Zoho is rolling out a new, integrated communications and productivity suite for the enterprise, aiming to centralize common app functions such as messaging, phone and video calls, and task management. Credit: Zoho Zoho is moving its Trident unified communications suite out of a private beta program and into public availability, marking the public launch of the company’s first native applications for that category of software. Trident, according to the company, is designed to be a central communications and organizational hub for an organization’s workers to access email, instant messaging, phone and video calls, and perform task management and scheduling. The level of integration is high, providing search capabilities across the entire suite — with the idea being to release workers from the responsibility of searching through mail, messaging and other apps individually — and a voice service that works across its Cliq collaboration app, Zoho Meeting conferencing, and even direct phone calls and SMS messages. Universal drag-and-drop is another feature, letting users throw email attachments directly to colleagues via the messaging app, as well as what the company bills as an AI-based grammar tool called BluePencil, which offers writing suggestions and corrections across the platform. Valoir analyst and CEO Rebecca Wetteman said that the centralization of the company’s products is the main value-add from today’s announcement, given the deluge of new communications options that debuted during the worst of the pandemic. “There are an awful lot of vendors out there that are about connecting employees in various ways,” she said. “What Zoho has, within the collaboration application, is ways to connect and be engaged, for HR to talk to employees, and so on, without adding one more portal.” It’s simply a more efficient method of approaching the communications and organization issues, Wetteman said, noting that the Zoho approach cuts out a significant amount of administrative work, password management, and general swapping between systems for workers. Zoho’s Trident has stiff competition, of course, in the form of Microsoft and Google, in particular. But it may have an important leg up on both of those companies, in the form of lower costs — the most expensive “Professional” service plan costs $6 per user per month, and includes every feature on the platform, 100GB of mail storage and the same amount of shared drive space. Fees for the 10GB tier, with fewer features, drop to $3 per monthly user, and there’s a mail-only tier available for $1 per monthly user. Zoho’s new Trident product is available now, in public beta. The company currently offers Windows and MacOS versions of the client application, and mobile apps are currently in development. Related content news analysis The EU has decided to open up iPadOS 'Our market investigation showed that despite not meeting the thresholds, iPadOS constitutes an important gateway on which many companies rely to reach their customers,' said the EU’s lead anti-competition regulator, Margrethe Vestige By Jonny Evans Apr 29, 2024 4 mins Apple Apple App Store iPad how-to A new Windows 11 backup and recovery paradigm? If used properly, new features built into Windows 11 offer safe, nearly complete backup, restore, repair, and recovery operations without third-party tools — but there are some caveats worth knowing. By Ed Tittel Apr 29, 2024 17 mins Windows 11 Backup and Recovery Windows feature Q&A: Georgia Tech dean details why the school needed a new AI supercomputer Georgia Tech partnered with Nvidia to roll out its first supercomputer so students can experiment with AI and machine learning to better prepare for a job market where those skills are now critical to success. By Lucas Mearian Apr 29, 2024 12 mins CPUs and Processors Education Industry Generative AI feature Windows 11 Insider Previews: What’s in the latest build? Get the latest info on new preview builds of Windows 11 as they roll out to Windows Insiders. Now updated for Build 22635.3566 for the Beta Channel, released on April 26, 2024. By Preston Gralla Apr 26, 2024 251 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Windows 11 Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe