Zoom has announced it will use OpenAI

Zoom has announced it will use OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, to boost the capabilities of its service, while expanding the Zoom IQ smart companion that can summarise chat threads and organise ideas.

The communications tech firm said using OpenAI would “bolster its unique federated approach to AI based on flexibility”.

Zoom’s existing use of artificial intelligence leverages its own models, those from leading AI companies and select customers’ own models.

Announcing its forthcoming innovations at the Enterprise Connect conference in Orlando, Florida, Zoom said it wanted to cater to the diverse needs of its users, adding that models can be customised to improve performance based on their unique vocabulary and requirements.

Zoom is set to expand the Zoom Scheduler function. Picture: Zoom

What new capabilities will Zoom introduce?

Outlining its plans, Zoom pointed to the modern-day work environment in which employees find it increasingly difficult to balance workday priorities between emails, team chats, meetings and project management tasks.

Zoom IQ will, therefore, have a host of new capabilities which are scheduled for release soon, including:

• Zoom IQ chat compose: Zoom Team Chat users can soon use the ‘compose’ feature to help compose messages based on conversational context, in addition to changing message tone to customise suggested responses.

• Zoom IQ email compose: Harnessing the power of generative AI, users will get email draft suggestions in response to the conversational context from previous Zoom meetings, phone calls and email threads. This will initially be available in Zoom IQ for Sales.

• Zoom IQ meeting summary: This will generate a summary, capture next steps and share via team chat, Zoom calendar and email without recording the conversation. This means those who didn’t attend will no longer have to listen back to lengthy recordings.

Smita Hashim, Chief Product Officer at Zoom, said: “Zoom has long built AI solutions into our products to empower customers to be more productive.

Smita Hashim, Chief Product Officer at Zoom. Picture: Zoom

“We are excited to bring many more capabilities with new, large language models. Our unique approach to AI will give customers the flexibility they want and help significantly improve collaboration and customer relations.”

Zoom showcases exciting innovations

Zoom also used Enterprise Connect to showcase some other innovations which it says will “make teamwork more meaningful and strengthen customer relationships.

They are as follows:

• Zoom Huddles (formerly Zoom Spots): A new video-enabled virtual co-working space designed to foster ad-hoc discussions and relationship building, to replicate the “working alongside” aspect of an open office and encourage free-form conversations. Early access is now available.

• Intelligent Director: Uses multiple cameras in a Zoom room to determine the best angle of the individuals in the room to display within the meeting. Will be available in beta soon.

• Zoom Scheduler: Makes it easy to find the perfect time for meetings by sharing the host’s availability so others (even external participants) can conveniently book appointments. Reduces the back-and-forth of manual scheduling by placing a meeting on the host’s calendar with a Zoom link already included, and can be integrated with Google Calendar and Microsoft 365.