Real-world insights from a midsize U.S. staffing agency's recent onboarding session.

If you're curious about how organizations are leveraging Zoom Custom AI Companion to achieve significant productivity gains, you're not alone. Recently, a midsize U.S. staffing agency demonstrated clear and measurable ROI by incorporating AI into their daily workflow. Here's a practical breakdown of three key use cases—and actionable steps your team can replicate today.

1. Streamlined Meeting Summaries with Structured Templates 📝🔖📂

Real-Life Use Case: 📌🗒️📋 Recruiter and sales teams built structured summary templates for:

• Candidate screening interviews

• Reference checks

• New-client intake meetings

• New-job intake sessions

Why It Matters: ✅🗃️🖥️ By auto-populating essential details directly into their ATS/CRM, the agency eliminated repetitive manual data entry, standardized notes, and ensured accuracy across every interaction.

2. Instant Access to Team Knowledge 📚🔍🔗

Real-Life Use Case: 🔐📑🔍 The team uploaded crucial documents like job descriptions, interview rubrics, and internal guidelines into a secure, searchable knowledge base. Recruiters then effortlessly queried the AI Companion for instant answers during live calls / meetings (e.g., “What’s the interview process for Project Manager roles?”).

Why It Matters: ⏱️⚡🌐 Quick, accurate, and source-linked answers saved recruiters valuable time, enhancing both candidate and client satisfaction by eliminating delays and misinformation.

3. Automated Task and Calendar Management 📆⏰✅

Real-Life Use Case: 📌📅🗓️ AI Companion automatically identified actionable items from meeting conversations (“Send assessment link,” “Schedule client interview”) and offered calendar scheduling suggestions. Recruiters approved or rejected these suggestions directly, turning accepted actions into tasks with due dates and reminders.

Why It Matters: 🔄⏳📈 This approach reduced the risk of missed follow-ups, minimized manual scheduling, and allowed recruiters to reclaim valuable time for strategic activities.

3 Steps to Successful Implementation (Any Industry): 🛠️📈🚦

Next Steps: 🚀📅🔑

These productivity-boosting techniques—structured templates, knowledge repositories, automatic task management, and compliance safeguards—can transform meetings and data entry tasks across industries like finance, tech, education, and more. Start small, measure impact, and within 30 days, expect measurable results. You'll likely wonder how your team ever managed without Zoom Custom AI Companion.

Want more info? Click here!

In today's hybrid work environment, businesses and educators alike face challenges in fostering collaboration and engagement. The Zoom Whiteboard could bridge the gap between remote and in-office teams, enhancing productivity and creativity in ways they hadn't imagined.

The Challenge:Companies struggled with brainstorming sessions in their hybrid setup. Traditional methods—email threads, shared documents, and even screen sharing—proved inefficient for real-time ideation and team engagement. The leadership team sought a solution that allowed seamless, interactive collaboration across all departments.

The Solution: Zoom Whiteboard for its user-friendly interface, real-time collaboration features, and integration with their existing Zoom meetings. Let us quickly discover its potential and its application to multiple functions.

How to Maximized Utilization

Real-Time Brainstorming:

During virtual meetings, team members used Zoom Whiteboard to jot down ideas, create mind maps, and categorize tasks.

The ability to use sticky notes and draw connections helped structure discussions efficiently.

Agile Project Management:

Developers and project managers used the Whiteboard to create sprint planning boards, track progress, and visualize workflows.

Tasks were assigned using shapes and labels, ensuring everyone had clear visibility on project stages.

Interactive Training Sessions:

The HR and learning teams used Zoom Whiteboard for onboarding new employees, making sessions more engaging with diagrams, flowcharts, and interactive exercises.

Trainers could annotate and get instant feedback, making learning more effective.

Cross-Team Collaboration:

Instead of relying on static documents, marketing, sales, and product teams used Whiteboard to collaborate on campaign ideas, customer journey maps, and UI/UX wireframes.

Teams could continue working asynchronously, adding notes even after meetings had ended.

Documenting and Sharing Ideas:

With the ability to save and share Whiteboards, teams could revisit past brainstorming sessions and build upon previous ideas without losing momentum.

Integrations with other tools ensured smooth workflow transitions.

AI Companion for Zoom Whiteboard:

With the help of the AI companion, users can now generate ideas on a digital whiteboard and organize ideas into categories, helping teams get to work faster.

Introducing Zoom Scheduler. 

Zoom Scheduler is a powerful scheduling tool designed to streamline appointment and meeting management. It integrates with popular calendars, supports various event types (one-on-one, group, round-robin), and automates workflows like reminders and follow-ups. Customizable notifications, detailed analytics, and branding options enhance the user experience. For teams, it offers advanced features like booking on behalf of others, managing permissions, and SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) for security. Zoom Scheduler is cost-effective, time-saving, and helps improve both individual and team scheduling efficiency.

Zoom Scheduler offers many similar features to other scheduling tools like Calendly, but at a lower starting price. It’s ideal for users already within the Zoom ecosystem, offering seamless integration with Zoom meetings and calendar tools.

