How to Integrate Zoom Video Conferencing SDK into Your Website or App

The video conferencing market will grow to $27.3 billion by 2026. For comparison, in 2021, analytics estimated it at $14.6 billion. Zoom is one of the most common tools in this sector.

So, today’s topic is how to integrate Zoom with a website or an app. This post will also weigh the Zoom Video SDK’s pros and cons and explain why video conferencing is the future.

This post draws on our experience with video chat solutions like Events10x, HIPAA Telmed, Apartmii, and even more. So you’ll comprehend the concept of Zoom web SDK in greater depth. Therefore, if you don’t know how to integrate video conferencing into website, we will tell you everything in detail here.

But we should back up for a second first.

What Is the Zoom Video Call SDK?

An SDK, a Software Development Kit, is a set of tools for developers to be used when building or integrating a given feature set in an application or website. Zoom Video SDK integration enables your team to use Zoom’s HD video and audio capabilities in any app on the web, iOS, Android, macOS, or Windows.

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Your major benefits to implementing Zoom Video SDK into your website or app:

• Ease of use. You can easily import libraries, and Zoom handles audio and video conferencing functions.
• Small size. Zoom Video SDK provides full-featured toolkits that are more lightweight than Zoom Meeting SDK. Despite their small size, these tools offer complete audio and video capabilities.
• Highly adaptable. You can tailor the video conferencing to your needs since you can access raw audio and video data.

Zoom’s SDK allows you to use a significant number of features:

• Capability for users to launch a call instantly on performing a specific action
• Screen sharing and broadcasting the call to streaming services
• Send text messages in the chat
• Full access to raw video and audio data
• New analytics dashboard with details of user activity

Read also: 8 New Video Conferencing Trends in 2023.

Zoom Video SDK vs. Meeting SDK

While considering Zoom integration with a website or app, you may wonder which SDK is best for your business needs. In this regard, you have two options: Video SDK or Meeting SDK. Let’s compare them.

	Zoom Video SDK	Zoom Meeting SDK
Description	An SDK that allows developers to embed Zoom-based audio and video conferencing into their native UIs.	An SDK that allows developers to embed a Zoom meeting client into their apps or websites.
Use Cases	Suitable for creating tailored video and audio conferencing features for various industries, including healthcare, gaming, eCommerce, and more.	Suitable for Zoom video meetings integration within various apps and websites.
Pricing	Two pricing plans: laid-out $1,000 a year or pay-as-you-go.	Four pricing plans: Basic, Pro, Business, and Enterprise.
Supported Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.	Web, Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Electron, Ionic.
Meeting Types	Zoom sessions.	Meetings, webinars.

Both SDKs are viable solutions for businesses. The Meeting SDK is suitable for those who simply want to integrate the Zoom Meetings client into their application or website. But if you aim to embed Zoom-based audio and video conferencing capabilities apart from the Zoom Meetings environment, then your best option would be Video SDK.

What Are the Zoom Video SDK Alternatives?

When considering implementing Zoom SDK for video chatting, you should acknowledge the drawbacks of using Zoom.

If you ask Zoom’s PR office about security, they’ll tell you it’s in their DNA. Still, there was hardly a month last year without a data leak or security failure. The Zoom team constantly improves this crucial part of their product (built into its DNA though it may be) and has added end-to-end call encryption, a critical security measure.

Although the earlier versions of their product have been known to fail, the new Zoom is very much up to hosting conversations that need moderate security. You shouldn’t discuss state secrets on Zoom, but if you need to make a video chat app for state secrets, you wouldn’t be considering Zoom.

Read more about Zoom’s security here.

