During Zoomtopia 2023, Zoom introduced Zoom Docs, a collaborative “modular workspace” that incorporates the Zoom AI Companion for content generation and document population, as you might expect.
In addition to the Mail and Calendar features unveiled at last year’s event, Zoom Docs represents another step towards offering a complete office suite alternative to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Both of these competitors have begun integrating their own AI-powered tools, known as Duet AI and Copilot, respectively. Zoom plans to make Zoom Docs widely available in 2024.
Similar to other AI assistance software, users can instruct Zoom AI Companion to perform tasks like summarizing meetings, chats, and information within Zoom Docs or generating tables within documents. Zoom Docs supports interdocument linking and embedding, hierarchical organization through folders, and documents can be managed within meetings, Zoom’s Team Chat, or directly through a web browser or Zoom’s desktop and mobile apps.
This setup appears to prioritize team collaboration over features like spreadsheets and presentations, distinguishing it from Microsoft’s and Google’s more mature productivity suites. Moreover, Zoom AI Companion comes at a more affordable price point.
Zoom AI Companion is included in the pricing of Zoom’s paid subscription plans, which start at $149.90 per year per user. In contrast, Microsoft charges an additional $30 per user per month for 365 Copilot, and Google has similar plans. While Zoom didn’t specify the pricing for its Zoom Docs app, it does include one year of access to its “Essential Apps” with paid subscriptions. For teams primarily focused on note-taking and meetings with their office tools, this could be a cost-effective solution, potentially appealing to businesses looking to reduce expenses on remote office software.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Indiana Sphere journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
