Over the last year, Zoom has quickly emerged as a household name for many countries. Not only are companies relying on Zoom for video, but they’re also turning to the service for chat and telephony. Zoom Phone, the solution intended to enhance and modernise the standard PBX experience, is rolling out a constant stream of new features and functionality.
Right now, Zoom Phone boasts more than 400 features, making it a valuable choice as a cloud PBX. In recent months, Zoom has introduced everything from new IP screen lock functionality to protect local information, to tools that allow users to reserve phone numbers and port blocks of numbers to Zoom.
I caught up with Zoom Phone Product Marketing Manager, Cari Dick, to learn more about where the Zoom Phone environment is headed. Cari brings a Microsoft background to Zoom, giving her excellent insight into the potential of collaboration and modern UCaaS solutions.
How Important is Spam Call Detection and Blocking?
Cari told me that voice is an important focus area for Zoom, as the team understands that the pillar of telephony isn’t going anywhere. “However, the roles that need telephony today also need richer features on top of calling, like analytics and integration with productivity suites and CRM. People want more for their business. We’re adding modern features to the core telephony experience to help businesses evolve.”
Spam detection and blocking is a valuable addition to the Zoom Phone feature set because it improves the user experience and reduces team distractions. Soon, Zoom Phone users will be able to filter out unwanted calls by using artificial intelligence to determine which calls are spam. The system can then send calls to voicemail or block them entirely.
“People want less distraction in all parts of their lives, and avoiding spam is a valuable part of this. Through artificial intelligence, we can essentially use crowdsourcing to teach the system what spam looks like, so you can avoid it”
What’s Digital Alerting and Signage for E911?
Zoom is constantly making updates to the security and compliance measures available through the UCaaS experience. Zoom Phone admins can now bulk-change user settings through template enforcement and implement policies for security.
There’s also a new feature in the form of Zoom Phone alerts on digital signage for Nomadic E911. This basically means that the calls made from Zoom Phone 911 automatically alert 911 and the company safety team responsible for handling the issue via chat and voice call. Through chat, the team has the option to engage Zoom Rooms signage to help the emergency responders locate the user that is calling emergency services and provide more context to the situation.
This is a crucial part of making the new workplace safer and more compliant in an evolving landscape.
Tell us About Zoom Phone Team SMS?
I was keen to learn more about Zoom Phone Team SMS as a solution for expanding the functionality of the Zoom Phone experience. With the SMS offering, members in a call queue get the opportunity to respond to and transfer texts between group members, reducing the risk of duplicate responses. The team SMS solution also helps to escalate calls and conversations more effectively for the end-user.
“Basically, members of the call queue can manage conversations with customers through SMS. You can transfer a chat through SMS to someone who has the right information to tackle the issue, just like you would transfer a call.”
Ultimately, Zoom Phone Team SMS is about allowing better collaboration and problem resolution in the SMS queue, while supporting stronger interaction between employees.
Zoom Phone is Growing Globally Too?
The Zoom Phone team also recently announced the addition of South Africa for global PSTN service. Zoom Phone numbers are now available in 44 countries and territories, compared to only 16 for Microsoft Teams.
“Multinational customers need solutions that allow them to centrally manage their telephony services. Being able to port phone numbers into the Zoom Phone environment eases some of the burden on IT teams. This means that they have more time to focus on business innovation.”
The growing list of countries and territories offering local PSTN services is available to view on the Zoom Phone Global Select plan.
What’s Great about the Five9 Integration?
Zoom also recently announced an updated functionality to the integration it has with Five9. Through Five9 Agent Desktop Plus, agents have the opportunity to view Zoom presence and Zoom Phone contact directories in the Five9 address book. With just one click, you can consult with someone outside the contact centre – easily. This function is currently available for accounts with a maximum of 4,000 phone users on Zoom with direct numbers.
“We work with a handful of great contact centre providers, and Five9 provides that ability to search through the address book in Zoom, so you can find the people you need immediately. These partnerships are about more than just interoperability. We want true frictionless integrations with our partners”
Are You Competing with the PBX?
Finally, I asked Cari if she believes that Zoom Phone is effectively competing with the standard PBX experience. She told me, however, that the aim isn’t to just compete with the environment, but to enhance it. “We’ve delivered so many new features now, and I don’t think we’re going to be slowing down any time soon. You can expect to see a lot of big blocks of innovation coming in the months ahead.”
According to Dick, the thing that makes Zoom Phone so special is the fact that the company isn’t “overhauling” something, they’ve created a new solution. “We started with a video-first experience and built from there, partnering with amazing companies along the way. We’re looking at what we can move, build, and do better. It’s not a PBX replacement effort, we’ve already modernised traditional voice workflows and now we are setting our sights on taking the PBX to a whole new level with video.
