IOI
In an effort to simplify work-from-home lifestyles during a pandemic, Facebook has added Zoom and GoToMeeting support to its Portal TV product.
Having had a chance to roll out the vaccines and seeing that the COVID-19 pandemic may be ending, many businesses are planning a return to the office and bringing their employees back to their central office.
But nowadays, many people are seeking to maintain work-life balance by staying at home for at least part of their waking hours. People’s perspectives have changed due to the opportunities afforded through the WFH shift – and Facebook is looking at providing more tools to help them be more productive from home.
Herein lies the new feature added to the Facebook Portal video calling device.
Zoom has been added to Facebook Portal TV
In an effort to make conference calls even easier for users, Facebook has added Zoom support to its Portal TV platforms. Portal Mini, Portal, and Portal+ have already provided Zoom capabilities in the past. Portal TV has joined the club of many who work from home due to the pandemic that has displaced many in the workforce.
Portal was originally released in 2018 as an integrated camera and monitor system that allowed users to video chat with family and friends via Facebook. Portal TV is a variation of the Portal that debuted in 2019. A webcam is still attached to the device, but the user can plug it into an HDMI cable to use a flat screen TV for video conferencing.
Now that Zoom will be available on Portal TV, Facebook says users can interact professionally through smaller groups or breakout rooms from the comfort of their couch. It is also possible to have a much larger screen when you use social Zoom calls, the company noted. Although Portal TV offers some great benefits, many people still have real concerns about whether they can rely on it or not to conduct Zoom calls – especially if the company that owns it, is a trustworthy one.
On Portal TV, zooming isn’t the best idea
Zoom sessions on a big screen may sound appealing, but Portal TV is problematic. CNET wrote a “review” of the device when it was first released that discouraged purchase of it. Because Facebook has a history of allegedly misusing personal data and taking polarizing actions regarding its social media platform, not because of the device’s functionality. Despite Facebook’s growth, the same issues continue to plague the social network. There has been a lot of discussion recently regarding Facebook’s leaked personal data pertaining to 533 million users. This is not a breach that would inspire confidence in a device that comes equipped with an active microphone and camera, which Facebook boasts can pan and zoom “automatically to keep up with the action.”
Zoom users who use it a lot for work and for fun may be sufficiently swayed to invest in a Portal TV despite their concerns about privacy. Only in this kind of scenario – when users aren’t as concerned with data security – can Portal TV make sense. Facebook (and its advertisers) claim to be committed to protecting consumers’ privacy as much as possible. Yet there are still too many data issues surrounding Facebook, and repeated consistently enough, to warrant caution when considering putting Portal TV in your living room.
Overall, Zoom on Portal TV might make working from home smarter.
Zoom is becoming synonymous with the new work from home culture, with the phrase becoming a verb, like ‘googling,’ demonstrating the fast growth it has had within the space. All of that attention would be perfect for Facebook’s native meeting tools, but it will also require an increase in sales, and Portal sales have been steady over the past year.
With Portal sales increasing 10x since March 2020, and with more people opting to work from home at least in some capacities, you can expect the device to become more widely adopted as time goes on.
Adding more functionality into Portal TV is a good step forward in this regard, and the Zoom integration is a nice update.
