Zoom has essentially taken over the office environment for most of us who are forced to work from home with a slew of productivity tools and audio/video collaboration. The service is available across a multitude of platforms including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and more but Zoom isn’t stopping at just that.
That’s because pretty soon you’ll be able to get to your meetings quickly and efficiently using the smart devices that are available in your home. In this post, we’ll discuss what Zoom’s new functionality is all about, the devices it’s available in, and the voice commands you can use to create and join meetings in time.
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What is Zoom’s latest feature all about
Zoom recently announced that it’ll soon be available for use on smart displays. The service will be available as part of the Zoom for Home program which is designed to create and join video meetings with as simple as a touch of a button or through voice commands.
The update to Zoom for Home comes as part of the new boom toward work-from-home where organizations are trying new ways to enhance productivity and efficiency through remote collaboration.
With this feature, users will have more means to be able to connect with their colleagues, friends, and family, regardless of where they are in their household, and also interact with them using collaborative tools like file and screen sharing, annotation, and whiteboard from within their smart displays.
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Which devices do Zoom’s Smart Displays support work on
Zoom has already announced that its Zoom for Home service will soon be available on the most widely used smart displays so that you can use them through your voice or a button. The company has also mentioned a rough timeline for the release of Zoom for Home on each of the devices.
Zoom for Home will be available on the following smart displays:
- Facebook Portal – September 2020
- Amazon Echo Show – Late Fall 2020
- Google Nest Hub Max – Late Fall 2020
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What are the voice commands to use Zoom on these devices
Zoom has already given a sneak peek of the commands we’d be able to use on the supported smart displays getting the Zoom for Home service.
On Facebook Portal![]()
If you own Facebook’s Portal smart display device, expect it to soon equip one-touch features and voice commands that connect you to Zoom meetings. Zoom has already hinted at one of the commands being “Join a meeting“; meaning we can expect directly voice commands to be available for using Zoom and connecting to your colleagues and friends by justing using your voice.
Besides voice commands, Zoom on Portal should be able to utilize the smart display’s Smart Camera technology that will help keep your face in the frame all the time.
Although it hasn’t been announced yet, Zoom for Portal should come to all Portal devices as all four current Portal-branded devices feature support for smart video calling. We can thus expect Zoom for Home to come to Portal, Portal Mini, Portal+, and Portal TV.
We should know more about this as we approach Zoom for Home’s available on Portal which is set to release in September.
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On Amazon Echo Show![]()
Amazon’s smart displays will also be benefiting from Zoom for Home support. The video-calling service has confirmed that users will be able to enjoy meetings on Zoom using voice commands to Alexa.
You will soon be able to talk to your Amazon smart display and say “Alexa, join my Zoom meeting” to get to your meetings quickly without even needing to touch the device.
Another important addition to your smart display will be that Alexa will be able to automatically start your scheduled meetings without you requiring the meeting ID or passcode. Handsfree meetings will be possible by simply linking your calendar in the Alexa app.
Echo Show 8 will be the first of the Amazon Echo Show devices in the US to receive Zoom for Home functionality during late fall.
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Google Nest Hub Max
While Google has its own Google Meet video conferencing tool, it is also collaborating with rival solution Zoom on bringing Zoom meetings to its own line of smart displays. You will thus be able to join meetings with your colleagues by simply saying “Hey Google, join my Zoom meeting” to your smart display.
Additionally, Zoom for Home should be able to integrate Google Calendar and Google Assistant to allow you to get into meetings quickly without missing out on them. Google has revealed a list of voice commands that you can say to Google Assistant on your smart display to get to your meetings on Zoom and here they are:
- “Hey Google, start a meeting”
- “Hey Google, join my next meeting”
- “Hey Google, leave a video message for Linda”
- “Hey Google, call Alex”
- “Hey Google, broadcast to the study room, ‘Dinner is ready!’”
Zoom for Home will be available on Google’s Nest Hub Max in the fall of 2020.
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Should we expect Zoom for Home to come to other smart displays?
Zoom has already given the list of devices where Zoom for Home will debut in and these include Facebook Portal, Amazon Echo Show 8, and Google Nest Hub Max. Keeping in mind that all three devices in this list are across different platforms, we can also expect support for Zoom meetings and voice controls to come to other devices in these platforms later in the future.
If this is possible, Zoom for Home could show up on Facebook’s Portal Mini, Portal+, and Portal TV; Amazon’s Echo Show 10.1″, and Echo Show 5; and Google’s Nest Hub. Other devices that also stand a chance at getting Zoom for Home support are Lenovo Smart Display, JBL Link View, and LG Xboom AI ThinQ WK9; all of which are smart displays powered by Google Assistant.
We’ll update this section when we know more about Zoom for Home at a later time.
Are you going to enjoy Zoom meetings on your smart display?
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