Improved collaboration costs have been reduced while daily stand-ups and events run more efficiently
What is our primary use case?
Our main use case for Zoom Workplace Business is that we are using it for daily stand-ups as we have agile teams in place, and they use it for daily stand-ups. Additionally, we have cross-team functionality, so we use it for cross-functional meetings, trainings, and town halls. These are some of the major use cases why we use Zoom Workplace Business.
The AI Companion has changed the way my team handles meetings and follow-ups by helping our organization get a proper view of what is going on in the meetings, even if we are not joining them. Even for those who are joining the daily stand-ups and are not focusing, they can get a summary, which helps us effectively get the details in a short manner. If we're talking about webinars, it helps us host large-scale events so that stakeholders, customers, or team members can collaborate effectively at those events. These are some major use cases why we use Zoom Workplace Business.
How has it helped my organization?
Zoom Workplace Business has positively impacted my organization as we have saved a lot of money because when we spend on employee growth or organizational collaborations, it has definitely reduced the number of resources needed. For example, if there were five teams joining the meetings from a different country, previously, we had to conduct physical meetings, which required international travel and incurred lots of expenditures. Now, it has provided us with virtual collaboration, reducing travel and office overhead by at least 70 to 80%. We have strong ROI due to lower hardware lock-in, flexible licensing, and consolidating meetings, phone, and events into a single platform, which has saved a lot on licensing and other costs. Productivity has been boosted by 33.5%, and the latency and video quality have improved by 22%.
I measured the productivity boost and the reduction in travel or overhead by noting that teams who were previously traveling to the office, even from different cities or countries, have significantly reduced overhead. This is the major way I have measured that point.
What is most valuable?
I feel Zoom Workplace Business handles those different types of meetings well because it comes with hybrid work collaboration via Zoom Rooms. It has that feature and also provides us the whiteboards and persistent team chat, which makes the stand-ups and meetings more productive and more focused on outcomes rather than just chit-chatting on the connect. It is something that has helped us increase the productivity and the collaboration of the team effectively using a single tool.
I have to add that Zoom Workplace Business has such good latency and works on cloud telephony integrated meetings and chat, which helps us in a single place app for calls, video, and messaging.
The best features Zoom Workplace Business offers include meetings with HD video, audio, and screen sharing capabilities along with some breakout room polls and AI Companion for summaries, which is very useful nowadays. The AI Companion provides a good summary, allowing you to see what happened in the meeting, even if you're not available at that time. Apart from that, Zoom also provides good calling and voicemail queue queries, which integrate with sub-devices, and webinar and Zoom Events for registration. It provides us large-scale virtual or hybrid events, making it a good place to host those events as the scalability is really good. Team Chat, Whiteboard, and Zoom Rooms are my other favorites for room-based collaboration and hybrid workplaces.
What needs improvement?
If I were to discuss how Zoom Workplace Business can be improved, I feel that it is providing good service overall; however, the scaling aspect could be enhanced. Even though it has great scalability, if they can make it even more scalable, it would be really good. Also, while the integration is good, with the growth of AI, advancing the AI part to enable other workflows within the application would be beneficial. Those are some observations from my part, but otherwise, I feel everything is all right.
I would love to see advanced AI integrations with major players such as Google and Amazon. Talking about scalability, Zoom Workplace Business is definitely a scalable solution, accommodating up to 1,000 people at once. However, when exceeding that number, the bandwidth may be disturbed and the latency may reduce; I have witnessed that issue occurring during large events, which is why I highlighted this part.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zoom Workplace Business for almost four to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Zoom Workplace Business is definitely a stable solution, and I have not faced any major challenges so far.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Zoom Workplace Business is definitely a scalable solution, accommodating up to 1,000 people at once. However, when exceeding that number, the bandwidth may be disturbed and the latency may reduce; I have witnessed that issue occurring during large events, which is why I highlighted this part.
The scalability of Zoom Workplace Business is excellent, as it can support up to 1,000 users at a time without any problems. The latency is good, the bandwidth is good, and both upscaling and downscaling work really well, so I have not observed any major issues.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support has been really good; I contacted them around eight months back due to a challenge we were facing while setting up a big webinar for customers and stakeholders. They resolved the issue promptly.
I rate the customer support a 10 out of 10, as the total support provided was commendable, and we really enjoyed their assistance.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used Webex by Cisco, but we felt that Zoom is providing a strong hardware and software ecosystem with enterprise-level features at a very good price. It also offers integrated calling and messaging systems, which is why we have chosen Zoom over Webex.
