Today, Zoom and Mitel announced a strategic partnership to integrate Mitel’s flagship UC platforms with Zoom Workplace. This unified communications and collaboration (UCC) solution addresses the growing demand for hybrid deployments that combine the versatility of cloud-delivered services with the customer control of privately hosted solutions.
The partnership involves Mitel and Zoom deeply integrating their products to develop an exclusive hybrid cloud offering with Zoom Workplace providing call control on Mitel’s OpenScape, MiVoice, and MX-One platforms. In addition to this integrated phone client, all the capabilities of Zoom Workplace will also be available to these customers, including Zoom AI Companion, Meetings, Team Chat, Spaces, the new Zoom Docs, and everything included with Zoom Workplace. The hybrid solution will be available through Mitel/Zoom Partners in addition to Mitel as a global reseller for Zoom.
The post-pandemic dust is still settling, but we can see that collaboration services, such as meetings and chat, favor cloud-delivered models. However, call control remains popular as a private, single-tenant service — especially with larger enterprises. Unify brought many large enterprise deployments to Mitel when Mitel acquired the unit from Atos almost a year ago.
Zoom Workplace becomes an optional alternative to Mitel’s existing collaboration applications. Mitel has no plans to discontinue any of its collaborative applications. However, Zoom Workplace will look very compelling as it’s a single, global offer that can integrate with all three of Mitel’s major platforms.
According to David Petts, Mitel’s Chief Sales Officer, many of Mitel’s customers are asking for more advanced collaboration capabilities. The Zoom AI Companion capability becomes available to customers who activate it. As always, Zoom AI Companion is off by default in Zoom Workplace and granular security controls are available, allowing administrators to enable AI capabilities on organization, group, and user levels.
The agreement is consistent with past announcements from Mitel and Zoom. Mitel has been focused on its private-cloud, single-tenant call control platforms for several years now. The company reports growing demand for its core solutions, especially in selected verticals such as healthcare. Partnering with Zoom will fill a few gaps in the portfolio, including cloud calling and meeting rooms. MiCollab, for example, no longer has a meeting room solution. Zoom will support Mitel hardware, including Mitel desk phones, headsets, and session border controllers (SBCs). Zoom is actively exploring enabling advanced features that Mitel endpoints support that are not commonly found on SIP-only devices.
According to a June 2024 global survey conducted by Mitel and Techaisle, this complex balance of control and flexibility is prompting 91% of enterprises to prioritize a hybrid approach for their business communications.
The alliance is similar to the Avaya-Zoom partnership announced earlier this year. In both situations, Zoom provides a UC call control client embedded within the Zoom Workplace application for private UC infrastructure. Avaya and Mitel agreed to offer Zoom Workplace to their customers. However, there are a few key differences. Mitel will offer Zoom Phone service in order to provide customers with maximum hybrid-cloud flexibility. The companies are evaluating if Zoom’s existing BYO Carrier also integrates with PBX systems, and could potentially expand to support a single, hybrid calling solution that blends Zoom Phone and Mitel UC extensions.
Also, Mitel will resell Zoom rather than the more common agent model. However, Mitel partners will be encouraged to work directly with Zoom in a meet-in-the-channel motion so they can offer the full Mitel/Zoom solution. Mitel, its professional services, and its partners will likely expand their offerings to include additional Zoom solutions, such as conference rooms, workplace reservations, and digital signage. Customers can continue to use existing (and new) Mitel endpoints with Zoom Workplace.
Mitel previously partnered with RingCentral for UCaaS, but that partnership ended earlier this summer. That arrangement involved migrating customers from Mitel’s solutions to RingCentral’s services. That winner-take-all model is giving way to new, dual go-to-market approaches. Zero sum UC is disappearing as vendors realize it’s difficult to be all things to all customers. In addition to Avaya and Zoom, and Avaya and RingCentral, Cisco and Microsoft have found success by creating complementary solutions.
This new joint Mitel-Zoom hybrid solution is expected to be available globally in the first half of 2025.
Dave Michels is a contributing editor and analyst at TalkingPointz.
