Zoho Corporation has introduced a new sub-brand called 'Vani' to enhance workplace collaboration through intelligent and visual tools. The Chennai-based company said Vani offers features like whiteboarding, mind mapping, flowcharts, diagrams, and video calls, with easy access to files. It's designed to help SMBs work more efficiently on a single platform.

Global technology firm Zoho Corporation announced on Wednesday the launch of its sub-brand 'Vani' to offer intelligent and visual workplace collaboration capabilities.

The Chennai-based firm has been in the limelight lately with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shifting to Zoho for official work and urging others to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call for Swadeshi, and adopt indigenous products and services.

Vani supports multiple modes of working, such as whiteboarding, flowcharting, mind mapping, diagram-making and integrated video calling, with seamless access to documents and data from desktops, cloud drives, and spreadsheets, the company said in a statement.

"For small and medium-sized businesses, the ability to increase ease of collaboration, even a small percentage, can lead to extraordinary gains in productivity.

"Vani provides a comprehensive set of tools for all departments within one canvas, eliminating the need for app-switching, process building, or complicated onboarding, ensuring that SMBs can seamlessly ideate and execute across all departments," said Karthikeyan Jambulingam, Head of Product for Vani.

Vani's features include:

• An innovative Space and Zone model that brings structure to collaboration, allowing different stakeholders to work in parallel without interference while still having visibility of the big picture. A Space acts as an overall canvas for a project, while Zones are sub-canvases within the Space, used to segment work by contributor, function, phase, or more. This approach allows for ideas to evolve in isolation, then collaborate seamlessly when needed.
• A library of templates and kits to accelerate workflow and give teams the head start they need to work on a project. Templates cover strategy and planning, brainstorming and project planning. Kits address advanced elements like design diagrams, social media kits, network diagrams, and more.
• Mind mapping tools to help SMB teams quickly brainstorm, organize and connect ideas visually, removing roadblocks in turning raw ideas into structured plans.
• AI-powered capabilities weaved into everyday work, including the ability to instantly generate content and structured visuals like flowcharts and mind maps, and summary tools to quickly gain insights across entire Zones or down to specific frames, shapes, and objects.
• Native video meeting features that make collaboration seamless and intimate. Teams can start a video call, discuss, and align to quickly collaborate within the canvas, without an additional third-party application. These meetings can also be recorded for revisiting later, enabling asynchronous collaboration.

"For distributed teams, whiteboarding has always been a challenge. Vani will help teams brainstorm together, no matter where they are," says Shashi Bellamkonda, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group. "I am especially intrigued by the video catchup feature for brainstorming - it's a great step toward replacing traditional meetings by mimicking the spontaneous 'office walk over' to discuss ideas with colleagues or a team."

With deep integrations across the Zoho ecosystem and with third-party apps, Vani becomes the center of work for all stages of a project, from ideation to execution. By reducing app switching, improving brainstorming sessions, and being the hub for visual intelligence, Vani makes collaboration clearer, more visual, and effortless, no matter the industry.