the kind of alerts they want to get. They can detect and respond to poorly configured Zoom accounts, security incidents, and insider threats that involve Zoom in combination with other SaaS applications.
13. Sync your Zoom meetings with Docket
Docket is an agenda creation and calendar tool. With Docket’s app for Zoom, teams can add Zoom conversations to their agenda.
Create a meeting in Docket as usual and add a zoom conferencing button along with it. This allows team members to join in with just one click. And then, when it’s time for your meeting, Docket will remind you of agenda items to discuss. You can also launch Zoom from Docket.
Linkedin Video Meetings is Zoom’s new integration app for Linkedin. Now you can generate and share video meeting links on Zoom directly through your LinkedIn messages. These can either be instantaneous or scheduled for later.
Once you’ve started a conversation with someone on a private chat, you’ll be able to create zoom meet links directly from there.
15. Integrate with Salesforce
Salesforce is a popular cloud-based CRM software that helps businesses interact with their customers. Now Zoom marketplace has an app for Salesforce packed with features that make a meeting with clients, teammates, and leads happen right from inside Salesforce.
Some of our favorite features include automatic logging of zoom activity in a user’s Salesforce history, meeting recording stores in Salesforce, integration with Zoom Phone, automatic campaign creation, and a lot more.
16. Automate Zoom tasks with Zapier
Zapier, an automation software that helps you create workflows between apps that otherwise don’t interact with each other, now has a Zoom integration app.
There are countless ways in which you can integrate Zapier with Zoom. You can automate tasks like automatic webinar registration upon customer payment, send invitations when creating a meeting, and much more. Zapier claims to have over 1,500 app integrations that you can use with zoom through its platform.
17. Noise-canceling, backgrounds, auto-framing with Nvidia Broadcast app
If you’re using zoom for a TV broadcast or a big audience event like an online university lecture or a webinar, Nvidia can transform your video conferencing experience.
Features like Auto Frame movement, virtual backgrounds, and active noise removal are some of the most powerful features of the broadcast app.
The app requires a bit more than just your laptop, though. You’ll need some Nvidia equipment, like graphic cards. See here for more.
18. Integrate with Panopto
Panopto, a popular, secure solution for sharing video recordings, now has a zoom integration.
Panopto lets team members share information fast. Admins get more in-depth controls over recordings, while employees get an accessible knowledge repository.
You can now edit videos within Zoom. Admins can also check viewing analytics. Storing all recordings in a central space makes them easier to find too.
You can organize videos by topic and curate content for the portal homepage. What’s more, if you record a video with Panopto, you can also add your branding before sharing it with others.
Last Two Cents
Meetings don’t have to be boring, and with work from home tools evolving, it is possible to make meetings more productive.
While the single most important factor for productive meetings is strategic planning, it’s important to keep exploring new tools and apps that can help you fill gaps for things you don’t have manual time for during a meeting (because let’s be honest, there is always a lot going on!)
Originally published at https://blogs.fireflies.ai on February 2, 2021. You can read it here:
