Zoom isn’t just your go-to video conferencing platform anymore; it’s quickly become a one-stop shop for all enterprise communications.
With its successful expansion into UCaaS, customer experience is now the next major focus, inspiring the launch of CCaaS, conversational intelligence, and virtual agent platforms in the space of just 18 months.
Yet, that’s just scratching the surface. A workforce engagement management (WEM) suite, employee experience hub (built in partnership with ServiceNow), and new agent assist applications are further examples of Zoom’s unwavering CX ambitions.
Now, this extravagant innovation spree is starting to deliver results – especially in CCaaS.
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Early Triumphs in the CCaaS Market
Hundreds of enterprises have flocked to the Zoom Contact Center already, many with 1,000+ service agents.
Attracting such business is crucial for Zoom. Indeed, the vendor recognizes the complexity of contact center transformation projects and aims to put down a marker that it’s up to the task.
It wants to show that it can support contact centers in envisioning, designing, and building new service journeys that meet – and keep pace with – customer expectations.
Moreover, it wishes to highlight how it can standardize multiple systems onto one platform, meet global compliance regulation, and deliver new actionable analytics that bolster customer, employee, and business outcomes.
In an exclusive interview with CX Today, Brandon Knight, Global Head of Zoom CX Channel & Ecosystem, appeared confident in its ability to understand and tackle all these market complexities.
While doing so, Knight pointed towards the 600+ groundbreaking features Zoom has unleashed for its Contact Center in less than two years, as the business caters to diverse CCaaS requirements.
Their newly minted Workforce Engagement Management Suite is also an excellent example, encompassing workforce management (WFM) and quality assurance (QA) solutions that help simplify scheduling, forecasting, agent coaching, and much more.
→ SECURE YOUR PLACE AT OUR WEBINAR ‘The Zoom Effect: Transforming Contact Centers for the Next Generation‘
Knight dived deeper on this in the following interview, filmed during Zoomtopia 2023.
Alongside all this original innovation, Zoom has established strategic partnerships with CX leaders – such as Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Verint – building iron-clad integrations.
Most recently, Kore.ai – the Gartner Magic Quadrant leader in conversational AI – released virtual agents especially for the Zoom Contact Center, bolstering its burgeoning ecosystem.
Again, this offers another indication of Zoom’s early CCaaS success. Yet, most predominantly it underlines Zoom’s ambition to engage with leading CX players to build a flexible, customized platform that meets the proprietary needs of any business.
What’s Winning Customer Hearts?
It’s all about smart tech. The debut of Claude, Zoom’s AI assistant, has proven a pivotal moment.
Indeed, while native bots and video functionalities are gaining ground, it’s the AI-infused Companion that’s the real showstopper.
Offered free to paid Zoom users, this feature delivers real-time, context-rich support to agents, elevating customer interactions to new heights. And they aren’t stopping there, expanding into paid AI capabilities like AI Expert Assist that add more rich insights and aid to agents.
Zoom also has its sights set on becoming the ultimate hub for customer engagement. Plans are underway to roll out tiered bundles that encompass voice, video, chat, and even social messaging channels all powered by AI aiming to deliver unmatched value to contact centers of all sizes.
Yet, behind all of this lies Zoom’s reputation for delivering easy-to-use technology, which has driven its high brand loyalty. In such a complex market, that’s a key differentiator.
AI at the Core: Zoom’s Secret Sauce for Customer Differentiation
Zoom built its cloud-native contact center from the ground up. In doing so, it has baked AI into the very core of Zoom’s product stack. It’s not just add-ons and point solutions.
This foundational integration is what’s fueling Zoom’s rapid pace of innovation and giving its customers a competitive edge – according to Knight.
The AI Companion, offered free to paid users, is a prime example. It’s not just a feature; it’s a core capability that’s being infused across Zoom’s entire product portfolio.
But it’s not just about having AI; it’s about making it accessible. That takes us back to Zoom’s standout qualities: ease-of-use and ease-of-adoption.
Indeed, the platform has already won the world over with its user-friendly video conferencing solutions. Now, it’s applying the same philosophy to its CCaaS offerings.
Implementing AI-driven features is as straightforward as using Zoom’s meeting platform. This ease of implementation is a stark contrast to competitors, where deploying AI can often be a complex, resource-intensive endeavor.
In essence, Zoom is democratizing access to advanced AI capabilities, making it quick and easy for companies to automate workflows, boost productivity, and glean next-level data insights.
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Innovation: What’s Cooking?
Strap in, because Zoom is just warming up. Knight revealed many of Zoom’s latest announcements at Zoomtopia 2023, like AI Expert Assist, enhanced Outbound Dialer features, and Remote Desktop Control.
Moreover, integration with Meta’s popular digital messaging apps, WhatsApp, and Messenger are crucial additions to attract further enterprise business.
Read Zoom’s recent list of innovations announced at Zoomtopia 2023.
Zoom’s Ascent to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant: A Future Foretold?
Knight hints at a tantalizing future: Zoom in the top right-hand corner of Gartner’s CCaaS Magic Quadrant by 2024.
While he acknowledges that the product is still new and needs to scale in terms of adoption and revenue, Knight believes that Zoom’s track record already speaks volumes.
Indeed, with a laser focus on intelligent solutions and an unwavering commitment to innovation, Zoom is gearing up to revolutionize customer engagement.
Will this tempt the second coming of the Zoom Boom? Knight certainly makes a compelling case.
Yet, for now, Zoom is closely shifting the clouds, raring up to send a roaring lightning bolt down onto the CCaaS landscape and shake up the market.
→ SECURE YOUR PLACE AT OUR WEBINAR ‘The Zoom Effect: Transforming Contact Centers for the Next Generation‘
