Zoom and Uber are two of the best-known unicorn companies in the world. Each are responsible for changing the way we live and work in their own unique way. Uber is a logistics and technology company famous for its food delivery innovations, peer-to-peer ridesharing, and unique transportation networks. 

Zoom, of course, is one of the companies best-known for changing the way we collaborate and communicate in today’s UCaaS environment, with video-first connections. The two companies joined forces to help support Uber’s more than 15,000 employees, spread across 400 offices and 70 countries. With such a widespread of ecosystem of talent, it’s little wonder Uber relies heavily on strong, engaging, and immersive communications through video. 

Let’s take a closer look at Uber’s decision to embrace the power of Zoom for their unified communications strategy. 

Bringing Video into Uber Workflows

According to Shobhana Ahluwalia, the head of IT at Uber, Zoom has become an integral part of Uber’s successful workflows, helping to keep teams connected throughout the globe. As the world of work has evolved, Uber has discovered there are few better ways to keep people on-track, communication and collaborating, than with an excellent video conferencing solution. 

For a number of years now, Uber has relied on Zoom to keep an ever-growing transportation ecosystem connected. Crucially, Ahluwalia notes that Zoom has had no problems supporting the ultra-mobile and modern workforce built by Uber. One of the main selling points of Zoom for Uber is the fact that anyone can use it – no matter where they are. 

“We have an extremely mobile workforce, and we don’t want to be tied down to the office. We’re everywhere, so we need to ensure we have an easy way to start meetings.” Zoom’s easy-to-use and convenient video conferencing technology has become a valuable part of many UCaaS strategies in recent years, particularly as remote and hybrid working has grown increasingly common. 

Interestingly, the relationship between Zoom and Uber has gone both ways over the years. For Zoom, expensing ground transport had often been a messy experience in the past. However, by leveraging Uber for Business, the company was able to enable employees with a profile on the Uber app for better transportation. 

Unlocking Critical Collaboration for Uber

In today’s modern workplace, video has become an essential component in making sure employees stay connected, aligned, and informed. While some companies have only recently begun to discover the possibilities of a video-first ecosystem, Uber’s relationship with Zoom allowed the leading transportation brand to get in on the ground floor of the new era. 

For more than 6 years now, Uber has leveraged Zoom to connect not just internal team members on the move, but professional groups and their managers and supervisors too. According to Ahluwalia, the simplicity and ease-of-use connected with Zoom is one of the main reasons why the technology was such an obvious choice for the brand. 

If you’ve ever seen an Uber employee, or Uber Eats staff member on the move, you’ll notice they’re often juggling bags, and dealing with their phone, while trying to stay as efficient and productive as possible. The ability to launch a conference at the tap of a button and connect with a wider workforce is essential. It also helps that many of the everyday people who join the team at Uber are already familiar with the Zoom experience. 

Building Zoom Meeting Rooms

While many of the benefits of leveraging Zooms as a UCaaS and collaboration solution for Uber come from the simple Zoom Meetings application, the company has begun to leverage other opportunities too. In the last few years, Uber has worked with both Zoom and its partnership AV companies to deploy hundreds of Zoom Rooms. 

According to Ahluwalia, by 2018, she had already deployed more than 1500 zoom rooms for team members to connect remote and on-location employees. This stat offers an excellent insight into how quick and simple it is for companies to deploy Zoom Rooms technology in a hybrid meeting environment. Uber has naturally been investing in the hybrid and flexible meeting landscape for several years now. As more companies continue to embrace this concept post-pandemic, they could decide to follow in Uber’s footsteps. 

Currently, Uber employees are using Zoom Rooms to stay connect with their colleagues from a host of different environments. In 2018, Uber also revealed that they had deployed more than 850 rooms in total with Panacast cameras for 4K video streaming. 

According to the company, the 180-degree field of view meant Uber teams could make the most of any huddle or conference rooms, without wasting space 

Enabling Employees Anywhere with Zoom

Though Zoom and Uber’s video conferencing relationship might have made headlines a few years ago now, it offers a fantastic insight into the impact the right technology can have on a workforce. Uber has long stood out as a unique and flexible company, with professionals working together from all walks of life and different environments. 

To enable such a versatile and diverse environment, Uber needed a UC strategy capable of being as flexible and agile as they were themselves. Zoom offered the simplicity and engagement opportunities that Uber would have struggled to find from other brands. As more companies continue to move towards a future of hybrid work, which mimics the flexible approach taken by companies like Uber, demand for solutions like Zoom is likely to grow. 

During a video case study published by Zoom, in which Shobhana Ahluwalia discusses the impressive relationship Zoom and Uber have held over the years, Uber highlights just how important Zoom has been to its continued communication and growth. You can watch the full video and learn more about the case study here. 

 

 



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