To ride on the increased demand for video calling during this coronavirus lockdown, Facebook has introduced two new features – launch of Messenger Rooms and the expansion of WhatsApp Group Calls.
According to Mark Zuckerberg on a Facebook live chat today and on his Facebook page, he said; “More than 700 million daily actives use WhatsApp and Messenger for calling. In many countries, calling has doubled since the Covid-19 outbreak began. To help you stay connected with your whole family and groups of friends, we’re doubling the number of people who can participate in a group video call from 4 to 8 on WhatsApp.”
Before now, you could only have four people on a WhatsApp Group Call. The increase to eight for voice and video calls would certainly be a plus to the messaging service. WhatsApp currently serves more than 2billion users around the world.
Facebook has also upgraded Messenger by creating Messenger Rooms. Messenger Rooms is simply a group video chat designed with social interactions in mind. Messenger Rooms make it easy to spend quality time with friends, loved ones and people who share your interests.
You can create a room right from Messenger or Facebook, and invite anyone to join your video call, even if they don’t have a Facebook account. Rooms will soon hold up to 50 people with no time limit.
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According to Facebook, “You’ll be able to create rooms and invite people across WhatsApp, Instagram and Portal as well. You’ll also be able to discover rooms your friends are in at the top of News Feed, and it’s easy to drop by and say hi. You don’t need to schedule time to hang out like other video conferencing tools. We’re testing Rooms in a few countries now and plan to roll it out globally over the coming weeks.”
When you’re invited to a room, you can join from your phone or computer — no need to download anything to get started.
Messenger Rooms is rolling out in some countries this week and will expand to the rest of the world in coming weeks.
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