Zoom has become the dominant force in the videoconferencing space, and with more people working from home, the company apparently has ambitions to move in on other territory.

The Information reports Zoom is exploring ways to expand beyond videoconferencing with an email and calendar service. If true, the company could potentially pose greater competition to companies like Google and Microsoft, both of which offer a suite of enterprise software.

Zoom’s email service will allegedly be web-based and may be ready to test as early as next year. The company’s calendar service, meanwhile, is reportedly much farther off, with no timetable attached to the project. Both services will likely have deep integration with Zoom’s videoconferencing app, which put the company on the map this year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic

Offering a full suite of productivity software could make Zoom increasingly competitive in a market dominated by Google and Microsoft. It’s a smart move on Zoom’s part, too. With COVID-19 vaccines slowly being distributed, companies may order employees to return to the office in 2021, which could see the usage of Zoom’s videoconferencing app decline.

Zoom has enjoyed a meteoric rise in 2020 as people have been forced to work from home. Once just another videoconferencing app, it’s now one of the most used services in the world, allowing people to video chat with friends, family, and colleagues. Over the last several months, the service has only gotten better, rolling out end-to-end encryption and support for devices like the Google Nest Hub Max.

Email and calendar services are a dime a dozen, but Zoom already has a massive presence in the market. If the company can introduce new services that are comparable to what’s offered by Google and Microsoft, then 2021 could be very interesting. Testing for Zoom’s email service is rumored to begin next year, so hopefully, we'll learn official details soon.

Zoom - One Platform to Connect Developer: zoom.us
Price: Free
4.3
Download