Zoom introduces platform innovations to improve customer experience

The leader in breakout video conferencing announces Conversation Intelligence Service, expanding its range of online events aiming to modernize the way businesses engage with customers.

Almost two years after Zoom Video Communications rose from almost nothing to become a leader in the video conferencing market and develop work transformation services, Zoom Video Communications has unveiled a number of innovations to its core platform.

The enhancements are designed to help organizations improve customer and employee experiences for the new hybrid workforce everywhere, with the goal of providing actionable insights for navigating transformation and the future of work.

At the top is Zoom IQ for Sales, a conversation intelligence service for sales professionals, along with Zoom Events and webinar features like backstage and webinar session branding. The offerings are designed to put engagement at the heart of the experience and transform the way users work, connect and collaborate.

Described as the company’s first step in conversational intelligence, Zoom IQ for Sales is an add-on for Zoom Meetings designed to transform customer interactions into meaningful and actionable insights to help marketing, sales, and competitive intelligence teams to improve crucial interactions with customers.

Benefits mentioned include improved efficiency by increasing seller productivity with automation for next steps and risk assessments; quick search function; Tight integration with Salesforce, leading calendars and Zoom meetings to consolidate workflows and provide an aggregate view of conversations and opportunities; a web interface to make it easier for admins to onboard users and manage their integrations; and on-demand scalability, allowing organizations to add users as needed.

The offering is available as an add-on for Zoom Meetings customers, with support for Zoom Phone coming soon. Zoom IQ for Sales is the first iteration of Zoom’s conversation intelligence technology under the Zoom IQ umbrella, with potential future use cases by product, industry and use case.

Because virtual and hybrid events are now critical to a brand’s marketing strategy by allowing them to connect with customers and prospects on their terms, Zoom said that one of the most requested features for its events platform is a speaker hub before, during and after the event was a session.

To meet this need, Zoom is now introducing Backstage, a feature that allows panelists, presenters, and production teams to stay behind the scenes while viewing the live webinar feed, chatting with each other, answering attendees’ questions, and practice their presentations.

In addition, Zoom announced two other webinar innovations. Webinar reactions allow attendees to use reactions that appear in the lower-right corner of the main webinar window and are visible to the host, panelists, and attendees. Hosts can also customize the look and feel of the webinar experience by adding a background image behind the video tiles, setting a common virtual background for all panelists, and providing name tags for each panelist.

“In a video-first world, every interaction matters—whether it’s a phone call with a customer service representative, a video meeting with the sales team, or a hybrid event with customers and prospects,” said Oded Gal, chief product officer at Zoom Video Communications . Best-in-class retention is where competitive differentiation happens.

“Following our recent launch of Zoom Contact Center, Zoom IQ for Sales, and our latest Zoom Events, these innovations mark further steps in Zoom’s journey to create new heights for customer experiences and flexible workforce collaboration.”

Dave Michels, Founder and Principal Analyst at research firm TalkingPointz, said, “These new innovations are another example of Zoom’s ability to quickly and seamlessly bring new solutions to life based on the needs of its customers.

“With the launch of Zoom Events, Zoom Contact Center and now Zoom IQ for Sales, the Zoom platform is poised to impact customer experience redesign by expanding it to include the entire customer journey from marketing to sales to ongoing Include support – the entire customer experience.”

By: Sheila Satori Mensa