Zoom adds AI tools to Virtual Agent for customer service

Zoom has added new artificial intelligence tools to Zoom Virtual Agent, its customer service product. The update includes Agent Architect and Agent Performance Suite.

The additions are aimed at companies that want to create automated customer service agents from simple text prompts and track how those agents perform in use. Zoom also introduced updates to quality management, customer context handling, pricing, and multi-location deployment.

Agent Architect is designed to let teams generate voice and digital agents without building workflows manually, step by step. The tool can interpret intent, fill in missing context, and connect relevant systems and data sources to produce customer service journeys ready for review before launch.

According to Zoom, those agents can handle more complex requests than traditional scripted bots by gathering additional information, adapting to customer needs, and taking actions across systems. Teams can then refine agent behaviour before deployment to align with business requirements and customer expectations.

Performance focus

Alongside that launch, Zoom introduced Agent Performance Suite, a package intended to give customer experience teams more visibility into how automated service works in practice. The suite combines testing, quality management, and knowledge base support to help organisations monitor results and identify where automation needs improvement.

One element, Agent Performance, lets teams simulate customer interactions before deployment and compare those tests with live production outcomes. It includes dashboards showing metrics such as resolution rates, containment, and cost per resolution.

Quality Management for Zoom Virtual Agent extends the same assessment framework across AI-led, human-led, and mixed interactions. This is intended to help organisations compare service quality across support channels and identify where customers struggle.

Another part of the package, KB Suggestions, is available when connected with Zoom Contact Centre. The system can identify successful human-assisted resolutions and draft knowledge base articles for review, with the aim of improving self-service content over time.

Zoom is also adding an optional outcome-based pricing model for Zoom Virtual Agent. Under that approach, charges are tied to resolved interactions or interactions successfully routed across voice and chat, rather than relying only on conventional billing methods.

Broader CX push

The announcement reflects a broader shift among customer service software suppliers. An early emphasis on deploying AI tools quickly has given way to pressure to prove those systems can resolve issues accurately and consistently. Businesses are also looking for ways to personalise support without increasing the workload on human agents.

Zoom is trying to address that with a broader customer context layer across Zoom CX. Interaction history can now follow customers across Zoom Virtual Agent, Zoom Contact Centre, and Zoom AI Expert Assist, reducing the need to repeat information when moving between automated and live support.

That context is intended to build over time, drawing on previous engagements as well as current interactions. Zoom said the resulting customer memory can inform routing decisions, recommendations, and agent guidance across its customer experience products.

Multi-location deployment is another part of the update. Organisations can build one AI-driven service experience and roll it out across multiple sites while still adapting local phone numbers, greetings, routing, and knowledge bases.

That approach is aimed at sectors with distributed operations, including retail, healthcare, campuses, and franchise networks. A central team can maintain control of governance and workflows while individual locations tailor responses to local needs.

Chris Morrissey, General Manager of Zoom CX, outlined the company's view of how the market is changing.

"AI has significantly accelerated the CX landscape, and organisations not focused on outcomes fall behind. It's no longer just about deploying it to drive efficiency, but about having the context to drive personalisation at scale. But the challenge is eliminating the tradeoff between speed and sophistication, and Zoom CX bridges that gap so teams can personalise better, deliver faster, and drive stronger outcomes," said Morrissey.

The move expands Zoom's effort to build its customer experience business beyond video meetings and workplace communications. By combining agent creation, monitoring, quality controls, and context sharing in one platform, the company is targeting organisations that want tighter control over how AI is used in front-line customer service.

The new Zoom Virtual Agent features are now available.