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Zoom wants to take on Google Docs and Microsoft Word with its own AI-powered platform

Zoom has revealed plans to launch its own word processor software as the company looks to provide everything a business needs to work and collaborate.

The launch of Zoom Docs looks to address the specific challenges faced by those workers who split their time between home and the office, the video conferencing giant has announced.

“Hybrid work is hard enough, and the status quo for document creation and collaboration isn’t cutting it anymore. Zoom is helping our customers by bringing the definition of a ‘doc’ into 2023 — with powerful document authoring and collaboration capabilities, modern collaboration tools, and a next-gen workspace built from the ground up with AI at its heart; Zoom Docs is that solution,” said Smita Hashim, chief product officer at Zoom. “With Zoom Docs, teams can work faster, all while minimizing silos and being seamlessly integrated into the Zoom interface that users already know and love.”

(Image credit: Zoom)

Zoom Docs and AI

With the office software space already dominated by the likes of Microsoft Word and Google Docs, Zoom’s new offering is turning to AI in its bid to grab user attention.

The company’s recently-announced Zoom AI platform is the backbone to all of this, allowing users to bring in content from their video calls and meetings, as well as the Team Chat, to easily start writing and collaborating on documents such as an action list or wrap-up report.

Zoom Docs offers a modular approach, with users able to construct their work using content blocks for a truly customizable layout, with the addition of tables and bullet blocks helping create exactly the document needed.

(Image credit: Zoom)

Colleagues or contacts can be asked to collaborate via mentions, with comments and threads allowing for multiple opinions and opportunities for feedback. When a document is ready, users can also ask the Zoom AI Companion to help edit or change the tone to make it more acceptable for a certain audience, as well as being able to quickly summarize or query the content to make sure all the key details are present.

The company says this structure will also allow users a quicker way to get insights, as well as delegating tasks and keeping teams on track between meetings. And when ready to be released, Zoom Docs can be easily shared into a meeting or team chat across the entire Zoom portfolio.

Zoom Docs is set to be released in early 2024, but the company did not provide a specific release window.

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