"You're muted." Two words heard more and more these days as we use videoconferencing tech like Zoom. The platform emerged out of the pandemic as the go-to for both workspaces and personal catch-ups over coffee. And now it's set to receive a suite of AI-powered upgrades. Handy for those with one of the best webcams or best video conference cameras.
Most significantly of all, Zoom is introducing its brand new 'AI collaboration platform' Zoom Workspace. This sees the platform further its shift from just a video chat app to a genuine all-in-one digital workspace and go beyond its previous Zoom One service. New features include a new meetings tab to "allow users to connect their workflows before, during, and after meetings.", new shared spaces to encourage collaboration and digital 'name tags' for group meetings that add each person's name onto them. Handy when you're just starting a new job.
Zoom's Team Chat function will also add AI-powered sentence completion, suggested quick replies, and smart scheduling as well as the ability to create AI-powered backgrounds and wallpapers (the black bit in between different people's video boxes).
The Zoom Phone add-on is also of more interest to businesses and receives a number of upgrades worth mentioning with the new ability to summarise meetings, and a summary of team SMS chats, so coming back from holiday you can figure out if you missed something important (or just some idle gossip) in seconds.
Zoom's AI companion is also getting some love. This handy feature can be a great way to get caught up if you're late to a call or see if your name was mentioned prior to your joining. The new Ask AI Companion feature allows users to synthesise information from Zoom Meetings, Mail & Calendar, Team Chat, Notes, Docs, and more as well as supported third-party apps.
Even after the pandemic, remote and hybrid working isn't going anywhere, and luckily Zoom is moving with the times to make it easier than ever.
