Zoom Unveils Document Sharing Feature: Quality Analysis Awaited
Zoom's New Playground: Zoom Docs
TL;DR: Zoom has dipped its toes into the writing world, offering a web-based document editor that's fully compatible with their video conference platform. Let's see what this new kid on the block has got!
Zoom has upped the ante once again, introducing a tool that doesn't just help you connect with a million people through video conferences but also offers a document-editing experience that's second to none. In brief, it's like having a Google Docs clone, right within the Zoom ecosystem.
Zoom Docs promises to save you precious hours per week, thanks to its integrated workspace that supposedly reduces distractions by tackling various tasks within the same environment. This means you can bid goodbye to those tedious switches between your Zoom video calls and other browser-based writing tools (Proton follows suit, but more on that later).
So, is it time to trade Google Drive for Zoom Docs? Well, Seasoned Google Drive users might need more convincing. But, if you're already deep into the Zoom community, Zoom Docs could prove to be a more hassle-free alternative.
Features of Zoom Docs
If you've got a free Zoom account, you can dive right in and use Zoom Docs' basic features. The shared document limitation of ten documents should be sufficient for individual users. But, if you're on a paid plan, you can share as many as your heart desires, and even access the AI companion to assist your wordsmithing endeavors.
The Zoom Docs interface will feel comfortable if you're used to tools like Notion. Think of it as a blank canvas for text and images, with various tools at your disposal. Markdown support, tables, lists, code, images, and embeds are all aboard, making for a smooth, polished experience.
A slick feature is the ability to embed YouTube videos directly into the document-now who needs a standalone blog post creator?
Zoom Docs also sports some nifty advantages, like instant translations, version rollbacks, and basic spelling & grammar checks. On the flip side, features like word count, document comparisons, offline editing, voice typing, table of contents, and headers & footers are all missing from the mix.
Zoom Docs: More Than a Document Editor
We've mentioned the AI companion, but let's dive deeper. It's a handy tool that sums up text for you, rewrites it, and even churns out artificially intelligent text blocks based on prompts-much like what you'd get with OpenAI ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and other such tools.
Start or schedule meetings right from your document, and allow your video meetings to be summarized in text form through AI-powered transcription. You can even embed Zoom whiteboards directly, create documents straight from Zoom meetings, and leverage sophisticated tagging and notification features built right in.
No need to worry about collaboration either, as up to a hundred people can work on a single document simultaneously, with permissions tailored to suit your needs. And fear not about the document getting too cluttered, as Zoom Docs feels clean and uncluttered, even with multiple people working on it.
The Big Differences
Zoom Docs is more of a wiki editor than a traditional document editor, offering a flexible, modular layout and easy linking between documents. It's suitable for project planning and light spreadsheet work, thanks to interactive tables.
Google Docs has been around for decades and offers more features, particularly those tailored for traditional word processor programs. It may take a while for Zoom Docs to catch up, but if you're already all-in with Zoom, it's worth giving it a try, especially for its AI-driven features.
- The AI companion in Zoom Docs can generate artificially intelligent text blocks based on prompts, similar to OpenAI ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
- Zoom Docs allows you to schedule meetings directly from the document and offers AI-powered transcription for meeting summaries.
- In the future, technology advances may bring more integrations between Zoom video conferencing and Zoom Docs, potentially changing the workspace landscape.
- As traditional document editors like Google Docs have more extensive features, it might take some time for Zoom Docs to match their capabilities, but its emphasis on AI and the Zoom ecosystem could appeal to those already invested in the platform.
