I have to say, I've found both Google Meet and Discord to be more reliable in the "just works" department (despite neither being perfect). My experience with Zoom was a job interview where the link kept asking me to install a browser plugin, even though I already had, even if I clicked a link that was apparently a web fall back.
I think I had to use a phone dial in in the end
I wonder if you might have been sent a WebEx link? That doesn’t sound like Zoom.
AFAIK Zoom doesn’t use browser plugins but WebEx definitely does.
It's been 2.5 years, so can't verify, but almost certain it was Zoom. Possibly it was the desktop app it was asking me to install.
Of all those Zoom had the best balance of stability/resource use/call joinability
I find meet a PITA to set up and invite random people
WebRTC browser chat is great for rooms >= 6 people and is my preferred choice
But zoom works pretty well from 1:1 up to 500:1 and is very easy to join
Don't get me wrong, I hate the Zoom client but when the target audience is everyone in your company, including your PC illiterate middle managers, then I can see how Zoom is quite good