Video conferencing giant Zoom has announced that it is acquiring California-based startup Salvi, which specializes in conversational AI and automation solutions for communications centers.
Founded in 2013, Solvvy offers an AI-powered self-service customer support agent that aims to reduce the load on the customer support team by addressing common requests before handing over to a human agent. Customers include technology companies such as Calendarley, Cool, Seat Geek and Scribid.
The financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed and the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2023. Zoom has included Salvi’s software and team in its communications center platform offer.
This is not the first time that Zoom has sought to buy operating companies in place of customer experience. After announcing its intention to move into contact center space at Zoomtopia in 2021, the failed acquisition of cloud-contact center company Five9 put an end to Zoom Press’s plans a month later. Then, in February 2022, Zoom launched its own “video-optimized” communication center platform.
In a blog post, Velchami Sankarlingam, president of Zoom’s products and engineering, wrote that the acquisition of Solvay will help Zoom provide customers with “automated, integrated and easy-to-install” communication center software.
“With our shared focus and priorities, we will be able to capitalize on new opportunities through communication centers and customer support, and in the long run, we see tremendous potential to unlock new opportunities where highly personalized, video-based services can be a key differentiator,” he wrote. .
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