So, let’s move on to the alternatives. We have compared two products with Zoom, and here are our conclusions:

Name	Description	Cost	Features	Devices	Security	Compliance
Zoom	Lightweight and customizable SDK by the communications giant.	Flexible pay-as-you-go plans, from $0.00035 per minute.	Video and audio calls, custom UI support, raw data capture, text chat, screen sharing, and broadcast.	Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows	HIPAA, GDPR, SOC2, FedRAMP	HIPAA, GDPR
VidRTC	Softermii’s proprietary solution for video and audio call integration based on WebRTC.	Custom quote, SaaS model.	Video and audio calls, calendars, planners, text messages, screen sharing, and broadcasting. Up to 49 users on the same media server, unlimited broadcasting capabilities.	Web, iOS, and Android	DTLS and SRTP encryption, HTTPS	HIPAA, GDPR, AIPA SOC
MirrorFly	A rising contender from Indian company CONTUS that offers full customization.	Custom quote, one-time payment.	Video and audio calls, channels, file transfer, push notifications, location sharing, screen sharing, etc.	Web, iOS, and Android	256-bit encryption	HIPAA, GDPR

Zoom has proved its longevity and capability to handle massive scale. Those benefits need to be weighed against the security drawbacks. VidRTC is a flexible, highly customizable solution best suited to products in the healthcare, real estate, and event management industries. MirrorFly is feature-rich and works on a one-time payment instead of a SaaS model.

But what if you decide to develop your proprietary solution in-house and on-premises?

The Pros and Cons of SDK Technology

Do you need to integrate video SDK into your app or website? It depends on your goals and priorities.

Let’s look at the main pros and cons of using SDK technology.

Pros of SDK Technology

SDK technology has many advantages for businesses compared to creating a custom video conferencing solution. Let’s go through them in further detail, and then we’ll figure out how to integrate video conferencing SDK.

Cost-Saving

Creating on-premises video chatting capability from scratch is a costly, time-consuming endeavor compared to integrating Zoom into a website or an app.

Time-Saving

With the SDK, your developers don’t have to create every new feature from scratch. The software development kit allows you to integrate pre-coded video conferencing features.

Better UX

Custom development requires you to work hard on the user experience. You need to ensure that your video conferencing feature works flawlessly. Since an existing SDK technology is something already tested, it already runs.

Cons of SDK Technology

Before integrating video conference technology into a mobile app, it is also necessary to understand the disadvantages of SDK. Compared to using your code, SDK technology has some limitations. As a business, adding to your IP is generally considered a good idea. Not admitting the merits of a solution known to have security issues is great, too.

Implementing your solution instead of relying on an outside vendor to run a critical part of your service is something to boast about, especially at scale. So, let’s now consider the cons of SDK technology.

Potential Security Issues

SDK solutions offer satisfactory security and come compliant out of the box. However, look into an in-house solution if you have strict infosec policies and cannot rely on outside vendors.

Scaling Issues

Unlike a custom video conferencing tool, the SDK has scaling limitations. Manage these scaling issues, manually updating and refreshing tech as needed.

So, it’s up to you to decide between custom development and an SDK. Consider all the SDK’s pros and cons before getting started.

Zoom API Integration: What You Should Know Before Start

Before you integrate Zoom into your website, you should learn more about Zoom API implementation. That information will help you prepare better and seamlessly embed video conferencing into your software.

So, what’s Zoom API in the first place? It’s an API that allows developers to request information from Zoom with dashboard data, user details, and meeting reports included. It also enables making changes on a user’s behalf on the Zoom developer platform. Here are a few considerations before you start:

• Authentication. Zoom must authenticate each HTTP request to the Zoom API, which is possible through the OAuth 2.0 authorization protocol.
• Leveraging OAuth 2.0. This protocol allows apps to request information from Zoom via the Zoom API. It works for four roles: resource owner, resource server, client, and Zoom authorization server.
• Using JWT apps. A JSON Web Token allows developers to create tokens for secure data transmission, so it’s best to use it for generating API requests to Zoom API.
• API requests. These requests must be made through HTTPS.
• JWT app requests. You can handle these requests by indicating the user’s ID or email address.
• OAuth app requests. You can handle these requests by using the keyword ‘me’ as the value of the user’s ID.
• Shared access permissions. You can allow some users to access, edit, or delete information associated with other Zoom accounts.
• Email address display rules. Zoom shows email addresses for users beyond your account according to certain rules. Learn more about this here.
• Time in Zoom API. The date and time format in Zoom API is ISO 8601.

