Getting more with Zoom Workplace
GW IT is excited to announce that Zoom Workplace will become GW’s primary communication platform for phones, web conferencing, and more. The transition is a multi-year project, resulting from a comprehensive evaluation, including a university-wide survey, analysis of current usage, and consultations with other universities and industry leaders. The survey revealed a dominant use of Zoom among faculty, staff, and students, highlighting its popularity and familiarity.
71%
of faculty and staff prefer Zoom to other platforms
5x
more meetings are held on Zoom than WebEx
Even if you have been using Zoom for a while, you might have missed the new features available with the release of Zoom Workplace. It includes features such as the soft phone for your GW phone number, chat, whiteboards, group workspaces, plus integrations with your calendar and email.
As part of this initiative, we will also be integrating Zoom Rooms. Zoom Rooms are software-based room systems that provide audio and video conferencing, as well as wireless screen sharing.
Why Zoom?
Based on GW community feedback, Zoom was chosen for its uniform experience across classrooms and offices. Zoom Workplace combines web conferencing and phone services with new features like chat, file sharing, and appointment scheduling. This reduces the number of applications needed, streamlining communications and creating a more consistent and sustainable experience. Transitioning to Zoom Workplace as our primary communication platform enhances our capabilities and aligns with our mission to support education and research with an efficient, scalable, and secure digital experience.
Transition Plan & Timeline
This project is a multi-year project that includes moving all phone services and retiring Webex. Currently, we are in the pilot planning process for the phone transition.
Webex meetings will be retired in 2027, but you can start moving your meetings to Zoom now. More detailed timelines and transition plans will be shared in the coming months. We appreciate your understanding and support during this transition.
What's Changing?
Phone services and academic technology will migrate from Cisco to Zoom. This move will unify phone services and web conferencing under the Zoom platform, replacing Webex with Zoom Meetings and upgrading classroom and conference room technologies to Zoom Rooms for a simplified experience. Phone services will transition to Zoom, and any Webex meetings will need to be moved to Zoom Meetings.
Phone services are being replaced by Zoom Phone, and collaboration technology in classrooms and conference rooms will be replaced with Zoom Rooms.
Zoom Workplace Features
We will be rolling out new Zoom features as the project progresses and will continue to provide updates. We are confident the transition to Zoom will benefit our university community by enhancing our communication capabilities and ensuring a seamless experience.