The vendor's new tools will appeal to users who access the application across different meeting platforms. However, it could face resistance from companies that use one platform.
Otter.ai on Tuesday introduced Meeting GenAI, a set of new tools that provides insights based on meeting history.
Meeting GenAI includes Otter AI Chat across all meetings, AI Chat in Channels and a Conversation Summary View.
Otter AI Chat enables users to get answers to questions and generate content such as emails by accessing all meetings across multiple workplace collaboration and communication platforms. It is generally available now.
AI Chat in Channels lets users chat with other team members using Otter AI Chat. It is available now to select users and will be available to all users in the coming weeks. Finally, Conversation Summary View provides users with a live AI-generated narrative summary of the transcript. Unveiled previously, it is now generally available.
A shift in focus
With the new tools in Meeting GenAI, Otter.ai wants to show users it's more than just a transcription vendor, said Darius Contractor, chief growth officer at the company.
"Part of our idea is that a lot of your work data is in meetings," Contractor said. "A lot of the most important things happening in your company are things people are talking about in Zoom meetings. So, why can't you use GenAI across all that data?"
Otter is trying to transform from just being a "remembering tool" to one that helps users gain information from their work meetings, he said.
The vendor is also going after customers who prefer Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini (previously known as Duet AI in its workspace format) and Zoom.
"Microsoft is very much whenever you do a query, very private to you," Contractor said. "That's understandable in some ways, but it really doesn't get at the collaboration that Otter is built on."
Some challenges
While Otter is appealing to users who find themselves needing a collaboration meeting tool that spans different applications -- including Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex and Google Meet -- the vendor's key problem will be getting people to use its tools as opposed to Microsoft and Google, which offer more services, said Irwin Lazar, an analyst at Metrigy.
Their challenge is providing enough value from having a single place to get different insights from all of your meetings across multiple applications.
Irwin LazarAnalyst, Metrigy
"Their challenge is providing enough value from having a single place to get different insights from all of your meetings across multiple applications," Lazar said. "Is there enough value there? Would people be willing to pay the price?"
He added that other vendors, including Zoom, offer meeting summarization for free.
Moreover, while Microsoft charges a license for its Copilot AI assistant platform, it's not just for meetings. Copilot also features other office applications.
"It's also getting harder and harder for them to stay relevant, because now the companies or the meeting apps are all adding those similar types of features directly," he added.
Moreover, tech giants such as Google and Microsoft have invested significantly in AI technology, compared with smaller vendors like Otter, said Raul Castanon, an analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Strategic market
But since vendors such as Microsoft appear to be targeting the early users of generative AI technology with Copilot, that could leave room for a vendor like Otter that can bring in many users with its free tier, Castanon said.
Microsoft, for the most part, requires enterprises to buy a license before using its product and then pay extra for add-ons.
In contrast, Otter is willing to offer its products for free while providing a larger usage capacity for paying business and premium users. The Pro version is $10 per user per month, and the Business version is $20 per user per month.
"It makes sense for a company like Otter to try to get as large of a footprint as they can," Castanon added. "With collaboration products, to be really effective, it will depend on having as many people on board as you can."
Esther Ajao is a TechTarget Editorial news writer covering artificial intelligence software and systems.
