With the rebranding of VMware Horizon to Omnissa Horizon, updating to the latest release of Zoom’s VDI plugin and host is required to ensure continued VDI optimization. It is essential to complete this update before upgrading your Horizon environment to the new Omnissa Horizon client and desktop components.
For more information on the VMware to Omnissa branding transition and the necessary Zoom software updates for compatibility, please refer to our article on updating to the Omnissa Horizon-compatible Zoom VDI Client.
The acronym HID stands for Human Interface Device, referring to any peripheral device that enables direct user input to interact with a connected computer. A common example of HID functionality is the ability to mute or unmute audio using a button on a headset during a phone call or meeting.
Zoom supports a wide range of HID-compatible products. For a comprehensive list, please refer to the supported USB HID Devices for the Zoom Workplace Client. The VDI Zoom Workplace Client and VDI Plugin support the same selection of devices, with HID functionalities such as mute/unmute and accepting incoming calls.
Note: Zoom does not support ending a call or meeting using HID controls.
HID devices offer significant advantages when used with communication applications like Zoom, providing users with a quick and tactile method for performing common actions such as muting and unmuting the microphone.
However, a key limitation of HID functionality is that controls are designed to sync with only one application at a time. For example, a single headset cannot be assigned to multiple applications simultaneously while maintaining distinct HID control functions for each. To prevent conflicts, Zoom automatically detects applications known to take control of HID-supported devices and intentionally refrains from overriding HID functionality.
Utilizing the following policies, administrators can disable HID checks for the VDI client by using the following client registry values within their policies:
CheckHIDControl: Available with versions 6.1.16 and 6.2.12, this registry value disables the check for ms-teams.exe. There is no guarantee that the policy change will enable HID, but if Teams is not using the HID headset for the selected device, Zoom may be able to sync with the headset safely.
CheckHdxMediaOptimization: An older policy that checks for lync.exe and whether it runs in an optimized mode in the Citrix VDI environment. This was an enhancement of the default policy that checked for just lync.exe and was later expanded to check for ms-teams.exe in 6.0.14.