Here's a comparison between Zoom Scheduler and Calendly.

Zoom Scheduler starts at a lower price point of $4.99 per month per seat, or is included with Zoom’s Business and Enterprise plans, while Calendly’s Standard plan begins at $10 per month per seat, and its Teams plan costs $16 per month per seat. Both platforms offer unlimited event types, such as one-on-one or group meetings, though Calendly’s free tier limits users to a single event type.

Zoom Scheduler and Calendly both allow up to six calendar connections per person and provide the ability to book meetings on behalf of others, as well as create automated workflows like reminders and follow-up messages.

Customization features such as notifications, reminders, and the ability to update cancellation policies or add links to confirmation pages are available on both platforms at their paid tiers. Zoom Scheduler and Calendly also support collective events and offer analytics and insights into scheduled meetings.

Branding and live chat support are included with paid plans as well. For team functionality, both platforms allow the creation of round-robin events, the use of routing forms, and the ability to lock and sync managed events across teams. Zoom Scheduler includes SAML single sign-on (SSO) in its business plans, while Calendly charges an additional $3 per user per month for the Teams plan but includes it with its Enterprise plan.

Overall, Zoom Scheduler offers similar features to Calendly at a lower base price, making it an appealing option for users already in Zoom’s ecosystem. 

Let's get started with Zoom Scheduler!

Cheers!

In the fast-paced world of virtual meetings and digital collaborations, FaxSIPit takes your faxing experience to the next level with its innovative Zoom App. Say goodbye to clunky fax machines and hello to a seamless, unified interface that not only simplifies your workflow but adds a touch of humor to your faxing endeavors.

Boosting Your Fax Game with FaxSIPit's Zoom App

FaxSIPit doesn't just fax; it elevates your productivity game. Let's dive into some common scenarios where FaxSIPit's Zoom App shines:

1. Unified User Interface Magic:

   • Ever wished your faxing, Zoom meetings, and chats could coexist harmoniously? FaxSIPit makes it happen! Transition effortlessly between Zoom meetings, calls, and chats—all while keeping track of your fax messages.

2. Fax Power Where You Need It:

   • Imagine having the power of a fax machine at your fingertips, wherever you are. FaxSIPit makes it possible. Downloadable PDFs for annotations and signatures? Check. Support for multiple document formats? Absolutely.

3. Cost-Cutting without Compromise:

   • FaxSIPit isn't just about fancy features; it's also about reducing costs. Bid farewell to outdated fax technology with TLS. No more need for T.38 and POTS lines—just streamlined efficiency.

4. Security that Speaks Volumes:

   • Security isn't a laughing matter, but FaxSIPit ensures compliance with a touch of humor. From HIPAA to GDPR, our technology supports various security and privacy regulations, ensuring your faxing is as secure as it is entertaining.

Why FaxSIPit? Because Fax Can Be Fun!

FaxSIPit's Zoom App isn't just a tool; it's a game-changer in the world of virtual communication. Say goodbye to administrative headaches and hello to a more efficient, secure, and downright enjoyable faxing experience. Embrace the future with FaxSIPit and redefine the way you fax in the Zoom era!

Want to find out more? Check out this video clip and article.

How many times have you heard “Wait, Zoom does more than meetings?” How many times have you started to respond with “Yup. That’s right. Zoom is a full-fledged communication and collaboration platform”

What if you had a simple way to share the power of Zoom with your network? Now you do with the Zoom Guided Tour! ✨

The Guided Tour is a website full of click-through product vignettes from Zoom's Core Communication, Employee Experience, Customer Experience, Developer, and AI offerings. The Zoom Guided Tour helps people understand the value Zoom provides before they use Zoom products.

Zoom Guided Tour does it all! ⤵️

• Provide a self-guided forum for customers and prospects to easily see how Zoom’s platform and products come together to drive value for them.
• Create demand through campaigns, nurture programs, sales, events, and digital.
• Educate and enable our customers, prospects, and partners on Zoom offerings.

We launched with 25 tours. And we are already working on the next phase of the project to introduce segment focused tours, personalization, integrated demo requests, and easy entry to the buy-flow too.

➡️➡️ Check it out today at https://guidedtours.zoom.us/

Zoom is excited to host several events for our Education, Healthcare, and Government customers next week. From customer use cases to the company road to opportunities for external funding, take a look below at our special events for verticals. Register for however many you’re able to attend, and don’t forget to tell your colleagues!  If you have questions about any of the events below, reach out to your CSM.

Tuesday, November 14

• For Healthcare: Zoomtopia Recap

Wednesday, November 15

• For Higher Education: Embracing Cloud Telephony for Academics and Administrators with Zoom, UC Santa Barbara, EDUCause, and AWS

Thursday, November 16

• Grant Support for Higher Education
• Grant Support for Healthcare 
• Grant Support for State & Local Government and K-12 Education

The future of work is hybrid. That much has been clear for some time, and nowhere more so than in the United Kingdom.

