Creating a chat agent in Zoom Virtual Agent
Zoom Virtual Agent supports automating customer conversations across web and mobile chat platforms with its chat agent. Easily configured using natural language without any coding, it delivers real-time support by answering questions and resolving issues to enhance customer experience.
For voice interactions, Zoom Virtual Agent also offers a voice agent that creates natural, humanlike voice agents for phone channels.
Requirements for creating a chat agent in Zoom Virtual Agent
- Account owner or admin privileges; or relevant role/privilege
- Basic, Pro, Business, Education, or Enterprise account
- Zoom Virtual Agent and Zoom Contact Center licenses
How to create a chat agent
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
- In the navigation menu, click AI Studio then Virtual Agents.
- Under the Agents tab, click Chat agent.
- In the Create agent window, complete the following fields:
- Avatar: Click Upload new avatar to add a JPEG, PNG, SVG, or GIF under 2MB, or choose one from the asset library.
- Agent name: Enter a display name for your chat agent.
- Agent guidance: Provide a description that defines the agent’s role, response tone, and approach to customer interactions.
- Agent greeting: Enter the initial message the agent will say. You can insert dynamic variables by pressing the forward slash (/) key and selecting from the list.
- Default language: Select the language your agent will use.
- Click Next.
- Add knowledge sources to support accurate, AI-driven responses. You can:
- Use an existing source
- Sync a website URL
- Upload a PDF or DOCX file
- Add an integration
- Create a new article manually
- Click Next.
- (Optional) Click Add skill and complete the following fields:
- Name: Provide a display name for the skill.
- Trigger description: Describe the situation or query that should activate the skill.
- Instructions: Provide detailed directions on how the agent should handle the skill. Use the forward slash (/) key to insert variables or tools.
- (Optional) Click Add instructions to include multiple steps.
- (Optional) Click Add another skill to define more functionalities.
- Click Create.
You will be redirected to the newly created chat agent page where you can review, edit, and manage your agent and its skills.
Chat agent overview and settings
Once your chat agent is created, you can manage its configuration and performance from the chat agent overview page. Below is a guide to the available controls and sections:
Top controls
- Click the pencil icon
next to the chat agent name to edit it. - Version history icon
: View the agent’s version history and publishing activity. - Preview icon
: Click the preview icon to test how the chat agent performs in real time. - Settings icon
: Customize general and support settings:
- General
- Voice settings: Click the Filler words and phrases toggle to allow the bot to include natural pauses or fillers, especially during longer responses.
- Temperature control: Adjust the AI's response style. Lower values (closer to 0) make answers more focused and deterministic while higher values (closer to 1) produce more creative and varied responses.
- General settings: Click the Automatic call recording toggle to record all voice agent interactions. Recordings follow your defined data retention policies.
- Privacy controls: To adjust PII settings, visit Contact Center privacy and Data Retention.
- Support
- Click the Categorical support scenario toggle to add predefined phrases that trigger immediate support for specific topics. Click Add phrase to define categories or situations that warrant escalation.
- Publish: Use the Publish button to make your latest agent updates live and available to users.
Analytics
- View engagement metrics from the past 30 days, including:
- Engagement count
- Average interaction duration
- Escalated engagements
- Click View more for detailed reporting and trends.
Properties
Click the pencil icon to update:
- Greeting message
- Agent guidance
- Greeting prompts
Starter questions
Click Add question to create introductory questions that the agent will ask immediately after the greeting. These questions override all other greeting prompts.
Knowledge
- Click Add source to connect knowledge sources such as web URLs, documents, or custom articles.
- To remove a source, click the ellipsis icon
next to it and select Remove.
Skills
- Click Add skill to give your chat agent specific instructions for handling tasks.
- You can reference tools and variables to support more advanced or dynamic responses.
Support
Click Add support to select the channels through which customers can reach human agents.
Channels
Click Add agent to channel to deploy your chat agent to specific channels, making it accessible to end users.
Subprocessors
Chat agent uses artificial intelligence models from third parties, such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Eleven Labs for certain features.
Zoom requires its subprocessors to satisfy obligations substantially equivalent to those outlined in Zoom's Data Processing Agreement. Zoom's subprocessors are subject to security assessments on at least an annual basis as part of Zoom's third-party risk management program. Zoom's third-party risk management controls are assessed by independent audit firms in many of its security certifications and attestations, which are available to customers on Zoom's Trust Center.
These subprocessors may retain content used to provide the service for trust and safety purposes within the U.S. or EEA, as applicable, for up to 30 days, unless a longer retention period is required by applicable law.