Zoom Workplace for Intune

Review by eFreeware

Letting staff work from their own phones and tablets is convenient for them and awkward for whoever has to keep company information from wandering off those devices. That tension is exactly what Zoom Workplace for Intune addresses: it is the version of Zoom's collaboration platform built for organizations that manage devices through Microsoft Intune, published by zoom.com.

The app brings together the tools a workplace usually spreads across several services: team chat, meetings, phone, whiteboard, calendar, mail and notes. The difference from the standard Zoom Workplace app is the management layer wrapped around it, which gives administrators a way to organize and protect bring-your-own-device setups.

It is free to download, carries no ads and offers no in-app purchases, and the install figures are substantial at more than 10 million. The average rating sits at 3.8 from 30,702 ratings, a middling score that suggests a mixed reception rather than universal enthusiasm.

One platform for the working day

The pitch here is consolidation. Rather than moving between a chat tool, a separate video service and a calendar, employees get all of it in a single app that the developer describes as an all-in-one, AI-powered collaboration platform. Meetings, messaging, calls and the whiteboard live side by side, which matters for teams that jump between a quick chat and a scheduled call without wanting to switch context.

The calendar, mail and notes components extend that idea further. I would expect the strongest case for this app to be in organizations that already lean on Zoom for meetings and would rather give staff one managed client than a folder full of unrelated ones. Everything the employee expects from Zoom is present, according to the developer, with the management capabilities added on top.

Because this is the Intune build, the collaboration features arrive inside a framework the IT department controls. That is the trade an organization makes: a broader set of tools in one place, administered centrally rather than left to each person to configure.

The management layer IT actually wants

Mobile application management is the reason this version exists separately. Administrators can apply policies that help prevent company information from leaking out of the app, which is the concern that tends to stall BYOD programs before they start. Staff keep using their own hardware; the corporate data inside the app stays under someone else's rules.

The lost-or-stolen-device scenario is handled directly. IT can also wipe any sensitive data connected to it from afar. For an administrator weighing the risk of a phone left in a taxi, that capability is the difference between a manageable policy and an unmanageable one.

This is also why the app is built around a managed environment. It sits inside a Microsoft managed environment, and the controls described are exercised by the company rather than the person holding the phone.

What you need before it will run

Two requirements are strict. A work account from your company and a Microsoft managed setup are both needed. Both are set up by your organization, which places this app firmly in the hands of organizations rather than individuals.

If you are looking for the ordinary consumer version of Zoom Workplace, a separate end-user app exists for that purpose. This build is the one distributed through a company's device management setup, and it is intended to be provisioned by IT rather than downloaded on a whim.

Support works the same way. Questions about the software, or about how your employer handles privacy in connection with it, are directed to your company's IT administrator rather than to a general help desk. That is a sensible arrangement for a managed app, though it does mean the person using it has little recourse beyond their own IT team.

Where the fit is strongest

The natural home for this app is a company that has already committed to Microsoft Intune and wants Zoom's collaboration tools inside that boundary. IT administrators in that position get a client they can deploy, police and, if necessary, wipe, while employees get the meeting and messaging features they were already familiar with.

It also suits organizations with a large share of personal devices in the mix. The management capabilities are aimed squarely at protecting corporate data in a BYOD environment, so the more mixed the device fleet, the more the extra layer earns its keep.

The caveats are worth setting out plainly. The app requires the work account and managed environment described above, availability varies by country, and the 3.8 average from many ratings suggests the experience does not delight everyone. I would treat this as infrastructure rather than something an individual chooses for its own sake.

A managed client for Intune shops

The developer's emphasis on preventing data leakage and on remote removal after a device goes missing tells you where the priorities lie.

It is free, ad-free and free of in-app purchases, and it has been available since May 2019 with a recent update limited to bug fixes and improvements. For an organization already running Intune, the decision is largely made by that fact alone; for everyone else, the work account requirement settles the question. The people this serves best are IT teams supporting a mixed fleet of devices, and the employees who use those devices every day.

What's new in version 7.1.8.42949

-Bug fixes and improvements