The latest release wave for the Zoom Contact Center is here, and it includes 30 new features and enhancements.
Many of these are brick-in-the-wall announcements as Zoom builds a platform worthy of its rocketing CCaaS growth rates.
For instance, there is an upgrade to email transcript management, new visibility of the agent queue, and improvements to the platform’s native video SDK.
However, the CCaaS platform has many more eye-catching or - as Iqbal Javaid, Head of CX Solution Engineering EMEA at Zoom, puts it - "jaw-dropping" additions.
For starters, there is a Next Best Action capability that provides agents with personalized, real-time recommendations during interactions via the platform’s native AI Companion.
System admins can bolster this feature by configuring rules – under the AI Expert Assist settings - to trigger actions based on live changes in customer intent and other variables.
Sharing more in a LinkedIn post, Javaid stated:
Next Best Action recommendations aim to guide inexperienced agents towards desired outcomes and improved customer experiences.
In addition, the AI Companion can now proactively share relevant knowledge base articles to accelerate live customer conversations.
Such innovations help simplify the agent experience and are crucial, as Zoom aims to leverage its reputation for easy-to-use software in the complex contact center world.
New Translation & SMS Features
Another helpful new agent feature included in the release is automatic message translation for multilingual support.
Think of this as a bidirectional language filter for digital channels, allowing customers and agents to receive and respond to customer messages in their chosen language.
Such applications are crucial to support vulnerable customers, like refugees new to a country. With this, they can receive proper guidance in their native tongue.
Yet, it’s also ideal for global enterprises looking to build a follow-the-sun contact center and leverage agents from across the globe as efficiently as possible.
Zoom’s offering here appears similar to those offered by its fellow fast-paced CCaaS innovators, like Five9. Yet, the next frontier of this technology is real-time voice translation.
Currently, such applications are only near real-time, resulting in stilted voice experiences. However, with the latest developments in multi-modal LLMs, Zoom and its industry rivals may soon make seamless voice translation possible.
Meanwhile, Zoom now supports SMS numbers for the UK and Ireland. As a result, businesses can use SMS-enabled mobile phone numbers in both countries via the Zoom contact center.
While that may seem like another "brick-in-the-wall" announcement, Zoom followed it up with SMS activity tracking for omnichannel engagements.