It may soon be harder than ever to escape Zoom following reports that the company is working on a range of new software products.
The Information has reported that the video conferencing giant is working on an email service and calendar app as it looks to expand and establish itself as a software titan.
The so-called Zmail and Zcal offerings have reportedly been in development for around two years, and could launch within the next few weeks, giving the company a potentially huge new customer opportunity.
Zoom email
The move would look to put Zoom at the same level as the likes of Microsoft and Google, which make and operate its closest rivals in the video calling space.
The company is hosting its Zoomtopia conference in November, where the new services could well be revealed.
Launching a calendar app seems like a fairly straightforward step for Zoom, which could combine a scheduling and planning service across its apps. Email may prove to be a trickier proposition however, with the likes of Gmail and Outlook dominating much of the enterprise market.
Following a huge surge in popularity during the pandemic, many industry observers expected Zoom to struggle as workers returned to the office.
However, the company has continued to perform well in recent months, in spite of increased competition from the likes of Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.
Its most recent financial results showed revenues of $1.1 billion for its Q2 2023, a rise of 8%, with the number of customers paying more than $100,000 for subscriptions rising 37% year-on-year.
The company also recently overhauled its messaging app in an attempt to keep track with the likes of Slack and Microsoft Teams.
The newly-named Zoom Teams Chat will include features such as in-meeting text chat for video calls, streamlined meeting setup, a new Reminders feature, Progressive Web App support and better third-party app integration.
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