Almost two months after Zoom controversially declared it would be requiring some of its employees to start being physically present in the office again, the videoconferencing company announced at its annual Zoomtopia event today a host of platform updates to enhance the hybrid work experience.
“Returning to the office after working remotely can be challenging,” said Theresa Larkin, global lead for UCaaS Product Marketing at Zoom. “We all need flexible workspaces that encourage new ways to engage with virtual and in-person teams, and provide equal opportunity to have individual voices be heard, no matter where they’re located.”
Earlier this year, Zoom acquired employee engagement and communications application Workvivo. The software provides remote and hybrid workers with different ways to stay informed and connected to wider company goings-on and will soon offer an integration with Zoom that will allow employees to engage with colleagues directly from Zoom, wherever they may be. Users will also be able to launch meetings or start a Team Chat with a colleague directly from Workvivo.
Workvivo customers will also have access to Employee Insights, a new employee listening and survey suite within the Workvivo platform, where administrators can get regular, detailed feedback and act all in one place.
Employee Insights brings together data and survey feedback and includes modular surveys to closely track employee engagement drivers, allowing organizations to get real-time and long-term feedback, and is expected to be available in November.
Zoom seeks to improve the return to office experience
For employees that are coming back to the office, the platform’s new Visitor Management tool gives organizations the ability to check in and manage visitors at their facility locations. Admins can set the guidelines for inviting visitors, including which questionnaires to fill out and photos to upload, designate who can invite visitors, and view reporting.
Visitor Management will soon be available in private beta and is expected to be generally available in December.
To help with space-planning and hybrid schedules, Zoom is also introducing Workspace Dashboard, which provides the ability to view a snapshot of future office capacity and details of future reservations.
Meanwhile, an update to Zoom’s Workspace Reservation tool will allow users to find their own reserved desk via the Zoom mobile app, better locate colleagues, and offer new presence options so employees can find where coworkers are in the office and join them for in-person collaboration. Workspace Dashboard and the updates to Zoom Workspace Reservation are expected to be generally available in 2024.
Finally, Zoom is introducing presence indicators and seating information to a new tool in Huddles dubbed My Office View, allowing employees to know when the colleagues they collaborate closely with are in a Huddle or in the office. Available from 2024, the update will…
2023-10-05 09:48:03
Link from www.computerworld.com