This week, we bring you news of enhanced admin tools for Slack, Alexa for Business capabilities for starting Zoom meetings, Google Contact Center AI and Dialogflow partnerships, and a voice capture and archiving service for Microsoft Teams.
Slack Adds Admin Tools
Slack this week announced an enhanced set of admin tools aimed at providing admins deeper insight into engagement data, alongside a new certification program that will allow admins to show verified expertise in the tool, Slack said.
For team admins, Slack now offers:
- A new main dashboard with automation options — From the dashboard, admins can view and manage channels, as well as add employees to relevant channels via a streamlined onboarding process, Slack said. For example, an admin can create a rule that new marketing employees might be invited to default channels like #marketing-team, #brand-announcements, and #social-media, Slack explained.
- Message activity — Available for Plus and Grid plans, admins can pull message activity in public channels with 50 or more members. The report will show reach and engagement over time, the device breakdown of where users first see a message, top replies by reactions, and viewers by department. Additionally, Slack will offer APIs that allow admins to track software engagement, automate reporting tasks, and compare Slack engagement to other tools.
- Easier calendar integrations, adoption — Admins can now automatically authorize calendar apps across a company, as opposed to having each employee having to authenticate their account. This feature is available for all plans.
The Slack Certified Administrator program comprises online coursework for expanding participant skills and helping them get more value from the tool for their organizations, Slack said. Scholarship options are available to earn the admin certification at no cost, and upon completion, participants will receive a badge.
Hey Alexa, Start My Zoom Rooms Meeting
Logitech this week launched Logitech Solutions for Zoom Rooms with Alexa for Business, which allows enterprises to use Amazon's Alexa voice-command capabilities for Zoom Rooms meeting control. To enable the service, IT admins download the Alexa for Business client to the room system, and once installed, any Logitech Solution for Zoom Room device can then detect Alexa commands. The Logitech Solutions for Zoom Rooms works with Logitech Tap controller, Mini PC, and a Zoom-certified Logitech Rally or MeetUp conference camera, according to Logitech.
Additionally, employees can reserve meeting rooms, start and end conference calls, and get answers from Alexa to questions like "When is our weekly company briefing?” from Alexa for Business integrations with Google G Suite, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Exchange, calendars.
The Logitech Solutions for Zoom Rooms with Alexa for Business service is now available through AWS in the U.S. for $7 a month/per room, Logitech said.
For more insight on speech technologies like this and others, make sure to attend the “Speech Technologies: Innovations and Use Cases” session, presented by UC analyst Jon Arnold, of J Arnold & Associates, at Enterprise Connect Digital Conference & Expo 2020, which takes place Aug. 3-6. View the full conference schedule and register here for free.
Verizon Taps Google for Contact Center AI
Verizon this week announced that it is pilot testing
Google Cloud Contact Center AI (CCAI) virtual agent and agent-assist technologies. Google CCAI combines natural language recognition, faster processing, and live access to customer insights and product information to serve customers digitally. When escalation to live agent is required, the agent-assist AI will surface relevant articles from within a company’s database and recommend individually tailored responses at each point of the conversation, Verizon said.
Voximplant Adds Integration to CPaaS Platform
Cloud voice provider Voximplant this week announced a one-click integration of Google Cloud Dialogflow, a tool for building intelligent bots, into its CPaaS platform. The Dialogflow Connect streamlines the process of adding voice bots into a contact center environment, Voximplant said. (For a deep dive on Dialogflow, see our 12-part “
Decoding Dialogflow” series by UC analyst Brent Kelly, of KelCor.)
Smarsh Releases Teams Recording Service
Communications archiving solutions provider
Smarsh this week introduced its latest voice recording, transcription, and archiving service for Microsoft Teams. The service supports transcription of Teams audio files in over 120 languages and regional dialects and allows users to playback voice calls (within and outside of Teams meeting), Smarsh said. Additionally, Smarsh can capture content across channels, including chat messages, emails, text messages, and other collaboration platforms, for export to an archive or enterprise content management system, the company said.
Dana Casielles, No Jitter associate editor, contributed to this article.
