With many workers still doing their job our of their homes, Zoom recently released its Zoom for Home offerings that include dedicated Zoom devices via DTEN. Now, Zoom is taking that a step further by expanding to smart displays like the Amazon Echo Show, Portal from Facebook and the Google Nest Hub Max.
Zoom’s play is a bet on remote work remaining part of our culture for the foreseeable future. In a press release, the company cited several studies that found working from home has tripled since before the COVID-19 pandemic and nearly half of companies currently supporting remote work will continue to do so full time.
In a blog post, Jeff Smith, head of Zoom Rooms, cited a Stanford University study that found 42% of the U.S. workforce is working from home full time.
“With Zoom on your favorite smart display, you can connect with colleagues to work smarter together, using features like whiteboarding, content sharing, and co-annotation,” Smith wrote. “As a Zoom Meetings user, all you’ll need to do is log in to one of our supported smart displays and integrate your calendar, status, and meeting settings. You’ll have access to all the tools you need to personalize your home office experience.”
Adding Zoom to these popular consumer-based devices brings a critical work tool to their home offices. Zoom users can extend integrated calendar and high definition video and audio for Zoom calls on the displays.
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Zoom on Portal will be available in September, featuring a one-touch join face-to-face communication and digital whiteboarding for Zoom meetings. The device also features an intelligence camera that automatically keeps the user in frame. It will be available on Protal Mini, Portal and Portal+ with support for Portal TV in the future.
Zoom will be available on the Amazon Echo Show devices by the end of the year. This integration offers customers access to Zoom calls via Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa by saying “Alexa, join my Zoom meeting.” Calendars can be linked in the Alexa app so Alexa knows to automatically start scheduled meetings without needed a meeting ID or passcode.
Using Zoom on the Google Next Hub Max includes an integration with Google Calendar and Google Assistant, offering voice-control accessibility via the virtual assistant. Zoom will come to Assistant-enabled smart displays by the end of the year.
Last month, Zoom announced Zoom for Home, a new offering featuring dedicated Zoom devices like the DTEN ME, a 27-inch display with three built-in cameras, microphones and a touch display for screen sharing.
Other Zoom for Home partnerships with Neat and Poly are eyed for the future, Smith said in an interview.
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