The iconic video call software provider Zoom Video Communications Inc. has made good on its promise to enter the cloud contact center market with the launch of Zoom Contact Center today.

Generally available now, Zoom Contact Center combines unified communications and contact center services with the unique usability of Zoom’s platform to support use cases such as video and voice calls, with SMS and web chat capabilities also available in beta, according to the company.

Zoom has made no secret of its ambitions to capture a slice of the cloud contact center market. It originally intended to buy its way into the game, offering a huge $14.7 billion to acquire one of the leading players in the market, Five9 Inc., in July last year.

Five9’s leadership was initially all ears, but the offer was vetoed by the company’s shareholders just two months later. Undeterred, Zoom promptly set about building its own contact center platform instead.

At launch, Zoom said its Contact Center offering will have more than 100 agent, supervisor and administrator features. One of its best capabilities is that, because the platform is hosted entirely in the cloud, it enables customer service agents to work from any location, as opposed to traditional contact centers that tie agents to expensive hardware.

Zoom Contact Center also removes the need for multiple communication tools, bringing all communication channels into a single hub. And it provides a way for agents to collaborate through Zoom Chat and other channels, Zoom said.

“Previously, contact center infrastructure was complex to deploy, expensive to operate, and time-intensive to upgrade,” said Zoom Chief Product Officer Oded Gal. “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.”

The company said Zoom Contact Center is relatively simple for administrators to deploy thanks to its drag-and-drop interactive voice response designer tools. That allows admins to create menus, greetings and prompts easily within the Zoom Admin portal. From there, it’s also possible for customers to integrate chat and video functionality into there company website or app, for example, so they can offer prompt assistance to site visitors.

Zoom is promising to add even more interesting features in the weeks and months to come. Although the bare-bones contact center platform is available now, future updates will see additional capabilities, including more channels, integration with customer relationship management and workforce management platforms, plus artificial intelligence tools to assist agents on calls.

Even without those additional capabilities, early adopters of the platform seem to be more than satisfied. Chris Neal, senior vice president of operations at First Federal Credit Union, said his company is using Zoom Contact Center to organize service representatives based on their unique skill sets, so they can route inquiries directly to experts more easily.

“A process that would previously require multiple service representatives can now be accelerated and streamlined into a single conversation,” Neal said. “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.”

Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said some might feel Zoom’s move into the cloud contact center market is overdue, coming after its failed effort to acquire Five9.

“However, the speed with which Zoom is launching such an extensive new offering is impressive,” Mueller said. “With hindsight, it perhaps tells us the previously mooted Five9 deal was less of a product buy and more of a customer acquisition. In any case, this is a key move for Zoom as it moves deeper into the unified communications-as-a-service space on the enterprise side.”

Zoom said the platform is available now in the U.S. and in Canada, with international availability set for later in the year.

Photo: Zoom