Zoom teams up with Facebook, Amazon and Google to expand to smart displays

Video conferencing platform Zoom has announced it has expanded Zoom for Home to a range of smart displays, including Amazon Echo Show, Portal from Facebook, and Google Nest Hub Max.

The company says the expansion brings Zoom to widely-used devices and broadens their capabilities to the work environment.

Zoom on Portal is expected to be available publicly in September, while Zoom on Echo Show and Zoom on Assistant-enabled Smart Displays, including Google Nest Hub Max, are expected to be available by the end of the year.

According to a recent study from Morning Consult, Working from Home - The Future of Work, the number of adults working exclusively from home has tripled since pre-COVID-19 with one-third wanting to upgrade their work-from-home set-up if their company subsidised it.

Additionally, a recent Gartner survey of company leaders indicated that nearly half (47%) said they intend to allow employees to work remotely full time going forward.

By adding Zoom to these devices, users can more easily connect with friends, family, and now, colleagues, helping them to work smarter, build stronger relationships, and meet face-to-face through video collaboration, Zoom says.

"We're excited to bring Zoom to these popular devices. It's more apparent than ever that people are looking for easy-to-use displays for their video communications needs, both professionally and personally," says , Oded Gal, chief product officer at Zoom.

As a part of Zoom for Home, Zoom Meeting users will be able to extend integrated calendar and HD video and audio for Zoom Meetings on these smart displays:

Zoom on Portal 
Available in September, Zoom on Portal will allow customers to use a device that blends into their home and brings one-touch join face-to-face communication and digital whiteboarding for Zoom Meetings.

In addition, Portal's Smart Camera automatically helps keep the user in frame for immersive video calls with colleagues and family.

Zoom on Portal will be available on Portal Mini, Portal and Portal+ with support for Portal TV in the future.

Zoom on Amazon Echo Show 
Alexa customers will soon be able to join Zoom video conferences from select Echo Show devices. With Zoom on Echo Show, customers will be able to access high-quality meeting experiences by simply saying, Alexa, join my Zoom meeting.

And, if customers have linked their calendar in the Alexa app, Alexa will automatically start the scheduled meeting entirely hands-free without users needing to know the meeting ID or passcode.

Zoom will be rolling out to Amazon Echo Show devices in the U.S. later this year, beginning with Echo Show 8.

Zoom on Google Nest Hub Max 
Zoom on Google Nest Hub Max will extend the capabilities of native high-quality Zoom video meetings onto the device.

Fully integrated with Google Calendar and Google Assistant, customers will be able to enjoy hands-free controls with commands such as Hey Google, join my next meeting. Zoom is scheduled to come to Assistant-enabled Smart Displays, including Nest Hub Max by the end of the year.