Facebook is introducing several new features to its line of Portal video chat devices today, most of which have a work-from-home bent. The most significant announcement.
Now, Facebook has announced a move that could make the Portal more palatable to those still reluctant to put a Facebook-owned camera in their home. The company is adding support for additional videoconferencing services popular in the corporate world. Zoom is the big one, but Webex, BlueJeans, and GoToMeeting are also coming to the Portal.
Previously, video chat on the Portal has been limited to Facebook-owned services: Messenger, WhatsApp, and Workplace. The various new apps will be added throughout September on the Portal, Portal+, and Portal Mini, but won’t come to Portal TV until later in 2020.
In a not-at-all-odd bit of timing, Google and Amazon also announced Wednesday that they are adding support for Zoom to their Assistant-enabled smart displays and Alexa-enabled Echo displays, respectively. Owners of the countertop touchscreen devices roughly analogous to the Portal will be able to use them for Zoom calls later this year by syncing the devices with whatever calendar they use for Zoom meetings.
Facebook will also incorporate more of Workplace, its own enterprise platform, into Portal devices. Back in May, Facebook integrated Workplace Rooms, which lets you have video conferences of up to 50 people (it’s the business version of Messenger Rooms, which has the same feature), as well as Workplace Live, which you can use to conduct all-hands meetings, Q&As and presentations, into standalone Portals. Now, these features are coming to Portal TV as well.
