Vonage, a business cloud communications company, has launched Vee for Workplace by Facebook. Vonage partnered with Facebook to provide Workplace users with virtual assistant capabilities to create and manage artificial intelligence-enabled conferencing.
Vee for Workplace uses bot commands to leverage cloud-based APIs via Nexmo, the Vonage API Platform, and Vonage's Unified Communications APIs, to integrate cloud communications features directly into the Workplace collaboration platform. With it, users can initiate and manage conferencing and calling. In addition, Vonage Business Cloud customers receive real-time interactive call alerts, can respond to calls with SMS quick replies, and redial callers at their convenience, all from within Workplace.
"Business communications should focus on improving internal collaboration and connection for employees beyond phone system capabilities," said Omar Javaid, chief product officer at Vonage, in a statement. "Partnering with Workplace to deliver innovative, advanced communications capabilities to enhance productivity and the user experience within the collaboration platform is a natural extension of Vonage's communications offering. By providing the tools businesses need to empower their workforce to more easily and efficiently connect with each other, we are helping them to drive better business outcomes."
For Workplace, through a partnership with Voicera, Vonage allows users to mention Vee in a post and then start an AI-powered conference bridge. Vee then offers quick reply buttons to highlight or add comments to the meeting transcription and recording. At the conclusion of the call, users will receive highlights, actions, meeting analytics, and the ability to share with the Workplace group.
To further enhance the Workplace experience, Vonage has partnered with bot providers, such as Converse.AI (acquired by SmartSheet), that have embedded Vonage building blocks into their frameworks. This allows further customization of the collaboration ecosystem.