Narayan AmmachchiZoom Communications, whose video conferencing solution became a household name during the Covid era, is now looking set to carve out a niche in the customer experience industry with a virtual agent.
Zoom has launched this AI-powered agent as a mobile app. That means even a small entrepreneur can plug it into his business with very little investment.
When someone calls your business, the agent — not a human — answers the phone. It speaks in natural language instead of pushing callers through IVR menus like “Press 1 for Sales, Press 2 for Support.” That means every customer experience begins with a “hello.”
The agent can resolve a wide range of queries, from simple to complex. Callers can ask about working hours, book an appointment, or check if a product is in stock. The agent replies instantly or passes the call to a human if needed.
The reason Zoom’s AI agent alarms the BPO industry is simple: it targets the very customers BPOs are counting on in the future — small and mid-sized businesses.
“Small businesses and clinics can now offer professional call handling and it was previously only available to large corporations,” said Fergal Glynn, AI Security Advocate at Mindgard.
Some analysts warn that virtual agents like this could undercut one of BPOs’ long-time strengths — ‘time zone alignment’ — allowing companies to operate with fewer human agents across regions.
“AI concierges can provide services consistently, regardless of time zones while also handling multiple languages and cultural nuances,” Glynn added.
Still, analysts stress that Zoom is not a serious threat to large CX providers. At best, it can carve out a corner of the CX tech market, nudging into space dominated by Genesys or Five9.
“Zoom is well-positioned to become a serious player in the ‘CX technology’ space,” said Xuchen Yao, CEO of Seasalt.ai, But he too added, “it cannot pose a major threat.”
That’s because, he argued, platforms from Salesforce, NICE, and Genesys remain far more mature and deeply tied into complex enterprise workflows.
However, Zoom’s biggest draw is its cost-effectiveness, a factor rivals may struggle to match. At its 2024 Zoomtopia event, the company disclosed that it already serves 1,300 contact center customers.
In addition, Zoom is weaving OpenAI’s GPT-5 into its AI stack, boosting the Virtual Agent’s conversational skills. For now, the agent speaks English, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, and Spanish, with more languages on the way.
Zoom itself has a remarkable backstory. Founded in 2011 by Chinese-born engineer Eric S. Yuan, Zoom is headquartered in San Jose, California, and trades on Nasdaq, but much of its tech muscle still comes from employees in China.
Its free video conferencing tool became a global staple during the pandemic. Daily users surged from 10 million in late 2019 to more than 300 million by early 2020.
For now, BPOs may not need to panic. Glynn says, “What’s clever is that they (Zoom) are targeting industries beyond call centers, as healthcare, education, and small businesses are still underserved.”
Instead of fearing business loss, he suggests BPOs move up the ladder. “The key is to move up the value chain instead of competing against automation on routine tasks.”
“Such smart outsourcing firms are moving toward a higher-value services such as AI training, data analysis, or even complex escalations.”
Add comment