We're excited to introduce the latest feature of the Cronofy API, Conferencing Services! This core feature, available on all plans, is live from today and will allow developers to add phone and video conferencing links to events scheduled through the Cronofy API.
With Conferencing Services, Cronofy is now providing a zero configuration option thanks to our partnership with 8×8, as well as offering support for Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and GoTo conferences.
This is a feature that has long been planned as part of our roadmap. We've decided to fast track its release because remote working is becoming more and more important to businesses around the world with millions of employees now working from home full-time. Being able to see the people you are meeting with is critical in some cases, for example video interviews or training sessions. It also helps improve communication, morale and productivity in many other instances like team meetings, sales and support calls or online doctor’s visits.
Making scheduling online meetings as simple as possible for software businesses and their clients is just a small way that Cronofy are able to make a difference now and for the long term.
The way it works is simple. Developers now have the option to add phone and video conferencing links as an additional attribute to the calendar events created with the Cronofy API.Thanks to our partnership with 8×8, a leading provider of cloud communications solutions, this feature doesn’t require any configuration. Google and G-Suite users will have Google Meet links automatically generated. Users of all other calendars will get a 8×8 online conferencing link generated for each event.
"The 8x8.vc service is designed to provide on demand access to secure video meetings for anyone with a web browser. We're genuinely excited that Cronofy is bringing this capability to any service that they're powering scheduling for."
Emil Ivov, Head of Product, Video Collaboration, 8x8
However, we also understand that many companies have conference services that they prefer to use. In much the same way as end-users can link calendar services to their account, they can now authorize supported conferencing service providers to ensure meeting links are generated using their preferred tool. In practice it means that all users can choose to authorize Cronofy to use their Zoom, GoTo or Microsoft Teams account to generate the conferencing details
"Cronofy is dedicated to being the best scheduling infrastructure for SaaS vendors. Conference services are a critical part of meetings, especially now. Delivering support for online meetings as a turn-key capability is absolutely consistent with that focus."
Adam Bird, CEO, Cronofy
Finally, Conferencing Services is built to work no matter how an event is generated through the Cronofy API. This means that customers using our Real Time Scheduling or our Real Time Sequencing managed UI can simply add the instruction to the event templates and they’ll automatically be able to support remote meetings.We can't wait to see how you're going to use this new feature as part of your scheduling workflows. If you have any question or would like more information don't hesitate to contact us!