In May 2023, 83% of UK organizations polled by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) revealed they had adopted hybrid working arrangements, and a separate study from the Institute for Economic Research, also using data from May 2023, found that UK employees now spend an average of 1.5 days per week working remotely – higher than any other developed nation in the study except Canada (averages 1.7 days). 

This widespread adoption of hybrid and flexible work reflects its popularity: Zoom’s own polling with Morning Consult found that only 8% of UK workers with some experience of remote working prefer working in an office full time – lower than in any other country polled.

Zoom has been helping customers in the UK and around the world to navigate these changes and maintain connections via Zoom Meetings, Team Chat, and Zoom Phone. In addition, many of our products including Zoom Rooms, Zoom Workspace Reservation, and Zoom Whiteboard have been designed to enhance physical, modern workplaces for today’s hybrid workforces. We could not be prouder that our unified communications platform continues to support the shift towards hybrid work: by keeping teams that work remotely or asynchronously connected, the Zoom platform helps foster the mutual sense of trust critical for teams to do their best work from anywhere. 

Making the most of the shift to hybrid

But having the right technology is only one part of the puzzle to getting hybrid working ‘right’ for any organization. Thoughtful workplace policies, intentional new internal practices, manager training, and workspaces re-imagined for today’s hybrid world will all be equally critical to future business success in crucial areas such as recruitment and culture.

That’s why Zoom partnered with several other businesses, membership organizations, and leading employment academics to co-found the Hybrid Work Commission. The Commission was established to examine and make recommendations to UK policy-makers on how they can respond to the rise in hybrid and remote working to the advantage of people, communities, and the broader UK economy. The research included business and consumer polling designed to gauge the perceived benefits and challenges of hybrid work among UK employers and employees, helping to paint a picture of how expectations have shifted across sectors and organizations that have adopted different working styles. 

Here are three things we learned that may be relevant to your organization:  

1. Organisations embracing hybrid work will have easier access to talent

In today’s economy, access to talent can make or break a business and be the difference between growing and stagnant organizations. Research from Nick Bloom at Stanford University estimates that workers with choices over when and where they work value it equivalent to an 8% pay rise, citing reduced commuting time and benefits to work-life balance and well-being. 

Insights from the Commission suggest that organizations that require employees on location full-time will increasingly have to pay significantly more to find and keep the talent they need both in terms of the salaries they offer and higher recruitment costs, impacting the bottom line. Our polling revealed that: 

• 70% of UK employers polled that have adopted hybrid working said it had made it easier for them to hire, and 77% said it had improved staff retention.
• 51% of UK employers polled that have adopted hybrid working said it had helped them recruit staff from further afield, boosting access to talent.
• 75% of UK employees with hybrid arrangements said it had improved their work-life balance, and 62% said it had improved their wellbeing. 

2. The shift to hybrid has given many UK women the ability to take on more hours

For decades, professional women in the UK have worked fewer hours than they would ideally like because of the responsibilities associated with caring for children and other dependents. However, the rise of flexible and hybrid working opportunities is beginning to reverse this. 

An economic analysis conducted for the Commission found that hybrid working has encouraged large numbers of professionally educated women to move to full-time work – particularly mothers. The Commission found that:

• UK women who have hybrid working arrangements are much more likely to work full-time than those who work mainly in locations other than their homes. This is especially true for women with children.
• There has been a significant increase in the share of UK women in specific sectors (banking, ICT, and other professional services) working full-time between 2019 and 2023, which again was especially pronounced for women with children.

3. Individuals with disabilities and long-term health conditions highly value flexibility 

In the UK and elsewhere, declining labor market activity has been an important recent economic challenge that has contributed to tight labor market conditions and persistent inflation. Increases in the number of economically inactive individuals with long-term conditions, especially since the Covid pandemic, have been a key contributor. The Commission concluded that greater availability of hybrid and flexible opportunities can help to address this, while also enabling organizations to benefit from the talents and skills of individuals with conditions that make full-time location-based employment untenable: 

• 42% of UK businesses polled reported finding it easier to hire people with disabilities since the rise of hybrid working.
• 44% of UK workers with long-term health conditions reported wanting more flexible working in their role, and 47% said that flexible working had improved their wellbeing. 

Time to embrace the shift – or face losing out on talent

Taken together, the three insights above indicate that organizations with rigid location-based work policies could increasingly struggle to attract or retain the skilled workers they need to grow and thrive, leading to more staff churn and higher recruitment costs. Nearly half of respondents to our Morning Consult survey now consider flexible work a basic expectation of their employment, rather than a perk, and 70% said they would consider leaving their current job for a more flexible working environment in the future.

Of course in some instances, certain organizations may feel they need their teams on location 100% of the time. However, it’s clear from the UK Hybrid Work Commission that those organizations will need to pay higher salaries to attract talent, and risk missing out altogether on the skilled contribution of individuals with disabilities, long-term health conditions, or childcare responsibilities, for whom working full-time in an office won’t be suitable. 

This need not be the case. To learn more about how embracing hybrid work can help your organization, get in touch or read the conclusions from the UK Hybrid Work Commission in full here for free. 

*Original article posted in Zoom Blog