Zoom Team Chat — Exploring the Latest Business Messaging Tool
Zoom Team Chat is the new business messaging tool from the global video conferencing giant, Zoom.
Adding to their all-conquering collaboration solution, this post runs through the headline features of Zoom Team Chat, and we take a look at the future of both Zoom and team collaboration.
Up until January this year (2019), Zoom was a state-of-the-art video conferencing service, which you could access online or via the app.
You could send messages to team members outside of meetings, but there was no formal business chat to speak of.
That’s why Zoom made some important changes to its solution, including phone features, virtual backgrounds, and a dedicated chat tool.
What is Zoom Team Chat?
Zoom started life as a cloud-based video conferencing platform designed for quick and immersive collaboration.
Zoom Team Chat takes the values and technology skills of Zoom and brings it into the enterprise messaging space.
As email becomes less relied upon, in favor of real-time messaging solutions, Zoom Team Chat offers users a way to collaborate when voice or video is not needed or not appropriate.
Accessible via mobile app and desktop, Zoom Team Chat adds to a complete portfolio that already stands out as the most popular solution for companies with 500 employees or less.
Zoom Team Chat Features
The chat functionality is precisely what you’d expect from an all-singing, all-dancing collaboration tool.
It integrates with your video and audio conferencing solutions, with channels similar to Slack where you can create public or private groups.
Within Zoom channels, users can send files, screen captures, images, messages, and more, with the option to support up to 10,000 members at once.
Private channels on premium accounts can access 5,000 members, while free accounts get up to 500.
Zoom Team Chat offers:
- 1:1 chat or group conversations via public or private channels
- Starring messages to save for later
- Pinned messages
- A personal space to send yourself reminders and files
- Light or dark themes in your chat panel
- Customizable channels
- Privacy features and access permissions
- GIFs from GIPHY
- Message archiving and third party storage
- Chat message history with manageable time limits
- Screen capture, file transfer, and image uploads
- Status and presence
- Edit and delete messages
What About Security?
Just like any collaboration platform for today’s enterprise users, Zoom takes security seriously.
For instance, Zoom Team Chat supports encryption.
This means that all messages are sent with TLS 1.2 with AES 256-bit algorithms.
You can enable encryption for your team members, and rest assured that they’ll still be able to send all the pictures, files, and emojis they like to colleagues.
To enable end-to-end encrypted chat, visit the Zoom web portal, click Account Management then IM Management and go to Settings. From there, click Enable end-to-end chat encryption.
Latest Zoom Team Chat admin updates
Starting August 22nd 2021, Zoom has communicated the following updates will be made to its admin portal:
- The ability to edit the searchability and visibility of users and certain groups to users in your organization under ‘Contacts’. The new admin experience will not use previous group privacy names (shared group, private group, restricted).
- ‘IM Settings’ will be renamed ‘Zoom Team Chat’
- ‘Channels’ will now be listed under ‘Chat Management’
- ‘Chat History’ will be found under ‘Reports’>‘User Activity Reports’
It’s important to note that when Zoom admins change to the new admin experience, this will be an irreversible change. Any Zoom admins opting not to explore the new settings will be migrated to the new experience on October 24th, 2021.
For the Zoom admins who are curious about the new interface and extra settings, Zoom encourages you to sign up for the beta program.
What’s Next for Zoom Team Chat?
Back in 2016, Zoom also made its video product interoperable with Skype for Business, which highlight’s the company’s efforts to play nice with others.
There’s a good chance that we’ll see more examples of Zoom working well with competitors in the years to come.
Knowing that 3.3 is the average number of workplace chat apps used by a single business, Zoom is sure to have an interoperability plan around the corner.
From a chat perspective, Zoom is working on APIs that allow businesses to embed the functionality of Zoom Teams Chat into their own offerings.
Zoom already has native integrations for both Slack and Microsoft Teams.
Zoom IPOed in April 2019. Before that, in January, it announced upgrades to its service, ranging from a revamped user interface and Zoom Phone — a solution that allows users to make and receive calls within a Zoom softphone.
In the meantime, we can expect that the brand will continue to focus on unparalleled usability for its customers, a simplicity that syncs with your preferred device, and easy ways for companies to meet securely.
You can test out Zoom Team Chat here — it’s free!
For existing Zoom Team Chat users
Already have Zoom Team Chat? Awesome!
But, what if you also have Microsoft Teams, Slack, or Cisco Webex Teams?
Chances are you’re one of the 91% of businesses who used two or more messaging apps.
If you are, and you’d like to connect Zoom Team Chat to other apps, Mio is working on interoperability between Zoom Team Chat and your favorite platforms.
