🐈
» Support » Product Release Notes » Zoom Integration on Upwork!
Page options

Zoom Integration on Upwork!

daryl_sando
Community Member

The Upwork Team is committed to making sure all our customers have the best experience possible on the Upwork platform. In order to make that happen, we’re constantly listening to your feedback and thinking of ways we can implement those suggestions and changes. 

 

We know that our customers have experienced challenges with Upwork’s video and call features, and we realized they wanted and needed a different resource that would allow them to conduct pre-contract conversations while still abiding by Upwork’s Terms of Service. 

 

In order to make having those pre-contract conversations easier, we’ve implemented a brand new integration with Zoom, a video calling platform, which we know many of our customers are already very familiar with.  

 

Why are we adding an option to make Zoom calls directly through Upwork?

 

In short, we want to help both clients and talent to succeed, and we want everyone to have a great experience when using Upwork. 

 

We recognize how important it is for talent and clients to have a way to communicate with each other for everything from contract negotiations to project feedback.

 

With the new Zoom integration, our goals are to:

 

  1. Decrease the number of calls with issues
  2. Increase the level of customer satisfaction with the calling feature 
  3. Give users an easy way to make calls on Upwork

 

How does the Zoom integration work? 

 

Both talent and clients can start Zoom calls directly through Upwork Messages. The calls will take place via a Zoom account hosted by Upwork, so there’s no need to start a new Zoom account or use a pre-existing one. 

 

All you have to do to start a Zoom call on Upwork is:

 

  1. Click on the call icon in the top right of a messaging room with at least two participants.
  2. Select the option to start a Zoom meeting.
  3. Click on the link to join the meeting.
  4. Open within your browser or download the Zoom app.

 

Again, you don’t need a personal Zoom account in order to start or join a meeting.

 

The option to start a Zoom call is available on both the Upwork website and the mobile app. All Upwork users who have access to Upwork messages can access the new Zoom feature.

 

Why do Upwork’s Terms of Service require pre-contract communications to stay on Upwork? 

 

Upwork considers the safety and protection of Upwork customers and the marketplace to be of utmost importance. Once you take your conversations somewhere other than Upwork, there is an increased risk of fraud, circumvention, and other behaviors that could harm the Upwork community. Essentially, you lose a great deal of security once you take a conversation off Upwork. 

 

When all communications and work stay on the Upwork platform, we’re able to track and address issues and harmful behaviors that may arise. 

 

You can read more about the TOS requirements regarding pre-contract communications here

 

What else are we doing to improve communication on Upwork? 

 

When using either the new Zoom integration or Upwork’s video and calling features, we always encourage you to provide feedback. We’re constantly reviewing this feedback and using it to make improvements.

 

We’ve already heard lots of great feedback from the Upwork community, and we’re currently researching and looking for ways to help users:

 

  • Easily schedule meetings on a calendar, particularly between timezones
  • Bring non-Upwork team members into the interview process
  • Ensure clear communication on the Upwork platform

 

As always, we’d love to hear your suggestions on how we can make Upwork even better! Keep an eye out for new capabilities and features we’ll be rolling out in the future. 



Daryl Sando

Sr. Manager

Upwork Trust & Safety 

28 Comments
abinadab-agbo
Community Member

Congrats.

I was about to say I'm getting the feeling Hayden Brown is THE one but I shan't.

I'll just go look for something else to whine about because that is how to make upwork a better place 😉

wlyonsatl
Community Member

Unlike incoming calls on the VOIP app, my version of Upwork's Zoom app (using the latest Chrome browswer) does not have a pop-up or other visual or audio notice of an incoming call. There's just a small, silent note that appears in the project page.

 

As a result, I miss incoming Zoom calls unless I am watching a particular project's message thread, which I do not have the time or inclination to do.

 

Upwork, please fix this ASAP if you are going to continue to require that during pre-contract negotiations freelancer and client only use either Upwork’s VOIP service or Upwork’s Zoom-compatible app to talk with one another.

 

Thanks in advance.

g_vasilevski
Retired Team Member

Thank you for the feedback, Will, I will share it with our team.


hramachandran
Community Member

This is great!! ... May i reqeust Upwork to consider scheduling facilities as well. Currently there is no way ( atleast i am not aware) of a facility to book clients time on his calender and vice versa. 

masharichart
Community Member

Thank you for this. I used the Zoom integration today for the first time to talk to a prospective client and it worked perfectly. 

hinnen-rezultz
Community Member

Today a potential client asked that I setup a Zoom interview. Knowing that Upwork is now mandating that we use Zoom on the Upwork platform, I proceeded to setup the call.  In doing so, when I clicked on the Zoom feature, it sent an invitation to the client on the spot when the intent was to setup for another day. What is the current scheduling protocol for this?  There seems to be a missing link or something that allows to call up a calendar to schedule.  If this is not available then what is the alternative if we are not allowed to have interviews with current Upwork clients outside the platform?  

dyach_s
Community Member

Thanks for zoom, its much easy to contact clinets now. Some clients have only skype, is it also will be included?

AleksandarD
Community Manager

Hi Serg,

 

Thanks for sharing your feedback with us. For now, we don't have any plans to include Skype. However, I will share your feedback with our team for review.

 

Thank you.

8ce03698
Community Member

Sounds like a great innovative step. I will certainly like to use it the next time around. My thoughts were more concerned with communication as a contract is running. There are times when collaboration or feedback requires a discussion. What are the means of communication available for such purposes? It would also be awesome if Upwork had the phone numbers or other of each party, making it easier to communicate. I personally would be willing to pay for the use of such integrated service.

 

 

lauriema
Community Member

One of the challenges I have faced when helping my clients recruit on UpWork is the fact that there are often a couple people from the company that need to participate in an interview/introductory meeting. It is my understanding that both would need access to the company UpWork account in order to join the UpWork message. However, the "owner" of the UpWork account does not want other people in the company (who may need to particiapte in interviews) to have access to the account. This is due to the fact that the company is primarily staffed by Freelancers. If the CEO wants another Freelancer to participate in an interview of a potential new UpWork Freelancer, the CEO does not want the current Freelancer to see the detail so the proposal of the person being interviewed as this may create conflicts internally due to pay rates, etc.

 

The second challenge is that the interviews need to be scheduled for a future time.

 

What we really need, is the ability to schedule a call with the person who submitted the proposal, the owner of the UpWork account and someone who does not have access to the UpWork account.