Welcome to the May 20, 2022, edition of the No Jitter Roll, our regular round-up of news in the communication and collaboration space. Today: two vendor announcements demonstrate collaboration platforms' growing ability to let participants complete task workflows without leaving a group workspace.
Zoom Adds App Integration to Its Meeting and Breakout Experience
The videoconferencing platform
unveiled new platform features yesterday. These include Collaborate Mode, in which the screen-share mode becomes more of an app-share mode. Zoom explained it like this: "Participants instantly see the host’s app view (similar to a shared screen view), along with an invite so they can preview the app experience before joining."
For example, if a participant in a Zoom meeting is using Miro's whiteboard app to lay out ideas, they can invite other people into the experience of using the app for brainstorming. Among the other apps that Zoom cited as part of its Collaborate mode: Playco's shared quiz experience #AskAway, the visual brainstorming tool MURAL, the collaborative document-editing tool Coda and employee engagement tool Funtivity.
Zoom also cited examples of incorporating apps into its Breakout Rooms feature, including meeting management tool Twine and virtual office environment Welo.
The company's integration of apps into its collaborative workspace follows similar user experiences like Slack integrations or Microsoft making it easier for Teams users to use apps like Excel or Word without leaving a Teams chat.
Miro Announces Collaborations with Multiple Digital Workspaces
Miro's collaborative workspace integrations don't stop with Zoom.
The company also announced two other integrations: Miro App for Webex and Miro App for Google Meet. Both integrations will let users launch any Miro board directly within the meeting hosted by the collaborative platform and work in Miro with teammates without switching to the Miro app. The Webex integration is available now, and the Miro app for Google Meet is coming in June.
"At Miro, we think we need a different model of working altogether—one that responds to the needs for greater connectedness in a complex, hybrid world," said Varun Parmar, Miro's Chief Product Officer. "We think you need one place where you can talk to your colleagues, one place where you store things like notes or ideas, track the work you've done, and access all your work apps."
Parmar continued, "Miro boards aren't objects tied to meeting rooms, they are tied to teams, projects, and workflows, and allow people to collaborate together or asynchronously at every stage of the work process. Ultimately, we are creating more meaningful interaction, co-creativity, and inclusivity through a better way of working."
