Zoom reportedly wants to compete with Google and Microsoft

First Microsoft and Google have built in classic Zoom functions Like it breakout rooms into their own country videoconference services. Now Zoom is reportedly challenging the tech titans by developing its own email and calendar apps, according to a report by The information.

Thanks in large part to millions of people attending school and working from home, Zoom shares are up 500% since the beginning of the year. This signals room for growth for the videoconference platform, but also the need to diversify-once students return to classroom instruction and employees return to the office, our collective dependence on Zoom will fade, The Informational Notes.

According to sources who spoke with the publication, CEO Eric Yuan plans to “expand the company’s video conferencing service into a full-fledged platform that would include email, messaging and other productivity tools.” Zoom is already possible integrate with a number of different programs, such as Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, Dropbox and Asana.

Part of Zoom’s popularity is its convenience from use, but schools in particular closed early on the platform because of the has removed the time limit of 40 minutes on free bASIC accounts for teachers and students affected by Covid-19, which is likely to continue to be the case to schools completely againopen to personal instruction.

It could be beneficial for Zoom to develop its own services to complement its video conferencing software, given that usage is likely to drop once the world returns to ‘normal’ However, Yuan reportedly told me senior leadership that Zoom needs a strong messaging product if it hopes to compete with Microsoft and Google for major corporate contracts.

Every new Zoom that comes out is sure to be watched closely too. The road to popularity was not smooth: the company finally added end-to-end encryption to video conferences meetings in October. Last month it settled with the FTC for allegedly lying to everyone about said encryption. And just a few days ago was a Zoom manager accused of censoring video calls at the request of the Chinese government. Did we mention all the Zoom bombs?

But it’s unclear whether an email or calendar service is the smartest here, as companies and individuals already have their preferred services and competition is well established. A messaging app to supplement and integrate the video conferencing component – and the competition with Slack – might be a better move. Either way, Zoom execs should probably move quickly; with the covid-19 vaccines now rolled out, the company’s opportunity to take advantage of its ubiquity maybe close.