Sync the mute/unmute status to HID device

[davidyau0110]

Hi everyone,

I would like to develop a HID device with LED indicator, it can show the mute/unmute and camera on/off status with different colors, of course the device also able to trigger mute/camera on or off by sending keyboard shortcut.

My question is : if user triggers the mute/camera function by mouse click or keyboard, how can I know the mute status and update the HID device status?

Is there any standard API to do it? or it needs to write a plug-in ?

Thank you very much!

[Ray_Harwood]

Hey, @davidyau0110,

I'm sure you're probably aware that there are several ways to get this information in general.  Unfortunately, there is no direct API call you can retrieve from the Zoom client app -- it's pretty much a closed system.

There may be a signal you can get through the web-based API, but that's not going to help your HID device driver.

You might take a look at the Zoom SDK, or directly at ZoomOSC which is a Zoom client built around the Zoom SDK and sends/receives OSC commands.  Either of these approaches would require you to log into the meeting separately with the SDK or ZoomOSC client, so while not directly usable for you, investigating these approaches might give you some additional ideas.  (Quick note: You can download and run ZoomOSC at no charge; certain OSC commands are reserved for a ZoomOSC Pro fee, and not necessary for general use and testing.)

I know a lot of folks that would really like a Mute/Unmute button with visual feedback; with some luck you could also command Zoom to mute/unmute without relying on a keystroke-based mechanism.

Good luck!

[davidyau0110]

Hi Ray,

Thank you for your reply, I will check the SDK and ZoomOSC.

One more question, do you know those certified hardware are able to do the mute/ camera function in sync?For example, the Poly sync series, will it turn on the mute indication if I enable the mute function by mouse click?

Or the certification doesn't care about this part?

[Ray_Harwood]

@davidyau0110  – sorry to say that goes far beyond my scope of knowledge!

[supportinsf]

We need a device that indicates the mute/unmute status of the zoom session. There are many devices that mute the microphone (locally) but do not show the muted status to the zoom meeting participants. The use case is that no matter who or how the device is muted or unmuted, that status is shown to all on the call. David's question and Ray's answers imply that commercially available devices do not support his use case. Does that sound correct?

[solstyce9]

+1 to this.   I want the Zoom mic mute status to be the same as my system, so if I mute my mic in Zoom, it mutes my local system microphone, and if I mute my local system microphone, it shows my mic as muted in Zoom.

Frankly, I'm surprised it doesn't do this by default already.

[Ray_Harwood]

Hi, @supportinsf.

There are many people wanting what you want!  Such a device does not currently exist to operate with the native Zoom client programs, to my knowledge. This owes to the fact that it's difficult to obtain the status of the Mute/Unmute state directly from the Zoom client.

The only way to get this functionality currently is to build a custom Zoom client from the Zoom SDK, but note that the ZoomOSC product can drive this functionality using OSC communication from within the ZoomOSC client (which is built on the Zoom SDK); but further, ZoomOSC requires something external to catch Mute/Unmute events and to send OSC-compliant requests back to ZoomOSC to command ZoomOSC to change the state of the client.

Note for the truly interested: ZoomOSC can do "many much magic" behind the scenes of the Zoom client but is beyond the scope of most casual Zoom users, and comes with a $20/month license fee.  Most people taking advantage of ZoomOSC's capabilities either use Companion (a Stream Deck controller) or Isadora (an app designed primarily for controlling theatre lighting) to receive events and send commands.  ZoomOSC was developed by Liminal Entertainment Technologies (https://LiminalET.com), which Zoom "acquired" (long story - assume "acquired" for simplicity) in December 2021, and product development/enhancement is now internal to Zoom.  I'm happy to elaborate in a separate thread, if there's interest.