Leading video communications platform, Zoom has introduced Zoom Workplace, an AI-powered collaboration platform to enhance teamwork and productivity. The platform includes 40 new features, such as Zoom AI Companion updates for Zoom Phone, Team Chat, Events, Contact Centre, and Ask AI Companion. 

These innovations are set to roll out gradually over April and May, with regional and industry-specific availability varying. 

Last year, the company partnered with OpenAI to bring generative AI into its platform. 

Zoom Workplace

Zoom Workplace integrates various AI-powered tools into a single platform, providing users with a comprehensive solution for modern work. This initiative aims to streamline workflows and improve efficiency within the familiar Zoom interface. It integrates Zoom AI Companion to enhance employee effectiveness and foster improved collaboration.

The platform prioritises flexibility, offering open integration through APIs, SDKs, and over 2,500 integrations in the Zoom App Marketplace. A refreshed user experience introduces customisation options, including four colour themes and personalised virtual meeting backgrounds. These features enhance user engagement and tailor the meeting environment to specific needs.

Additionally, meetings in Zoom Workplace offer better collaboration tools, such as a dedicated Meetings tab for pre, during, and post-meeting activities. Continuous meeting chat ensures collaboration continuity beyond meetings, fostering asynchronous collaboration throughout projects. The new meeting features include a multi-speaker view for improved discussion tracking and AI-powered portrait lighting for enhanced visibility in low-light conditions. Customisable toolbars, multi-share capabilities, and streamlined document collaboration further enhance meeting efficiency.

In Zoom Team Chat, features like Team Chat tabs, shared spaces, and workflow automation streamline communication and organisation. The introduction of a Workspaces tab simplifies office navigation for hybrid and onsite organisations, integrating workspace reservation and visitor management. Zoom Rooms has also gotten AI upgrades, including smart name tags for inclusive meetings and the option to expand with companion devices for additional collaboration screens.

AI Companion

The new AI Companion expansions, including Ask AI Companion, offer assistance across the Zoom platform. This feature aggregates and shares information from various sources like Zoom Meetings, Mail, Team Chat, Notes, and Docs, helping users prepare for meetings, summarise discussions, and manage tasks effectively.

In Zoom Phone, AI Companion capabilities enhance call management by providing post-call summaries, prioritising voicemails, and extracting actionable tasks from messages. Additionally, Team SMS thread summaries offer a quick overview of conversations, enabling users to catch up efficiently.

Furthermore, AI Companion enhancements extend to Team Chat and Whiteboard functionalities. In Team Chat, smart scheduling suggests meeting times based on chat discussions, while future updates will support multiple languages for chat features. Zoom Whiteboard facilitates brainstorming by generating flowcharts and mind maps with simple prompts.

With AI Companion features included in paid Zoom services, users can leverage these tools without additional costs.

Business Service

Integrated with Zoom Workplace, Zoom Business Services claims to empower customer-facing teams with AI-driven marketing, customer care, and sales solutions. In the Zoom Contact Center, AI Companion enhancements now offer supervisors real-time insights into live engagements, including customer sentiment and conversation summaries, facilitating better agent management and support.

It has expanded its digital communication channels to include WhatsApp and inbound email, enhancing customer flexibility and agent responsiveness. Custom app integration within the Zoom framework enables agents to access relevant customer data directly, streamlining workflows and improving resolution times. Additionally, Zoom Contact Center and Zoom Phone now integrate with PCI Pal for secure payment data capture and compliance. 

Revenue organisations using Zoom Revenue Accelerator can now leverage deal memos and automated scorecards to enhance sales conversations and improve outcomes. Marketing professionals benefit from Zoom Events enhancements, including AI Companion image generation and the Swoogo integration, enabling more engaging hybrid events.

For marketing professionals, Zoom Events enhancements include AI Companion image generation, enabling hosts to create custom images for event registration pages, virtual backgrounds, and marketing emails. The Swoogo integration allows event professionals to expand their reach to broader audiences, bridging the gap between hybrid and in-person events.