Zoom Video Communications has partnered with Poly and Yealink to launch Zoom Phone Appliances. The desk phones are available via Zoom's Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) program as well as from authorized Poly and Yealink resellers.Car Dick, product marketing manager, Zoom PhoneThe appliances combine Zoom technology with hardware from Poly and Yealink to create desk phones. The phones provide video and audio capabilities and touch displays. The devices support HD video meetings, phone calls, and interactive whiteboarding, the companies say.Cari Dick, product marketing manager for Zoom Phone, provides more details here.
The appliances surface nearly one year after Zoom unveiled its HaaS strategy. The initial HaaS push, announced in July 2020, included third-party device options from DTEN, Neat, Poly, and Yealink. The HaaS effort supports both ZoomPhone and ZoomRooms.
Meanwhile, the UCaaS market continues to grow -- though there is also UCaaS market consolidation through M&A deals.Among the MSP-friendly UCaaS companies to watch: Cytracom recently hired Datto veteran John Tippett to further accelerate the business, and BVoIP has extended beyond phone, internal chat and mobile apps to support SMS, video/web conferencing, web chat, and integration to line-of-business applications.Still, there are some question marks in the UCaaS market. For instance: Intermedia recently delayed an IPO because of "adverse" conditions in financial markets. It was a strange explanation, considering multiple technology companies launched successful IPOs in the first half of 2021.Whatever the case, the UCaaS and video conferencing markets continue to converge in some ways. Zoom Phone Appliances are the latest example of that trend.
Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.
Major Taiwanese printed circuit board manufacturer Unimicron had its systems claimed to be compromised in an attack by the newly emergent Sarcoma ransomware operation, which purportedly resulted in the theft of 377 GB of data, including SQL files, that would be exposed next week should the firm refuse to pay the demanded ransom, reports BleepingComputer.
