Zoom brings end to end encryption and more

Zoom faced a number of new challenges due to an unprecedented surge in users as COVID-19 forced employees to work from home and students to learn from home amid local lockdown restrictions.

The Zoom platform continues to see updates on a regular basis and the latest update brings new and improved features to all platforms.

Zoom for Android

Meeting/webinar features

You can now stream a Zoom Meeting or Webinar live on YouTube. This allows participants to join your meeting via Zoom to view it and comment on it via YouTube. During the live event, there will be an approximate 20-second delay between the actual Zoom Meeting or Webinar, and the Live stream.

Those viewing on Youtube can only comment via Youtube, and can not interact directly with other webinar attendees, the same goes for webinar attendees.

Scheduling meetings on the mobile app now supports tracking fields selection, while users can schedule meetings with Join Before Host set to allow participants to join 5, 10, or 15 minutes before the scheduled start time.

In addition, when sharing the front-facing or auxiliary camera, the flashlight can be enabled to provide extra lighting and improve the shared video.

Meeting features

End-to-end (E2E) encryption for meetings 
End-to-end (E2E) Encryption for meetings is now available in technical preview. Account owners and admins can enable end to end encryption for meetings, providing additional protection when needed. Enabling end-to-end (E2E) encryption for meetings requires all meeting participants to join from the Zoom desktop client, mobile app, or Zoom Rooms.

Users will not be able to join by telephone, SIP/H.323 devices, on-premise configurations, or Lync/Skype clients, as these endpoints cannot be encrypted end-to-end. Zoom web client and third-party clients leveraging the Zoom SDK are also not supported at launch.

Enabling this setting also disables the following features: join before host, cloud recording, streaming, live transcription, Breakout Rooms, polling, and meeting reactions. This setting is enabled in the Zoom web portal at the account, group, and user level and can be locked at the account or group level. 

Change ringtone for meeting invites and phone calls 
Users can change their ringtone from a predetermined list. The ringtone applies to incoming meeting invites and phone calls.

Improved experience for saving annotations on mobile 
The annotation toolbar will provide a Save option, replacing the long press to save.

Improved pre-assigned Breakout Rooms behaviour 
Pre-assigned attendees joining after the Breakout Rooms have been started will now automatically be assigned to their Breakout Room.

Chat features

Search in channel option added to channel info panel for mobile
Searching through a chat channel is now placed with other channel options within the channel info panel.

Share files with Microsoft SharePoint on mobile 
Users can now share files from SharePoint directly through IM chat on mobile devices.

File size restrictions 
Account admins can limit the file size allowed in IM chat

Phone features

• Call notifications for busy call queue members 
  If enabled, call queue members can receive call queue calls when they are busy on a call.
• Opt out of specific call queues 
  Users who are members of multiple call queues can opt out of specific call queues to disable call notifications from those call queues.

Zoom for iOS

Meeting/webinar features

Share files with Microsoft SharePoint on mobile
Attendees can now share files from SharePoint directly through in-meeting chat on mobile devices.

Support for live streaming to Youtube on mobile
Hosts can live stream their meetings and webinars via the mobile app to Youtube. (Same as Android)

Scheduling with tracking fields
Scheduling meetings on the mobile app supports tracking fields selection.

Scheduling with custom Join Before Host time limit 
Users can schedule meetings with Join Before Host set to allow participants to join 5, 10, or 15 minutes before the scheduled start time.

Meeting features

End-to-end (E2E) encryption for meetings 
End-to-end (E2E) Encryption for meetings is now available in technical preview. Account owners and admins can enable end to end encryption for meetings, providing additional protection when needed. Enabling end-to-end (E2E) encryption for meetings requires all meeting participants to join from the Zoom desktop client, mobile app, or Zoom Rooms.

Users will not be able to join by telephone, SIP/H.323 devices, on-premise configurations, or Lync/Skype clients, as these endpoints cannot be encrypted end-to-end. Zoom web client and third-party clients leveraging the Zoom SDK are also not supported at launch.

Enabling this setting also disables the following features: join before host, cloud recording, streaming, live transcription, Breakout Rooms, polling, and meeting reactions. This setting is enabled in the Zoom web portal at the account, group, and user level and can be locked at the account or group level. 

Change ringtone for meeting invites and phone calls 
Users can change their ringtone from a predetermined list. The ringtone applies to incoming meeting invites and phone calls.

Improved experience for saving annotations on mobile 
The annotation toolbar will provide a Save option, replacing the long press to save.

Improved pre-assigned Breakout Rooms behaviour 
Pre-assigned attendees joining after the Breakout Rooms have been started will now automatically be assigned to their Breakout Room.

Chat features

Search in channel option added to channel info panel for mobile 
Searching through a chat channel is now placed with other channel options within the channel info panel.

Share files with Microsoft SharePoint on mobile 
Users can now share files from SharePoint directly through IM chat on mobile devices.

File size restrictions 
Account admins can limit the file size allowed in IM chat

Phone features

Bootstrap mode for nomadic emergency services 
If bootstrap mode is enabled by an account owner or admin, phone users can report their current locations as company locations and/or report underlying network data for existing company locations. User-reported location and network data must be approved by administrators before it becomes actively part of defined company locations. These operations will send email notifications to admins (at most one email per day).

Call notifications for busy call queue members 
If enabled, call queue members can receive call queue calls when they are busy on a call.

Opt out of specific call queues 
Users who are members of multiple call queues can opt out of specific call queues to disable call notifications from those call queues.

In addition, the latest update brings the usual Minor bug fixes to both the Zoom client and the Outlook plugin.