Zoom Announces New Features at Its Zoomtopia 2022 Event

    New features coming to Zoom are meant to help you and your business.
    Sarah Tew/CNET
    

    Zoom announced new collaboration and business tools, as well as other features at its Zoomtopia 2022 event on Tuesday. These new features are meant to help colleagues connect, better adapt to hybrid work environments and help businesses grow.
    The new features include collaboration tools to help connect colleagues and business tools to help employees grow as well as meet the needs of customers. “It’s crucial that human connection remains a top priority,” Zoom CEO Eric S. Yuan said in a statement.
    Zoom made waves early in the pandemic as the go-to video call platform to help workers connect. Now it appears Zoom wants to handle other work needs with these new features, too.
    “Zoom has rapidly evolved from being a niche meetings company to a broad collaboration platform,” said Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst of ZK Research. “[Zoom] delivers unparalleled employee and customer experience, and helps organizations address the current and future needs of work.”
    Here are the new features coming to Zoom.
    Read more: Best Video Chat Apps
    New Zoom collaboration features
    The latest collaboration tools include Zoom Mail and Calendar clients launching in beta, Zoom Spots and connectivity between Team Chat and In-Meeting Chat.
    1. Zoom Mail and Calendar integration — Email and calendar service link to Zoom so you don’t have to switch back and forth between different apps. Zoom also introduced Zoom-hosted email and calendar service options for businesses who don’t have their own dedicated IT team.?
    2. Zoom Spots?– A video-enabled space meant to keep colleagues and team members continually connected. Think of it as a virtual common room that remote and hybrid workers can pop in and out of throughout the day.
    3. Team Chat and In-Meeting Chat connectivity?– Keep chats going between these two features in Zoom One, a Zoom plan that gives people collaboration tools like chat, phone, whiteboard and more. This always-on feature is meant to continue conversations and keep projects moving forward.
    New Zoom business tools
    Zoom also introduced new tools for businesses, like Zoom Virtual Agent and Zoom IQ Virtual Coach.
    1. Zoom Virtual Agent?– An AI chatbot created to bolster customer support. It’s meant to be efficient, reduce call volumes to human customer support agents and help solve customer issues. The chatbot can be integrated with Zoom Contact Center and it will be offered as a standalone chatbot. Zoom Virtual Agent will be available in early 2023.
    2. Zoom IQ Virtual Coach — Part of Zoom IQ for Sales, this is a training tool that simulates different sales situations. People will practice pitching in these practice environments, and they will receive feedback to help them grow.
    3. Monetization of apps — Developers will be able to monetize apps offered in Zoom’s App Marketplace.
    4. Bundle essential apps — Zoom customers will be able to bundle Zoom Meetings paid plans and Zoom apps with some developers.
    For more on Zoom, check out how to make your Zoom calls more fun, seven mistakes to avoid on Zoom and the best microphones for Zoom calls.