Zoom for Home aims to bring conference room capabilities to the home office

Zoom is ramping up its push into the home office with the launch of a new business category that aims to help users expand their remote videoconferencing setup. The company on Wednesday unveiled Zoom for Home, a collection of Zoom features and services typically found in a corporate conference room setting but retooled for the remote work era. 

The new Home category essentially ties together Zoom's recently announced hardware as a service offering with features available via Zoom meeting licenses. The aim is to offer users an out-of-the-box collaboration setup for video meetings and phone calls, as well as additional hardware-based features such as content sharing, whiteboarding and co-annotation. 

Zoom said DTEN is serving as its first to market hardware partner, with its $599 DTEN ME display. The appliance offers a standalone 27-inch screen, three wide-angle cameras and 8 microphones, pre-loaded with Zoom's software. Zoom for Home is also compatible with all Zoom Rooms Appliances, including other hardware from Neat and Poly.

Zoom's videoconferencing software is already a staple in the home office with the COVID-19 pandemic shuttering physical workplaces. The company also cites a recent study from IBM that found 81% of respondents want to continue working remotely even after pandemic restrictions ease. Add it up and Zoom is envisioning a future where it's software is a central form of business communication in the home office.

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"We see the home office playing an integral role in the future of the workplace," said Jeff Smith, head of Zoom Rooms. "As video meetings become more ubiquitous, we realized that having a personal collaboration device dedicated to the Zoom platform will provide home office workers with a tool to easily manage video meetings and help increase engagement, connection and collaboration."

"Zoom for Home fits the needs of a wide range of use cases," Smith added. "Enterprises can choose to provide Zoom for Home to their remote workers for a turnkey, instant office set-up managed by their IT staff. End-users and consumers can also purchase Zoom for Home - DTEN ME devices and employ them as self-managed devices by simply using their Zoom account credentials."

Zoom for Home is expected to be available in early August. 

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