The considerations above will assist you in the subsequent Zoom web SDK integration with your website or app.

How to Integrate Zoom Video Conferencing SDK into Your Website or App

You’ll need to follow these steps to integrate Zoom into a website or an app.

The video conferencing market will grow to $27.3 billion by 2026. For comparison, in 2021, analytics estimated it at $14.6 billion.

Decide What You’re Buying

Zoom offers two distinct solutions: the Zoom Video SDK and the Zoom Client SDK. Please don’t confuse these, as they serve entirely different purposes.

The Video SDK is not compatible with Zoom Meetings, has support for custom meeting UIs, and is suited for integrating video conferencing into a website or an app. It is the one to go with if your use case involves connecting users on your platform.

On the other hand, the Client SDK integrates Zoom Meetings with a website or app. This toolkit does not offer raw video or audio data that will look just like you expect Zoom to look and can be used to connect your user to the more extensive Zoom infrastructure.

A use case for the Client SDK may be for an online event organizer who wants to get an easy-to-use solution that comes scalable out of the box.

You can find more info about the differences between the two SDKs here.

Choose Your Plan and Register an Account

Zoom has two plans for its Video SDK users:

• $1,000/year with 30,000 minutes included per month and a per-minute rate of $0.003 thereafter
• A pay-as-you-go plan with no upfront fee includes 10,000 minutes per month and a per-minute rate of $0.0035 thereafter

The Client SDK is available to all Pro, Business, and Enterprise accounts at no additional cost.

• Zoom Pro. It is the cheapest Client SDK plan, costing $150/year
• Zoom Business. This plan costs from $200/year
• Zoom Enterprise. The most expensive Client SDK plan is available at $240/year

Visit Zoom’s website to get more info on plans or contact sales.

Set Up a Developer Account

Following payment, Zoom’s website will lead you to create a developer account. Note that if you already have an existing developer account, you cannot use it with the Video SDK, which will require separate credentials.

How can you set up a developer account in the Zoom Video SDK? Look at the following few steps:

• If you already have a Zoom Developer account, log out of it
• Visit the Video SDK page and click the Buy Now button. Next, you will see the “Video SDK Plan” page
• Choose the tariff plan that suits you. Click Continue
• Follow the on-screen instructions to create a Video SDK developer account
• Check out the Terms of Service and click Continue
• Click the Submit button once you’ve reviewed your order

If you’re using the Zoom Client SDK, go here to set up an SDK App on Zoom’s marketplace.

Get Started

To download the video meeting SDK package and get started, you need to log into the Zoom App Marketplace, click on “Develop,” then “Build App,” then “Create,” and follow the instructions from there.

Troubleshooting and FAQs

Got questions like “how to integrate Zoom in an Android app?” Zoom’s SDK documentation answers most of them.

With a revamp of its SDK, Zoom recently launched a developer forum for those working on implementing video conferencing. The portal has a lively community with Zoom support staff eager to answer questions and provide guidance.

6 Use Cases for Integrating Video Conferencing to a Website or an App Based on Softermii Experience

As mentioned above, the future is virtual, and video is inevitable. Here to argue our case are five products developed by Softermii that leverage video to connect users and enable growth.

Zoom Video Communications annual revenue for 2022 was $4.1B, a 54.63% increase from 2021.

Real Estate

We’ve noted before that video tours can be a competitive differentiator in your real estate app. Live video tours provided by a real estate agent or owner are more personal and therefore engage the user better than streaming video or photos.

Read also: Guide on How to Build a Video Streaming App.

While individual owners may choose to conduct these over WhatsApp, FaceTime, or another app, home rental companies may want to integrate Zoom into a website or app for video chatting and keep the user’s communication in their software.

We considered this when developing our Apartmii engine for real estate mobile apps. It enables Softermii developers to add features such as VR and AR easily and, yes, embed proprietary video chat built to scale with the app’s user base.

