Jitsi vs Zoom

2023. Zoom partners with Anthropic to bring Claude chatbot to Zoom products



With the increasing prominence of generative AI, Zoom has recognized the importance of partnering with Language Model (LLM) companies to navigate the evolving AI landscape. In line with this strategy, Zoom has recently announced its collaboration with Anthropic, a partnership that will involve leveraging Anthropic's Claude chatbot on the Zoom platform, initially focusing on the Zoom Contact Center. The objective of this partnership is to enhance customer support by providing more accurate responses while minimizing instances where the models generate fictional answers in the absence of the correct response. Zoom plans to continue collaborating with the Anthropic model and gain a deeper understanding of its workings. Eventually, the intention is to incorporate this technology into other Zoom products. It is important to note that there is currently no specific timeline for the introduction of Anthropic-based functionality to the market. However, Zoom remains committed to ongoing development in this area.


2023. Zoom acquires employee communications platform Workvivo



Zoom has announced its intention to purchase Workvivo, an Irish startup that has been operating for six years with a focus on enhancing internal communication and culture within businesses. Unlike Zoom and other similar communication tools, Workvivo places a greater emphasis on asynchronous communication rather than real-time communication. Its platform is designed to promote employee engagement on a broader level, offering features such as an activity feed, people directory, surveys, and a channel for important company announcements, similar to a modern intranet. Workvivo has gained a notable customer base since its establishment in Cork in 2017, with companies such as Amazon, RyanAir, and Bupa among its clients.


2023. Zoom announces AI features that act as your personal assistant



Video conferencing provider Zoom announced new additions to its AI-powered tool Zoom IQ. The new features leverage OpenAI's Large Language Model, or LLM, to summarize meetings, generate recaps, and draft chat and email responses. On the heels of announcements from Microsoft, Google, and Slack, Zoom is the latest major productivity tool to get the AI treatment. Zoom IQ already uses AI to give users meeting information through chapters, highlights from recordings, and action items. But it is taking it a step further by integrating OpenAI's powerful generative AI model. If you're late to a meeting, Zoom IQ can summarize in real time what you've missed and ask questions for you. Using text prompts, it can generate brainstorms using Zoom's whiteboard tool.


2023. Zoom is adding new features to compete with Slack, Calendly, Google and Microsoft



Zoom is expanding its offerings to compete with a range of companies, including Slack, Calendly, Google, and Microsoft, by introducing new features such as AI-powered meeting summaries, prompt-based email responses, and whiteboard generation, in addition to video "Huddles" and a meeting scheduler. Zoom aims to encourage users to shift more of their work tasks to its platform, and as such, it is making its email and calendar clients available to everyone. The company had been testing these tools since last year as part of a broader push beyond meetings. Furthermore, Zoom is offering hosted email and calendar services with end-to-end encryption protection and custom domains for paid users, which could serve as an alternative to Microsoft Exchange and Google Workspace for businesses.


2022. Zoom dives deeper into intelligent customer service with Solvvy acquisition



In the previous year, Zoom expressed interest in acquiring Five9 as a means to enter the customer service domain. Although the deal eventually fell through, Zoom's determination to establish a presence in customer service remained unwavering. Earlier this year, the company unveiled a new customer service solution, leveraging its existing capabilities to provide an integrated customer service experience within the Zoom toolset. Building upon this foundation, Zoom has recently announced its intention to acquire Solvvy, a nine-year-old startup specializing in conversational AI. By incorporating Solvvy's technology, Zoom will gain enhanced automation and intelligence, enabling the resolution of routine queries without human intervention.


2022. Zoom announces Zoom Whiteboard, gesture recognition among several updates



Zoom has recently announced a range of updates and new features, including the introduction of a virtual whiteboard and gesture recognition. One notable update is Zoom IQ for Sales, an AI-powered feature that analyzes calls to provide valuable insights. Additionally, Zoom has implemented Gesture Recognition, allowing users to raise a hand or give a thumbs up during a call instead of clicking on a reaction button. Currently, this feature supports only these two gestures and requires the client version 5.10.3 or later. By default, Gesture Recognition is disabled at the client level, but it can be enabled at the account, user, or individual level.


2022. Zoom launches AI-powered features aimed at sales teams



Zoom has unveiled Zoom IQ for Sales, a new offering that utilizes AI to analyze sales meetings and deals, providing valuable insights for sales teams. This marks Zoom's entry into the realm of sales automation software. Zoom's venture into this space is a natural progression of its ongoing investments in AI technology. Previously, the company introduced an AI-powered feature that highlights key moments from recorded meetings by automatically selecting the most relevant segments based on audio transcriptions. Additionally, Zoom recently acquired Kites, a startup focused on real-time translation and transcription, further bolstering its AI capabilities. The introduction of Zoom IQ for Sales demonstrates the company's commitment to leveraging AI to enhance sales processes and improve overall sales effectiveness.


2021. Zoom, Five9 Scrap $14.7 Billion Deal as Investors Vote No



Zoom Video Communications Inc. and Five9 Inc. have terminated their $14.7 billion merger agreement due to a significant drop in Zoom's share price, resulting in a nearly one-third reduction in the deal's value. As a result, shareholders of Five9 rejected the offer. Zoom had intended to acquire Five9, a provider of call-center software, to enhance its widely used videoconferencing application in the face of intensifying competition. Headquartered in San Ramon, California, Five9 develops cloud-based software that utilizes artificial intelligence to assist companies in addressing customer inquiries and engaging with them irrespective of language, location, or device. According to its website, Five9 serves notable brands such as Under Armour, Citrix, Athena Health, and Lululemon.


2021. Zoom buys cloud call center firm Five9 for $14.7B



Zoom has reached an agreement to purchase cloud call centre service provider Five9 for approximately $14.7 billion. This proposed acquisition is part of Zoom's ongoing efforts to expand its range of offerings. Over the past year, the video conferencing software has introduced various office collaboration products, a cloud phone system, and an all-in-one home communications appliance. By acquiring Five9, which serves more than 2,000 customers worldwide, including Citrix and Under Armour, and handles over 7 billion minutes of calls annually, Zoom aims to enter the contact center market valued at around "$24 billion."


2020. Zoom announces new Hardware as a Service offering



Zoom has unveiled a new offering called Hardware as a Service, which is built on the ServiceNow platform. Simultaneously, the company has entered into a partnership with ServiceNow to adopt Zoom and Zoom Phone as the standardized communication tools for its workforce of 11,000 employees, showcasing another instance of SaaS collaboration. With the new Hardware as a Service offering, customers utilizing Zoom Phone and Zoom Rooms software can now obtain associated hardware directly from Zoom at a fixed monthly cost. The initial set of solutions providers for this service includes DTEN, Neat, Poly, and Yealink, as announced by the company.