Zoom Phone: Emerging Global Cloud Service?

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. today announced Zoom Phone cloud phone service availability in 25 additional countries and territories, as well as a new, simplified telephone service plan for companies with international locations, the company said in a statement.

This expanded geographic coverage allows Zoom customers to migrate away from legacy phone systems and consolidate business communications into Zoom’s unified communications (UC) platform, the company asserted.

Zoom Phone is a cloud phone system available as an add-on to Zoom’s UC platform. Support for inbound and outbound calling through the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and telephony features enable customers to replace their existing PBX solution and consolidate all of their business communication and collaboration requirements into one platform, the company said in the statement.

Where Is Zoom Phone Service Available?

With this announcement, Zoom now provides local telephone service and domestic calling in over 40 countries and territories. The new countries and territories where Zoom Phone supports local phone numbers are: Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Mexico, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

Zoom’s new Global Select plan is aimed at international companies that previously would negotiate telephone service agreements and pricing with different, legacy carriers based on their geographic location. With this new plan, a company now can purchase domestic calling in the countries and territories where Zoom provides public switched telephone network (PSTN) service, for a single price.

In addition to local service, Zoom Phone provides worldwide telephone connectivity through its Bring Your Own Carrier model, including in markets where telephone service is highly regulated. Zoom said in the statement it will continue to provide solution for companies that do not require individual direct numbers for every employee. For these customers, the Zoom Phone Pro plan for cloud telephony service is available starting at $8 USD per user per month, according to Zoom.

“Now, with an innovative plan model and availability of its successful Zoom Phone product in 40 plus countries, it will be a compelling option for many multinational customers,” said Elka Popova, VP of connected work research at Frost & Sullivan.

“As we engage with our customers, they are telling us they want to untangle their global telephony spending and consolidate, much like their move to the cloud,” said Graeme Geddes, head of Zoom Phone. “In response, we developed the Global Select plan and our expansion across the globe.”

Zoom's Recent Expansion

Zoom has made multiple expansion moves in recent months. Example include:

Those moves, coupled with a growing focus on cybersecurity, are designed to strengthen Zoom's reputation as an. overall unified communications system that partners can offer to customers.