Healthcare

COVID-19 gave telehealth the same push into the mainstream that it did to video conferencing for business communication. Once the world population became apprehensive about meeting in person, we all quickly had to learn how to keep up with the limitations — doctors included.

Telehealth offers better access to specialists, less time in the waiting room, eliminates travel, and provides on-demand services, giving better healthcare access, especially in rural areas. Both consumers and capital have gotten a taste, so telehealth is here to stay for good.

HIPAA Telmed, a product made by Softermii, is an excellent case in this space built around video. Harnessing the power of the best WebRTC media server, our team developed a web app that works on desktop and mobile. Today, HIPAA Telmed is a unique product and is widely adopted worldwide.

PetRealTime, another project we worked on, aims to bring the same benefits to veterinarians and their patients. Hosting video communications in-app allows you to achieve the necessary level of security. It is all not to mention the superior analytical insights gained by the app’s team.

Read also: Veterinary Practice Management Software Development.

One more healthcare product we developed is MediConnect. It connects doctors and healthcare product companies through secure video and audio communication. For this purpose, we have implemented our customizable VidRTC engine. Purchasing medical supplies has gotten much easier thanks to this app.

Events

Once the initial shock of lockdowns and event cancellations wore off, organizers worldwide scrambled to move their industry online. When it was clear that it may not be safe (or legal) to gather in large numbers anytime soon, a new industry of online conferences sprang up.

Take Events10x, for example. This product is another solution our team worked on. It is a hybrid event organizer aiming to combine the benefits of online events (easy joining, worldwide distribution) and offline events (better personal connections, networking). Events10x virtual events platform, aimed at corporate users, allows organizing events for audiences up to 15,000.

One of the latest additions to our portfolio, Parta, is a social experience app. It aims to connect its users through video and audio chats. Its goal is to create authentic connections in a socially stressed world separated by a pandemic.

If you are still considering integrating Zoom into a website and whether you need it, look through our cases. There are good examples of how to integrate Zoom into a website and whether you need it.

You may learn more about our portfolio by following this link. After that, you will have no doubts about Zoom integration with the website. But if you decide to start your Zoom integration at some point, don’t hesitate to contact us and use all our experience we have to offer!

Softermii Experience with Video Conferencing Solutions

Our tremendous experience in developing video-based products and integrating video conferencing into websites and apps dictates that the future of online communication is in video.

Our team is not only ready to integrate Zoom into a website or an app but can also offer its solution — the VidRTC engine. It is a ready-to-implement, easily scalable tool for online conferencing with video calls. It allows you to handle virtual rooms with over 1,000 users.

Advantages of VidRTC:

• It’s a White Label solution that you may fully customize
• Basic features onboard help you save up to three months
• It meets the requirements of SOC2, HIPAA, HL7, and GDPR
• You can use it for various niches

In particular, we have experience in such areas:

• Real estate
• Banks & insurance
• Events & conferences
• Startups & product companies
• Healthcare
• Education

With us, you can implement any video conferencing solution. Some products we may create are live broadcasting apps, live video conferencing tools, and appointment and event-management systems.

We have already discussed our top projects. If you want to learn more, feel free to follow this link.

Final Thoughts on Zoom Video Conferencing SDK Integration

The lesson that millions of businesses took from the pandemic is “if you’re not digitized, you’re not prepared.” We have already crossed the threshold from the proliferation of e-signature and document process automation to the ubiquity of video conferencing. The future is virtual, and the cutting-edge present is, as well.

Video communication has technologically advanced to a point where it is relatively cheap and fairly easy to implement in the past few years. It’s no point-and-click, so whether you integrate the Zoom Video Conferencing SDK or build your solution, you need experts in video conferencing software development services.

The Softermii team has the expertise you require. Our specialists have been successfully delivering audio and video conferencing solutions for numerous clients worldwide. Get in touch with us and future-proof your business by integrating Zoom video conferencing or WebRTC solution to your product with Softermii.

If you’re considering Zoom video SDK integration or development of a custom video conferencing solution, drop us a line, so we can help you!