How to use the Zoom Video Conferencing app on the Echo Show

For many of us, Zoom meetings have become a regular part of our lives. Whether you’re a middle schooler taking online courses or a business executive attending back-to-back meetings, or even if it’s just that your book club continues to meet digitally, the majority of us will have to deal with a video conferencing firm at some time throughout the week. Having an alternative method of joining meetings other than using your computer or squinting at your smartphone is a pleasant plus, and if you have an Echo Show at home, it can also serve as a convenient hands-free Zoom machine for your meetings.

In addition to the Echo Show 8 (first- and second-generation models), the Echo Show 10 is also equipped with Zoom video calling capabilities (the one that rotates). In a statement, Amazon stated that Zoom will be available on the Echo Show 15 later this year.

When using their built-in cameras, the Show 10 and the second-generation 8 both use digital panning and zooming to ensure that the camera remains focused on you even if you’re moving about. With the 10, the screen can also swivel 360 degrees, allowing you to move around the room while the screen follows you.

Apart from an Echo Show 8 or 10 and the Alexa app on your smartphone, you’ll also need a free Amazon Alexa account and the Zoom video calling feature on your Echo Show to make video calls. The Echo Show must be logged into the same Alexa account as the Alexa app in order to function properly.

 

 

The setup process is quite straightforward. You are not need to download or enable a Zoom Alexa skill, nor are you required to have a Zoom account. If you already have a Zoom account, I encourage that you sign into it on the show since it provides you more options in meetings and makes it even easier to attend. We’ll go into it a little later.

It’s worth mentioning that you may also participate in Zoom meetings using Echo speakers without screens, such as the Echo and Echo Dot. However, the experience will be audio-only, and you must link your calendar in the Alexa app in order to access the Zoom feature (we detail how to do this below).

Now, let’s take a look at how you can join a Zoom call on the Echo Show –

Step 1. Say “Alexa, join my Zoom meeting.”

Step 2. If you have a Zoom meeting ID, Alexa will ask for it. You can shout it out loud or type it in on the screen. (If you want to make things easier, you can attach a Bluetooth keyboard.)

Step 3. Following that, it will prompt you for a passcode (which you may either repeat out or type in on the screen), and the meeting will begin.

Step 4. When you attend a meeting, a toolbar with buttons to mute and unmute the conference, start and stop video, and end the meeting will be available to all participants. Once the call begins, it will disappear, but you can get it back by touching on the screen.

Step 5. Additionally, you may operate the physical mute button, camera cover, and volume buttons on the Show while you are in the middle of a conference.

Step 6. To bring a meeting to a close, press the End button or tell Alexa to “end meeting.”