# Improving user experience for meeting assistant apps with Realtime Media Streams

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Developers building on Zoom need reliable, real-time access to meeting data — audio, video, transcripts, and more — without managing separate participants or complex infrastructure.

[**Realtime Media Streams (RTMS)**](https://github.com/zoom/rtms) makes that possible. It delivers structured, per-participant data over WebSockets, so apps can analyze, summarize, and respond as conversations happen.

In our latest [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKeVFXSFRGg), Michael Harrington and I show what this looks like in practice — not from a code or setup view, but from the _user’s perspective_. We explore how RTMS transforms AI meeting assistants into seamless, transparent extensions of the people who use them.

Watch video, [Improving user experience for Meeting assistant apps with RTMS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKeVFXSFRGg):
[![Improving user experience for Meeting assistant apps with RTMS](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YKeVFXSFRGg/maxresdefault.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKeVFXSFRGg)

## Apps that join with you, not as separate participants

![](/img/blog/jenbrissman/improving-ux/subtle.png)

Before RTMS, developers often had to create apps that appeared as participants in meetings. Those participant-style apps introduced extra complexity, requiring developers to heavily manage the app's activity and often adding confusion for users seeing unfamiliar tiles in their meetings.

RTMS eliminates that. Apps now **join naturally with the user who authorized them**, instead of appearing as separate participants. When I join a meeting, my RTMS-powered app joins with me and is visible in my tile rather than being an extra tile.
For developers, this means:

-   No separate participants or clients to manage
-   No separate infrastructure or manual meeting join logic to navigate
-   Direct access to **structured audio, video, transcript, screen share, and chat data** through WebSocket connections.

For users, the meeting experience with RTMS feels intuitive. The app is directly tied to the person who brought it, creating a trusted, transparent experience that is native to Zoom.

## Transparency built into the meeting experience

![](/img/blog/jenbrissman/improving-ux/AAN2.png)

With RTMS, transparency is built right into the Zoom meeting interface.
At the top corner of the meeting window, the **Active Apps Notifier** shows which apps are active, who owns them, and what types of meeting data they're accessing. Anyone in the meeting can click this notifier to learn more, pause or stop access, or review an app's details, all from within the meeting UI. This real-time visibility is critical for user trust, especially in sectors like healthcare, legal, and finance where it's essential to know what data is being accessed and by whom.

## Host controls and start options

![](/img/blog/jenbrissman/improving-ux/approvedeny.png)

RTMS includes fine-grained host and user controls over app activity and data access. When an app requests access to meeting data, hosts receive a notice and can approve or deny it before anything is shared. Once approved, the app appears in the Active Apps Notifier and can be paused or stopped at any time.

Apps can start in three ways:

-   **Automatically** when a user joins a meeting
-   **On demand** via the in-meeting app panel
-   **Programmatically** using REST API calls

This flexibility lets developers design experiences that fit their use cases perfectly — whether it's a transcription app that always starts automatically or an analytics assistant that runs only when prompted.

Apps can control how they start through the REST API or JavaScript method. Users can also configure their apps to auto-open and auto-start in their settings. Here’s how a user can quickly enable auto-start:
![](/img/blog/jenbrissman/improving-ux/autostart.png)

## Building smarter AI meeting apps with RTMS

![](/img/blog/jenbrissman/improving-ux/appdemo.png)

In our demo, we showcase a meeting assistant built using RTMS. The app processes live meeting data in real time — pulling transcripts, analyzing sentiment, and even generating instant summaries.

Because RTMS provides structured, per-participant streams of meeting data, developers can:

-   Run real-time transcription and sentiment analysis
-   Surface key insights as participants speak
-   Generate summaries without saving full recordings
-   Process data locally or in the cloud, depending on their architecture

These are just a few examples of what's possible. RTMS gives developers access to the same real-time context we used in our demo — enabling them to build all kinds of **intelligent, meeting-aware experiences**.

A sales app could flag buying signals or hesitations in real time. A legal or research assistant might let users query transcripts and jump directly to relevant video clips. And in healthcare, a provider could automatically launch a transcription or note-taking app at the start of a virtual appointment — with full transparency about what data is being accessed.

## Scalable and reliable for teams and enterprises

For IT teams and admins, RTMS makes it easy to deploy and manage meeting apps at scale. Admins can **bulk install RTMS-enabled apps** across their organizations, ensuring consistent access and compliance controls. They can manage permissions, define what data formats each app can access, and deploy updates centrally. For developers, reliability is built in — no scheduling logic, no participant management, and no container infrastructure. Apps simply connect when their users do.

It's scalable, secure, and built for enterprise environments.

![](/img/blog/jenbrissman/improving-ux/groups.png)

## Get started with the Zoom Realtime Media Streams SDK

```js
import rtms from "@zoom/rtms";
rtms.onWebhookEvent(({ payload }) => {
    rtms.onTranscriptData((data, size, timestamp, metadata) =>
        console.log(`${metadata.userName}: ${data}`),
    );
    rtms.join(payload);
});
```

You can explore more examples in the [RTMS Quickstart Guide](/docs/rtms/quickstart/), which includes tutorials for working with **audio, video, screen share, and chat streams** — plus tons of [RTMS sample apps](/docs/rtms/sample-apps/), featuring integrations with _AWS_, _TensorFlow_, and _Deepgram_, among others.

![](/img/blog/jenbrissman/improving-ux/transcriptdata.png)

## Build the next generation of real-time meeting apps

[**Realtime Media Streams (RTMS)**](/docs/rtms/) represents a new way for developers to build intelligent, real-time experiences on Zoom. It simplifies access to live meeting data while maintaining transparency and user trust.

With RTMS, developers gain the flexibility and speed to create AI meeting apps that are responsive, efficient, and privacy-conscious — and the freedom to imagine entirely new kinds of meeting experiences.

By enabling apps to join naturally with users, RTMS makes it easier to build **trusted, native-feeling AI assistants** that enhance meetings, strengthen user confidence, and scale across organizations.