New for Zoom Rooms: Custom Automation
November 29, 2017
Zoom Rooms now feature the Zoom Rooms Control System API (ZR-CSAPI), a CLI-based API that allows an external automation controller to fully control a Zoom Room via an SSH connection. The ZR-CSAPI is intended for Audio/Video integrators who install custom conference room solutions. For these installations, integrators program a central automation controller that has complete control of all devices in the room: that includes the Zoom Room, environmental controls such as lights and blinds, plus other electronics like video switchers. This diagram shows the connections:
In this configuration, the automation controller provides a dedicated touchscreen that completely replaces the standard iPad or Android-based Zoom Room Controller. The touchscreen offers a Zoom Room user interface, plus user interface widgets to control other devices in the room. These automation-driven installations offer several benefits:
- The user interface is customized to the room, and therefore a lot more intuitive for end users.
- A single touchscreen controls everything; there is no need for multiple remote controls.
- Users can easily create presets for things like light level, camera pan/tilt, motorized blind setting, etc.
Custom room subsystems
In the parlance of A/V integrators, the Zoom Room is the video codec. The automation controller directly connects to the video codec, plus just about any other device in the room, including:
Environmental controls
- Lights
- Motorized blinds
- HVAC / thermostat
Video/audio devices and switchers
- Camera pan/tilt
- Video switches for HDMI inputs and outputs
- Audio switches, to switch among microphones and speakers
- Video projector on/off controls
- Projector screen up/down controls
- Document cameras
- DVD players
- Lecture capture systems and room recorders
Other devices
- Pressure maps or infrared spot sensors to identify where a presenter is standing
- An "On air" light outside the room
ZR-CSAPI details
Documentation for the ZR-CSAPI is available on the Zoom Developer web site. Highlights of the API:
- The ZR-CSAPI is a Command Line Interface (CLI) with a syntax that is similar to other popular video codecs.
- The ZR-CSAPI exposes the CLI via SSH.
- The upcoming release of the Zoom Room will have the ZR-CSAPI feature built-in; there is nothing extra to install.
- It will ship for both the Mac and Windows Zoom rooms.
- The Zoom Room downloads list of contacts and lists of scheduled meetings from the Zoom Web Portal, then exposes that information via the ZR-CSAPI CLI; the automation controller does not need to connect with a corporate directory to download the information.
- All events that change the state of the Zoom Room are reported as asynchronous notifications to the automation controller.
