This Week in Zoho - Issue 38

Issue 38: 16th January 2025

Welcome to This Week in Zoho, your (usually) weekly drop of all the need-to-know Zoho news and updates that you won't want to miss!

Before we begin, a quick introduction: I'm Jake, a Zoho consultant and developer with over 6 years of experience. I run Limitless, a gaming-changing Zoho Consultancy that offers unlimited consultancy and development starting at just ￡1500 per month! Learn more by booking a free introductory meeting by clicking here.

Now, back to the main event, here are all the Zoho updates you need to know about this week:

New Look Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is transitioning from early access to a phased rollout of its CRM for Everyone initiative, introducing several enhancements:

• New User Interface: A modern, user-friendly design aimed at improving organization and productivity.

• Teamspaces: Dedicated areas for teams to share resources, updates, and track progress, fostering better collaboration.

• Team Modules: Tools to create and manage modules specific to teams, streamlining business processes.

The rollout begins with Standard Edition users, granting admins early access to explore and familiarize themselves with the new features. Admins can choose when to extend access to other users, with all users being automatically switched to the new version within one month of enablement.

I'll be in contact with any clients of Limitless to help guide them through their major redesign of the CRM.

Learn More: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/the-next-chapter-for-crm-for-everyone-moving-from-early-access-to-phased-rollout-for-customers

Custom Rollup Fields

Zoho CRM has introduced custom rollup summary fields, enhancing data analysis by allowing users to create tailored summaries across related records.

Rollup fields automatically summarize data from related records, providing valuable insights without manual calculations. They act as dynamic fields that display aggregated data such as totals, averages, or key dates across related modules.

The new features added to Rollup fields include:

• Customisable Functions: Users can select from functions such as Sum, Average, Maximum, Minimum for numerical data, and Earliest, Furthest, Recent, Upcoming for date-related data, aligning summaries with specific business objectives.

• Field Selection: Based on the chosen function, relevant system-defined and custom fields are available for selection, ensuring accurate data aggregation.

• Additional Criteria: Users can apply specific criteria to filter and aggregate only the most pertinent data, resulting in more meaningful insights.

Learn More: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/create-custom-rollup-summary-fields-in-zoho-crm

Enhanced Batch Tracking in Zoho Inventory

Zoho Inventory has introduced several enhancements to its Batch Tracking feature, improving inventory management and operational efficiency. Key updates include:

• Direct Batch Creation and Modification: Create and edit batches directly from the item details page, specifying details like batch number, manufacturer batch number, manufacturing date, and expiry date.

• Simplified Restocking: Restock batches seamlessly through bills, purchase receipts, and inventory adjustments, with the option to create new batches during these transactions.

• Same Batch Returns: Enable the option to associate returns with their original sold batches, maintaining accurate batch information during sales returns or credit notes.

• Consistent Batch Transfers: Transfer items between locations or warehouses while retaining the same batch information in both source and destination, ensuring traceability.

• Batch Status Management: Mark batches as ‘Inactive’ to exclude them from future transactions while retaining them for reporting purposes.

• Audit Trail Integration: Track batch-related activities such as creation, modification, restocking, or transfers within the audit trail report for enhanced accountability.

• Enhanced Batch Filtering and Sorting: Filter batches based on status (active, inactive, empty, expired) and sort them by batch reference number, manufacturing date, or expiry date for improved navigation.

Learn More: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/batch-tracking-enhancements-in-zoho-inventory-1

Profile Stitching in Zoho Marketing Automation & Zoho Forms

Zoho Marketing Automation has enhanced its profile stitching feature, streamlining the process of connecting visitor interactions with their contact profiles. Key improvements include:

• Seamless Integration with Zoho Forms: When a visitor submits a form created in Zoho Forms and embedded on a tracked website, their web activity is automatically linked to their contact profile without requiring additional forms or manual identification.
• Automatic Visitor Identification: Upon form submission, the system uses a unique visitor ID stored in cookies to identify and transition visitors from “Anonymous” to “Known,” consolidating their web activity into their contact timeline.
• Enhanced Email-Based Profile Stitching: Sending email campaigns with links to tracked websites now automatically associates recipients’ web activities with their contact profiles, providing a comprehensive view of their engagement history.

These enhancements offer a complete understanding of lead behaviour, enabling more effective and personalized marketing strategies.

Learn More: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/profile-stitching-with-zoho-marketing-automation-2-1-2025

Zia GenAI

Zoho Desk has introduced Zia GenAI, a native generative AI model designed to enhance customer support efficiency and quality. Key features include:

? Contextual Ticket Summaries: Provides concise overviews of incoming inquiries and previous conversations, enabling agents to quickly understand complex tickets without reading lengthy histories.

? AI-Assisted Responses: Drafts replies based on knowledge base articles, allowing agents to address policy-related questions or provide troubleshooting guides more efficiently.

? Personalized Interactions: Analyzes the tone and sentiment of customer messages to help agents craft responses that align with the emotional context, ensuring personalized and empathetic communication.

? Customizable Response Lengths: Allows agents to adjust the length of responses to meet customer needs, offering detailed explanations or brief summaries as appropriate.

Zia GenAI is currently available in the AU, EU, US, and India data centers, supporting 13 languages, including English, Spanish, German, and French. It’s accessible through the Early Access program for Zoho Desk Enterprise subscribers.

Learn More: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/introducing-zia-genai-zohos-native-generative-ai-for-zoho-desk

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