Communications tech giant Zoom has just announced upgrades to the viewing area of its video-conferencing platform.
Called Zoom Rooms Enhanced Views, the changes mean users will have better visuals on shared content, in-meeting chat messages and small-screen displays for other participants.
Zoom has elected to make the chat panel fixed. Nathan Shaw, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Zoom, spoke about the changes and said: “The chat panel enhancement for Zoom Rooms provides a new, persistent chat window in all of our existing views, including Gallery, Active Speaker, and Thumbnail”.
The chat window is next to the main speaker monitor, as featured in the picture below.
The new enhanced chat panel means users can get feedback without interruption next to a presentation or shared content. Attendees can connect with others and see and judge colleagues’ reactions better.
Altogether the refurbishment intends to make meetings more equitable and transparent in the hybrid environment.
Thumbnail Views and Multiple Views
“In this view, attendees in Zoom Rooms can view every aspect of the meeting, including the shared content, the active speaker, and the meeting participants at the same time, as well as the persistent chat window and reactions.”
The new Zoom Rooms Enhanced Views is now available to its customers with no extra charges. Users need to ensure they have installed the latest, updated version. To check this, the firm suggests using the Zoom Rooms management interface.
Zoom Rooms: Coming to a Theatre Near You
Zoom Rooms has also been installed in a selection of theatres in the AMC cinema chain across the US. Seventeen locations have been chosen to use Zoom tech to facilitate small to large groups, with up to as many as possibly 150 seats. Marketed as “Zoom Rooms At AMC”, potential users can book screen time in three-hour block slots.
Zoom Company Quarterly Figures
Last month Zoom had to lower expectations for the coming year as it saw an online business forecast fall by 8 per cent and a predicted drop of $15 million. Recent months have seen Zoom deal with IT budget cuts and increasing competition from big tech firms such as Microsoft and Google. However, the total revenue for the firms’ Q3 2022 was $1.102 billion, a rise of 5% year over year: $2 million above quarterly guidance.
More positively, and announced at Zoomtopia 2022, Zoom is to introduce video conferencing platforms to Tesla cars, with the app likely to use the in-cabin camera above the rearview mirror. In May 2020, Co-founder and CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, said video conferencing in a Tesla car was “definitely a future feature.”
Nitasha Walia, Zoom Group Product Manager, has recently stated that Zoom will be coming to “all new Tesla models soon.” It is also likely that video meetings will be accessible from Tesla’s in-built calendar.
