Zoho Working On WhatsApp-Like Messaging Platform

Sridhar Vembu-led Zoho plans to launch a consumer-oriented messaging platform much like WhatsApp, with the promise of an array of additional capabilities. 

Speaking with BW Businessworld on Monday, Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu shed light on this development, emphasising that most of the advanced features currently available in Zoho's communication and collaboration platform, Cliq, will be accessible to the common user on this new platform. 

This endeavour would essentially challenge the dominance of Meta's WhatsApp, which currently boasts approximately 500 million users in India, a number projected to skyrocket to nearly 800 million by 2025.

“We have a consumer version of Cliq. All of the capabilities of WhatsApp and more will be available on this app,” Vembu said. “You will hear a lot more about that in the future.” 

The revelation comes hot on the heels of recent updates to Zoho's Cliq platform, a tool that has seen a reported 30 per cent increase in user migration from competitors like Slack and Microsoft Teams throughout the year 2022. It's noteworthy that Cliq is entirely conceived and developed in India, as part of Zoho's strategic push in constructing a unified technology stack that promises an enriched user experience. Zoho saw a remarkable 37 per cent jump in its India revenues in 2022.

One of the standout features of Cliq is its customisable interface, which can be tailored to accommodate different languages, including Hindi, Tamil and Kannada, with a promise of more languages on the horizon. Furthermore, Cliq leverages AI-powered ‘Live Translation’ to facilitate seamless interactions across a multitude of Indian and international languages, bridging communication gaps for both internal and external users.

Zoho's AI assistant, Zia, plays a pivotal role within Cliq, offering users the ability to obtain meeting summaries, convert discussions into actionable tasks in Zoho Projects, and even set follow-up reminders, all from within the platform. Additionally, Zia serves as a writing assistant, assisting users in crafting, refining and proofreading their messages. An added bonus is Zia's capacity for sentiment analysis, providing valuable insights to users.

For organisations looking to host internal virtual events, Cliq could be an attractive solution. Organisers can curate the event, deciding who takes the virtual stage, sharing pertinent content between sessions, and engaging the audience through interactive Q&A sessions.

Zoho on Monday also unveiled the Cliq Rooms app for Android TV, offering users the opportunity to elevate their meeting experiences. This app enables users to schedule meetings in physical conference rooms, connect seamlessly to TV audio and video, and project content on the screen. Cliq Rooms stands out as it is compatible with any Android TV and permits users to connect their audiovisual inputs from their smartphones or laptop.