Zoom Video Communications today introduced Zoom Contact Center, an omnichannel contact center solution optimized for video and integrated right into the Zoom experience.
Zoom Contact Center, previously Zoom Video Engagement Center, combines unified communications and contact center capabilities with the usability of the Zoom platform. Zoom Contact Center supports customer service use cases and workflows using channels like video and voice, with SMS and webchat currently in beta.
Zoom Contact Center offers more than 100 agent, supervisor, and contact center administrator features, including skills-based routing, analytics, dashboards, and more. Future investments will include additional channels, CRM and workforce management integrations, and artificial intelligence to optimize agent productivity.
Zoom Contact Center brings communications into one central hub. Agents can collaborate with peers, supervisors, or other employees right in Zoom Chat and channels.
"Previously, contact center infrastructure was complex to deploy, expensive to operate, and time-intensive to upgrade. Zoom Contact Center was carefully designed to meet the needs of the modern agent and end customer, both of which expect a personalized, digital, and effective contact center experience," said Oded Gal, chief product officer of Zoom, in a statement.
Zoom Contact Center offers a graphical drag-and-drop IVR designer. Contact center administrators can create menus, greetings, and prompts right in the same Zoom Admin portal. Zoom Contact Center can also integrate chat and video into an existing digital presence.
"Combining contact center functionality with Zoom unified communications solutions, Zoom Contact Center can operate as a stand-alone customer experience solution or integrate directly into an existing website or application. Zoom customers who use Zoom Meetings, Zoom Phone, and/or Zoom Chat will recognize the agent and supervisor interaction handling experience, as it is part of the same Zoom application," said Sydney Sloan, head of product marketing at Zoom, in a blog post earlier today.
"With Zoom Contact Center, businesses uncover new efficiencies through myriad benefits, including scalable features, innovative functions, intuitive dashboards, and remote-friendly software," Sloan said further.
The launch of Zoom Contact center follows Zoom's failed attempt to gain cloud contact center functionality through an acquisition of Five9 last year. In July, Zoom announced plans to acquire Five9 in a $14.7 billion deal, but that deal was rejected by Five9’s shareholders in October. Executives at Zoom at the time vowed to continue pursuing cloud contact center ambitions.
"Zoom understands the importance of bringing together UC and multichannel contact center into the same experience," said Blair Pleasant of BCStrategies, in a statement. "Zoom is known for great video, which is important for high-touch customer scenarios and internal use cases like IT help desk, employee helpline, and revenue-generating activities. But the fact that Zoom Contact Center supports routing, additional channels, and the agent functionality organizations need means that Zoom Contact Center could become the modern contact center solution of choice."
Chris Neal, senior vice president of operations of First Federal Credit Union, has already seen positive results with the product.
"With Zoom Contact Center, our contact center supervisors have the ability to organize service representatives based on skills, so when a member reaches out, we can now route their inquiries directly to experts that are equipped to handle their unique needs. A process that would previously require multiple service representatives can now be accelerated and streamlined into a single conversation. We've seen our overall call time and pick-up time improve significantly as we provide more efficient resolution and a better experience for our members," he said in a statement.
Zoom Contact Center is now available in the United States and Canada, with international availability coming later this year.