Zoom to be integrated with Facebook, Amazon and Google smart display devices

Video conferencing platform Zoom is set to be integrated with smart display devices Amazon Echo Show, Facebook Portal and Google Nest Hub Max, improving its accessibility.

Smart display devices refer to smart speakers that have touch screens attached to them.

While the service will be available on Portal in September, Amazon Echo Show and Google Nest Hub Max users will have to wait till the end of the year, a company statement said.

The company will make the solution available on Portal Mini, Portal and Portal+ for now, and add support to Portal TV in the future, the statement said.

Together, Portal and Zoom create an immersive calling experience that can go from powering your workday to connecting you with family and friends, with one dedicated device, Micah Collins, director of Portal product management at Facebook, said.

"Portal’s big screen frees up your laptop so you can stay productive, while the AI-powered Smart Camera makes work and personal communication effortless by always keeping you in the frame,” Collins said.

On the other hand, the Zoom integration for Echo Show will start with Echo Show 8, the statement said. Customers who have linked their calendars to the Alexa app can start scheduled meetings with the voice command: “Alexa, join my Zoom meeting.”  

On Google Nest Hub Max, users with integrated Google Calendar and Google Assistant can join meetings with voice commands such as “Hey Google, join my next meeting,” it added.

The San Jose, California headquartered company said it has seen a 67-fold increase in the number of free user sign ups from January 2020 to April 2020 in India, while the number of paid users has grown four times.

Last month, Zoom opened a technology centre in Bengaluru, which will support the Nasdaq listed company’s research and development operations as well as engineering and business operations such as legal and human resource capabilities.

Velchamy Sankarlingam, president for product and engineering for Zoom, recently said that the company was hiring engineering talent in India for roles in DevOps, operations and database verticals, as well as for information technology security roles in infrastructure, applications and desktop management verticals.