ZOOM
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Maximising Resources On top of the potential gamble of Zoom Docs, Watson picked up on the improvements to the Zoom Assistant. Zoom may have taken a leaf out of Apple, Disney, or even Microsoft’s book by attempting to entice customers with an initial free offering. However, Watson noted the cost the AI has associated with it, adding “Maybe Zoom sees more value in AI in the Productivity Suite. “I think a big difference if you have to look at the strategies around AI in terms of the commercials. CoPilot is $30 per user per month for a start and it’s only available on
Zoom Docs and some additional stuff in the contact centre is spreading their reach across the enterprise software stack, outside of communications into more of what you might think of the Microsoft space, across productivity applications. “I think that is an interesting decision, and the question is, how far do they go with that? Do they keep going into productivity? Do they develop an Excel equivalent? Or a presentation equivalent? From a personal perspective, I’m not sure how viable a strategy that is. Are you going to compete with Microsoft 365 on productivity and Google on Google Docs starting from now? Even though Zoom does have a user base, I’m not sure about that. “I would assume, although they didn’t talk about this, Zoom must have had some internal demand for a native word processing application, but they integrate into both the Microsoft 365 and Google Docs suite, so I’m not sure about that as a strategy. “I’m not sure if it is a bit of a waste of time and resources. I think the question is, how far will they go to the productivity side as well, in terms of trying to round the whole suite?”
Dave Michels Lead Analyst
talkingpointz.com
PRODUCT
Outside of Docs
Zoom’s New Assistant Another key innovation is the Zoom AI Companion, a generative AI digital assistant. This AI Companion not only allows users to catch up on meetings and summarise lengthy chat threads, but also composes emails in Zoom Mail, and now, helps generate ideas on a digital whiteboard. This AI-powered
Enhancing Employee Engagement and Hybrid Work Zoom also announced several platform innovations aimed at improving employee engagement and facilitating hybrid work. One such innovation, Workvivo, an employee engagement and communications solution acquired by Zoom earlier this year, will soon be accessible directly from the Zoom desktop client. For facilitating hybrid work, Zoom introduced new features like Workspace Reservation, My Office View in Huddles, and more. These features aim to make the transition between working remotely and in the office smoother and more efficient.
assistant is poised to be a game-changer for industries like higher education and healthcare, with new Meeting and Team Chat summarisation capabilities.
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