Only a few weeks have passed, but Messenger Rooms has already become one of the most used alternatives to Zoom and Google Meet during the days when we were all closed in the house. However, Facebook wants to bring its video conferencing platform to an even wider audience and what better way to do it than to use WhatsApp’s capabilities.
Therefore, from today it is already possible to make video calls from Messenger Rooms via WhatsApp. At the moment, yes, the function is only available in the web version of WhatsApp.
Messenger Rooms arrives on WhatsApp
Messenger Rooms is Facebook’s answer to Zoom and Google Meet
Facebook itself has already made clear its intention to integrate Messenger Rooms video calls into WhatsApp. Interestingly, this feature arrives on WhatsApp a few weeks after the brand introduced the ability to make video calls with more than 4 people via the messaging app.
However, Rooms’ video calls offer greater versatility by allowing a maximum of 50 people in each “room”, therefore it is a much more useful tool than WhatsApp video calls when, for example, telematic training sessions or group meetings are held.
How to start a video call with Messenger Rooms on WhatsApp
The process of making a video call from Messenger Rooms via WhatsApp is simple. However, it is necessary to take into account that these types of video calls are not directly integrated into WhatsApp Web, but it will be necessary to abandon the web version of the messaging app to carry out the videoconference. That said, the steps to follow to create a Messenger Room on WhatsApp are as follows:
- Open WhatsApp Web and log in.
- Access any chat and click on the clip icon at the top right.
- Touch the blue “Room” icon with a video camera image.
- In the warning that appears on the screen, tap “Go to Messenger”.
- Log into Facebook Messenger and tap “Create room”.
That’s all. Now you have created your video call room and you can invite someone else to join. To do this, you just have to share the link of your room, available in the room participants menu, by sending it via WhatsApp chat or in any other way.
It is clear that its operation is somewhat more confusing than that of the video calls themselves on WhatsApp, in which it is sufficient to press a button to create a call and send an invitation to the participants in the conversation.
Also, keep in mind that Messenger Rooms video calls are not end-to-end encrypted. However, the advantage of being able to invite up to 49 participants – in addition to ourselves – and the fact that a Facebook or WhatsApp account is not necessary to attend these meetings make Messenger Rooms a very interesting alternative.