How was the initial setup?
Deploying Zoom Workplace Business in my environment is very easy; it does not require any technical solutions and is very user-friendly. It can be used easily by anyone, tech or non-tech, and can be scaled as needed.
My experience with the configuration process has been awesome, although the admin portal complexity for very large tenants and granular policies may be an issue. Apart from that, everything was good as it can handle a lot of load, and I really appreciate the default security profiles by industries. However, they could improve the guided admin workflows and better proactive monitoring for QoE scale.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment, as I shared already in the previous answers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The metering and billing experience was very good; they provide a free tier for up to 50 people for 40 minutes of group meetings. Since we use it from the AWS Marketplace, they helped us get proper licensing directly with plan flexibility and non-proprietary hardware, keeping the overall deployment cost competitive compared to a traditional room. They have given us good solutioning at a very genuine price, so I would definitely suggest someone looking for a good solution at a low price consider Zoom.
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is as I have told you.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated other options such as Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex by Cisco, and RingCentral.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using Zoom Workplace Business is that anyone seeking a really good solution at a low-cost price to enhance team collaboration should consider this platform. It supports video calls, images, chatting, and more. Zoom is something you can trust. I have given this review a rating of 4 out of 5.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Handles various meeting types seamlessly with valuable features like AI note-taking and privacy options
What is our primary use case?
I have used
Zoom for teaching at one of the universities, delivering lectures with breakout sessions, team meetings, and various other meetings with both small and large groups.
What is most valuable?
I like that
Zoom can handle breakouts. The new AI features that take notes and give me action items are useful. The blurred background ability is handy to ensure privacy. Zoom has become a straightforward solution and is valuable for various meeting types.
What needs improvement?
Sometimes when I set up a meeting, the security codes are not always consistent, especially when integrating Zoom with scheduling tools like
Calendly. It would be helpful if this process were simpler. There are moments when I'm placed in a waiting room unexpectedly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have experience with Zoom since around 2018, prior to the COVID pandemic.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate the stability at eight. It's generally good, but I can occasionally get an unstable connection message. It does take up a lot of computer bandwidth, which can slow down performance, especially when I'm sharing screens.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Zoom is scalable and can handle both small and large meetings.
How are customer service and support?
I have never reached out directly to their support but have used online resources and community support for troubleshooting.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, I used Google Meet but Zoom has become more commonplace. It seems easier for people to use Zoom without question.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Zoom is straightforward though it's been a long time since I did it.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate Zoom an eight out of ten. It's good and fulfills the necessary requirements. I can't think of any additional needs for it at the moment.
Flexibility and clarity have improved remote meeting experiences
What is our primary use case?
We used to use
Zoom at our company, but we've since switched over. I do still utilize it when other people set up a meeting using it. We don't actively use it anymore in my company; we use Teams. However, I still use it for calls, and I likely have a call today as well with it.
What is most valuable?
Zoom is easy to use. It has definitely been made easier to use because you can just click the link and not have to worry about having it set up previously on your computer. The clarity seems to be good for both picture and sound. Additionally, Zoom integrates well with Outlook, allowing smooth meeting scheduling and participation.
What needs improvement?
In the past, there were some sound connectivity issues where I would get sound and no picture, and then picture and no sound. I think maybe it was the integration with my laptop settings. Other people in my company had that issue as well. Perhaps a software update improved this over time.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used Zoom probably since COVID, when it became more popular, and I was working at home at that time. So, I've had five or six years of experience with it.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of Zoom as an eight. There were some sound connectivity issues in the past, but they seemed to resolve over time with updates.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have been in meetings with our entire company, which includes about one hundred and thirty people. It seems to be adequate for handling larger meetings and doesn't seem to have problems. Usually, the meetings I participate in are just a couple of people, and I haven't had any issues. Scalability is good.
How are customer service and support?
I've never had to reach out to Zoom's technical support or customer service because I've never had a reason.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used to use Zoom at our company, but we have since switched over to Teams.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Zoom is easy. It has definitely been made easier than it used to be.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I am looking for software programs like Scion and Count for my work.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Zoom to others because it's easy and serves its intended purpose well. It seems that efforts have been made to improve the product. Initially, during COVID, we had a couple of times where people who were not invited hacked into meetings. We had setup settings where the meeting owner had to let everyone in, which improved security. I rate the overall solution as a 9.