In what can be described as a somewhat late response to major video conferencing services, such as "Zoom", "Microsoft Team", "Cisco WebEx", "Google Hang Out" and "House Party", and other services, Facebook started »Running a package of new services, related to video calls and conferences, through its various applications, which included the" messenger rooms "chat service, which allows holding group video conferences between up to 50 people, while allowing friends of the user of the site to communicate with him with the video whenever they want, in addition to Double the capacity of video calls on WhatsApp from four to eight people, and add video calls to FS Meh «Facebook» dating, as well as the live broadcast property to each of the «Facebook» and «Instagram» without restrictions.
Correspondence tools
Finally, the founder and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, said in a statement published in the Facebook newsroom, recently, that the new video features have been built in line with the company's shift towards creating more private messaging tools, noting that the presence of the video inside "Facebook", and the other applications it owns, is not a new thing, as more than 700 million people around the world are now making calls through Facebook, WhatsApp and Messenger every day, but it is an area in which we want to delve into what It is suitable for public attention now, so the company focuses on allocating more resources and focusing them on private communications and security Social own data, rather than focusing only on the larger traditional sources.
50 people
On the "Messenger Rooms" service, Zuckerberg explained that it will be available in the company's products during the next few weeks, and will allow up to 50 people to join one call simultaneously, where the creator of the room can determine whether the meeting is open to everyone, or closed to prevent guests who are not Invited to join.
He added that in the beginning, users will be able to start video sessions or conferences from "Messenger", and later on, the service will run in the main Facebook application, then the "Instagram Direct" service, then "WhatsApp", pointing out that in this case Guests can join these calls and rooms, regardless of whether or not they have a Facebook account.
Augmented reality
And Zuckerberg explained that while participating in the conversation in the room, the user can play using the augmented reality filters in Facebook, and switch the background to a virtual background, indicating that some backgrounds provide 360-degree views of exotic places, while a new menu of reality filters will help Enhanced darkroom lighting or improve the appearance of users.
He stressed that the Chamber's calls will not be encrypted with the technology of "encryption from start to end", while video calls "WhatsApp" will be encrypted from beginning to end, or from end to end, which provides an additional layer of protection for users, adding: "In all cases, it will not be Facebook can see or listen to calls, but it will provide a service to inform Facebook of rooms where illegal behavior occurs, and the creator of the room can remove the participants at any time.
"Direct with"
Zuckerberg said that Facebook will also add a "direct with" service, which will allow the possibility of live exchange between more than one person, where the user can invite another person to exchange live broadcasts with him, through a key dedicated to direct broadcast groups.
He said that this service will be specifically devoted to fundraising and fund-raising operations by various agencies, allowing users to collect funds directly from their broadcasts, in countries where fundraising campaigns are available.
Privacy insurance
Facebook confirmed that Messenger Rooms were designed with strong privacy controls, explaining that relying the service on contacts with real friends and family members reduces the possibility of using them to harass people, and it is also emphasized that for groups, where people do not know each other , Moderators will be able to remove people from the rooms if they deem it necessary.
The founder and CEO of the company, Mark Zuckerberg, said that he spent a lot of time, during the past few weeks, with Facebook engineers, in order to prepare well to face privacy and security issues, to ensure that many of the bad use cases, which caused a problem to apply « Zoom, will not be repeated with Facebook services.