As more people are working from home, there is a surge in video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Google Meet, etc. Of these, Zoom has become a household brand despite privacy concerns. As Zoom integration is being adapted by millions of people, the line between the support for enterprise services and AI assistants has blurred. And, Google, Amazon and Facebook have announced that Zoom video calls will be supported by their smart displays.
Zoom video calls support for smart displays
The arrival of Zoom video calls on smart displays will shape up the way people receive video calls and interact with the AI assistants. Notably, this is the first third-party video call service that for Google Next, Amazon smart displays and Facebook Portal. Currently, Google Nest users can make video calls via Meet and Duo and Facebook Portal users can use WhatsApp and Messenger. And, only the Amazon Echo Show in the Echo series (supporting Alexa) got support for Skype calls back in 2018.
Talking about the rollout of Zoom video calls integration, the Facebook Portal devices will get the same in September. Facebook Portal Mini, Portal and Portal+ will support Zoom initially and Portal TV will get it in the future. Meanwhile, Amazon Echo Show and other smart AI displays will get the same by the end of this year.
Big expansion for Zoom!
Back in July, Zoom launches its own smart display called Zoom for Home – DTEN ME. It flaunts a 27-inch touchscreen along with three cameras and an array of eight microphones. It is priced at $599 (nearly €500) and is slated to be made available soon. The Zoom for Home brand focuses on integrating Zoom to smart devices.
Following the launch of its own licensed videoconferencing hardware, the support offered by smart displays marks a big expansion for Zoom. Smart displays featuring touchscreens and high-quality directional microphones are designed to be great devices for video conferencing. Given that these companies have their own in-house video chatting solutions as mentioned above, it is an indication for the expansion of Zoom.
When it comes to the implementation of Zoom, each of these smart devices will follow the same differently. Facebook Portal series devices will add Zoom along with other apps such as Webex, GoToMeeting, and BlueJeans. These apps will use the smart camera tech of Facebook to keep you in frame automatically similar to what it does with WhatsApp and Messenger calls.
On the other hand, Google will rely on Assistant and Calender services and will automatically pull the existing Zoom meetings directly from the latter. You can start meetings just with your voice commands. And, Alexa users will also have a similar experience as that of Google.
Main image picture credits: Zoom